ISLAMABAD: An international conference on National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) was held in Islamabad on Wednesday at the Benazir Income Support Programme headquarters to share the successes, experiences, and evolution of NSER.
The day long mega event featured presentations on different phases of NSER since 2008 and before, evolution of NSER from static to dynamic registry in Pakistan, sharing of national and international experiences, targeting and selection mechanism, Management Information (MIS). The conference also highlighted models of data sharing, partnerships on usage of NSER with different public and private institutions for targeted subsidies, employment generation, skill development, disaster management and welfare planning.
The conference was attended by parliamentarians, diplomats, development partners, academics, researchers, social activists, bureaucrats, national and international experts and a large number of students from NUST, NUML, COMSATS, Quaid-e-Azam University and other institutions.
The first of the four sessions of the conference was inaugurated by Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and the last session was concluded by Advisor to the Prime Minister, Sartaj Aziz. The second and third sessions were chaired by Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali and National Security Advisor, Gen. Nasir Janjua respectively.
The Speaker appreciated the methodology of BISP, which allowed for vital funds to be diverted to those who were very needy and poor; irrespective of political, religious, or other affiliations. He added that it was heartening to know that BISP was now moving towards another phase of targeting, with an improved design and dynamic approach towards targeting keeping in view the transient nature of poverty. He also assured his full support to BISP management in its operations and initiatives on behalf of the Government.
During his concluding address, Sartaj Aziz stated that the huge budget of BISP reflects the present government’s commitment to social protection in the country. Congratulating the Chairperson of BISP for taking the initiative and updating the NSER, he added that NSER not only provided accurate and transparent information on potential beneficiaries for social assistance programs, but also created links among multiple programs for which the potential beneficiaries could be eligible.
Minister of State and Chairperson BISP MNA Marvi Memon said that NSER, a national asset bigger than BISP, is being shared with all public and private sector organizations for the reduction of poverty and other development programs. Currently at number five in the world, BISP, under the PML (N) Government, commits to becoming number one in the field of targeting.
Country Director DFID, Ms. Joanna Reed while addressing the inaugural session stated that the UK government supports BISP because it takes aid to those who need it the most. She mentioned that UK watchdog Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) in its recent report had appreciated the coverage of BISP and added that the shifting of payments to a Biometric Verification System (BVS) and NSER update would make BISP the world leading organization of its kind striving for better lives.
Country Director of the World Bank, Illango Machapattu stated that BISP is recognized internationally as a successful social safety net program. Many countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Afghanistan and others have learned from BISP and the World Bank looks forward to the expansion of anit-poverty and financial inclusion agenda of BISP.
Briefing on the NSER update through resurvey, DG BISP Dr. Tahir Noor stated that door to door survey in 12 pilot districts will be completed by August 2017 followed by a national roll out in September 2017 and that would then be completed by early 2018. Desk registration in Naseerabad, Sukkar, Haripur and Bahawalpur has already shown tremendous results. This is the third phase of the NSER update after 2010-11 survey and registration through parliamentarians in 2008/09.
It was affirmed that to register the number one NSER in the world, Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) approach has been adopted instead of Paper Assisted Personal Interviewing (PAPI). The registration application has in built checks and balances capable of identifying errors. Bluetooth based synchronization of the enumerators and supervisors is a quality control feature that will ensure error free registration. In order to ensure complete coverage of the population, computer based enlisting with the help of Google maps will also be utilized. The addition of new questions in the questionnaire related to rural/urban distribution, agro climatic zones, transgender, chronic diseases, access to justice, vocational training will enhance the quality of data. The second session titled “Towards Creating the World’s Best NSER” discussed the various phases of NSER development, the evolution of BISP MIS and international experience towards dynamic NSER for Pakistan. The session highlighted the importance of a dynamic registry capable of reflecting the demographic changes with the passage of time.