Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has failed to disburse $430 million under the Social Protection Development Project despite a lapse of more than three years.

Daily Times learnt that BISP disbursed only $123 million to 5.3 million beneficiaries until November 2016. BISP identified 7.2 million poor families (23% of the total population) for the project on the basis of a nationwide poverty scorecard survey.

Documents indicate that the Asian Development Bank and the government had signed social protection development project agreement worth $430 million in November 2013 to less income and non-income families in Pakistan.

Under the project, the BISP has to disburse $430 million for education, health and public sector management. In this agreement, $80 million were earmarked for health and education and rest of the money was allocated for social protection initiatives.

“No meetings have been held between the ADB and BISP officials for utilisation of $80 million. BISP is of the view that after devolution this matter has been transferred to provinces. This issue was also discussed in BISP board meetings but it has failed to give any alternative,” sources said.

First, the BISP failed in distributing $80 million and secondly it also failed in reaching remaining 2 million poor people in the stipulated time. The ADB and BISP discussed the issue and it was decided that ADB will provide five-quarter amount to the newly enrolled beneficiaries.

Sources added that in spite of failing to enroll new beneficiaries, the BISP and ADB enhanced the disbursement to already enrolled people and reimbursed the amount. The Finance Ministry took this opportunity and used the disbursed $174 million for budgetary support.

According to documents, the project will enable the expansion of the cash transfer programme (paid to the female head of targeted poor families) by registering an additional 2.4 million eligible families and financing the first few quarters of their cash transfers. In addition, it will support the strengthening and phased expansion of the pilot health insurance and skills development programmes to increase income and good health for targeted families.

The project will provide technical support and finance part of the scaling-up costs of both programs using a performance-based allocation. The substantial fiduciary risk of the project will be mitigated through the strengthening of BISP financial management systems and capacity.