Daily Times

ABBOTTABAD: The Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) has finally initiated the long awaited payment process to more than 52 service providers of Waseela-e-rozgar scheme after the clearance of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which was lying pending for the last three years.

The Waseela-e-Rozgar programme of the BISP was launched in September 2011 aimed at imparting vocational training to 70,000 beneficiaries, out of which 57,817 beneficiaries have been provided training under the programme.

The overall estimated financial liability against the Waseela-e-rozgar programme for the training cost of 52 training providers includes Training Cost, Examination fee & provision of tool kits and beneficiaries’ stipend which tantamount to 808 million rupees which has been lying pending after closure of the programme just after change of the previous PPP government.

This includes 477 million outstanding payments to service providers, 236 million rupees as stipend to beneficiaries and 95 million rupees as examination fee and provision of tool kits to the trainees.

The Waseela-e-rozgar Vocational and Technical Training scheme is part of the Benazir Income Support Programme, started by the PPP-led government in memory of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The scheme provides stipends to several trainees to learn vocational skills so that they can attain gainful employment for themselves. It utilises the services of private sector trainers to impart those skills to the trainees.

The payment process has reportedly started after the clearance of the National Accountability Bureau as earlier certain allegations had been levelled against the scheme. It has been learnt that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in its letter No. R 501226/12/IW-1/inq/040714/2(366) dated September 2, 2016 clearly stated that no investigation has been pending against Waseela-e-rozgar scheme of BISP .

The NAB responded to the query of one Ektaara international charitable education foundation letter dated 01.08.2016 wherein the applicant has requested to clarify whether Waseela-erozgar programme is under investigation at this bureau. Earlier BISP authorities were reluctant to make outstanding payments to the training providers by claiming that investigation proceeding has been going on against Waseela-e-rozgar scheme.

Director BISP Asif Munir, who has been looking afterv the affairs of Waseela-e-rozgar scheme, when contacted about the latest development has confirmed that the process has been initiated for the clearance of outstanding liabilities of Waseela-e-rozgar scheme, which was pending for the last three years. He also confirmed about the clearance letter from NAB & asked the service providers to show their patience for some time. He commented that Chairperson BISP and Secretary BISP were sympathetically considering the liabilities and willing to pay the outstanding amount.

Meanwhile the Human Rights Committee of the Senate of Pakistan raised this issue as a special item in the requisitioned meeting held a few days back in which the Secretary BISP was called for a reply. The issue was raised by Senator Farhatullah Baber. The representatives of service providers failed to attend the meeting as they were not informed. The Human rights committee asked to call the representatives of service providers for briefing in the next meeting. Most of the service providers come from working class backgrounds and have been facing financial hardship & are under personal debt. Abdul Sattar Khatak, one of the training providers at Karak told this correspondent that BISP authorities had been forcing us to take the extreme step to commit suicide in front of their office.” We have lost everything including our business & education of our children just for the reason that we have signed agreements with BISP during the previous PPP regime,” he added.

Ammanullah Khan from ICMS college system Peshawar said that there was no justification of non payment to service providers after completion of a ‘tracer study’ by the BISP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where everything was found in order including verification of the institute, attendance of trainees and quality of training etc. Syed Arsalan Ali, a service provider from Balochistan under the banner of Prest One institute claimed that they had been struggling to get their legitimate right for the last three years, but no one was listening to their woes.