Daily Times

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Faisal Karim Kundi on Saturday said the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) payments to the beneficiaries were made more transparent through new disbursement mechanism of transferring amount through bank accounts. He expressed these views while addressing as a chief guest the launching ceremony of Benazir Social Protection Accounts held here at a private marriage hall.

The special assistant said the bank cards were introduced with the efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as there were complaints regarding deduction of amounts which would be addressed now. He said there were also complaints of deduction by the banks as the devices of only two banks were distributed. Now, the payment facility through bank accounts with the support of State Bank of Pakistan was being provided in seven districts of the country. It was a pilot project, after which the facility would be provided at all the banks registered under State Bank across the country.

He said the distribution of Benazir cards to the transgender persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been started. On this occasion, the aid amount was also handed over to first ever registered transgender of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa named Jahanzeeb alias Aroosa. Besides, the Bank Al-Falah’s ATM cards of Benazir Social Protection Accounts were distributed among other deserving women. He said all the transgender registered with NADRA would be able to get BISP cards.

Faisal Karim Kundi said that when he assumed the charge of ministry, the number of BISP beneficiaries in Dera Ismail Khan was 126,000. A dynamic survey was conducted after the last years flooding in the area and now the number of registered BISP beneficiaries was 165,000 in the district and the registration process was yet underway. “It was the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to make the country a welfare state,” he said and added that following that vision the Pakistan people’s Party (PPP), under the leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari, had launched the BISP in 2010. Today, the number of BISP beneficiaries across the country was nine million and this number would exceed 10 million figure after the completion of dynamic survey.

He said Rs 2500 per month school fee is being given to the girl child of the deserving family and Rs 2000 per month to the boy child which aimed at taking the women forward. Faisal Kundi said as many as 45 mobile vans would start working for survey across the country including one in Dera Ismail Khan from today as there were problems in some areas regarding the survey.