Daily Times

BADIN: About 65,000 women beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) are greatly inconvenienced due to the closure of ATMs across Badin District. Adding to their miseries, are corrupt officials and unreliable agents moving around more than 08 banks of Badin, including Habib Bank, United Bank Limited, Muslim Commercial Bank, Bank Al-Habib, JS Bank, Meezan Bank and Sonheri Bank for the disbursement of payment of stipend of BISP for its beneficiaries.

Every three months, the BISP beneficiaries have to visit an ATMs for withdrawal of their financial aid. However, during these days, various banks keep their ATMs closed thereby causing an onslaught at other functional machines.

Due to the rush caused by the large number of beneficiaries, banks’ managements usually decided to close all ATM machines, which created a pZanic among the BISP beneficiaries and also among the employees, who needed to withdraw their salaries from the ATM’s. Even though there are eight ATM counters, banks cannot cope with the ever increasing rush of the poor, destitute and elderly women coming from far-flung areas to collect their stipend. Owing to an unusual crowd of people, banks decided to close the ATM’s, which consequently added the worries of the beneficiaries. .

Hundreds of destitute women would come from far-flung areas to the ATMs on hired three-wheeler rickshaws or on motorcycles with their family members to get the monetary support for their families. Many of the rural women beneficiaries fall prey to agents, who would charge them a commission on the pretext of helping them draw their stipend quickly from the bank.

Many of the women beneficiary complained that agents would bring more than 50 BISP ATM cards and with the support of police guard, they managed to keep the ATM’s active for several hours. Sometimes even the bank management would disturb the withdrawal of funds by BISP recipients by saying they are replenishing cash causing a delay, and eventually machines would go out of order.