Administrative issues: Government misses first quarter BISP disbursement target

This came amid govt’s inability to appoint permanent BISP secretary

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government has missed its first quarter cash transfer target for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), depriving some 372,000 families that would have come under the social security net.

Against the budgetary target of distributing Rs24.1 billion among five million families, the government could only disburse Rs20.7 billion among 4.63 million families from July to September, according to data compiled by the BISP Secretariat.

The target was missed amid the government’s inability to appoint a permanent secretary in the BISP Secretariat – one of the reasons behind depriving needy people of Rs1,500 per month stipend.

The federal government had slashed allocations for the BISP by one-tenth to Rs67.7 billion against the budgetary allocations of Rs75 billion for the fiscal year that ended on June 30. That had deprived as many as 506,944 families of the promised monthly cash assistance.

For the financial year 2014-15, the government has allocated Rs97.5 billion for the BISP and was supposed to disburse slightly over Rs24 billion in the first quarter. It is also supposed to increase the total beneficiaries to 5.3 million by June next year.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed quarterly indicative ceilings on BISP disbursements aimed at ensuring that the government gives what it promises.

Of the Rs20.7 billion disbursed by the government in the first quarter, the maximum amount of Rs5.9 billion was disbursed through United Bank Limited. Habib Bank Limited disbursed Rs4.2 billion, Tameer Bank Rs4.4 billion, Bank Alfalah Rs3.8 billion, Pakistan Post Rs1.3 billion and Sindh Bank Rs166.5 million. The banks charge 3% service charges on the cash transactions.



According to officials, the target was missed, not because of a lack of funds, but because of administrative issues. They said new beneficiaries could not be added to the existing list until fresh Benazir Debit Cards were issued.

For the disbursements, the BISP had a contract with six banks which expired in the last fiscal year. It was hoped that a new contract would be signed by the end of June, but this never materialised, officials said. They added that the existing arrangement with six banks has been extended for the time being.

According to the officials, these administrative issues remain unresolved because the BISP has no administrative head. Although, Anver Beg is the chairman of the BISP, the programme’s administrative and financial powers rest with its secretary. According to the BISP Act, the secretary is the ex-officio member of the board and principal accounting officer, thus all powers rest with him.

The secretary’s post has been vacant for months. The finance ministry had given the acting charge to one of its additional secretaries, but that too expired.

The BISP has to sign fresh contracts with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and select banks through a transparent process. This cannot be done until the government appoints a permanent secretary, said the officials. They added that there was also confusion over the BISP board.

The government has recently appointed four new private members on the board. But the board is still short of its nine-member strength. According to some officials, one view is that the ministers for finance and water and power are ex-officio members of the BISP board. But other officials said they were no longer members as the previous board was dissolved on October 9.


Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2014.