Visit to BISP office: World Bank team lauds cash transfer scheme

Indrawati is shown the steps of the BISP Debit Card distribution system.


News Desk August 03, 2015
World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks during a press conference at the end of her two-day mission. PHOTO: AFP

World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati has appreciated the efforts of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in running a successful cash transfer scheme targeting the poor through a scientific (PMT-based) method.

She was heading a delegation of the bank that called on the BISP Tehsil Officer Saddar in Lahore on Sunday, said a press release.

Indrawati was accompanied by the bank’s vice president for South Asia region Annette Dixon, Adviser to the MD David Warren, Country Director Rachid Benmessaoud and other team members.

The BISP (Punjab) Director General Sarah Saeed briefed the delegation about the functions and operations of the BISP and more specifically on how the BISP beneficiary women were being served at the tehsil level.

The guests were shown the steps of the BISP Debit Card distribution system and the newly launched complaint management system and elaborated the role of BISP partner organisations, ie, banks and National Database Registration Authority (NADRA).

Indrawati took keen interest in the operations of the BISP and personally interviewed a large number of BISP beneficiaries to understand their socio-economic background.

She also asked questions about the frequency and regularity of payments.

Most women apprised her of the significant contribution the cash transfer made to their household budgets especially towards food and education-related expenses and how these payments were making a difference in their and their families’ lives.

The World Bank official was highly impressed by the use of automated processes to issue the card initially and then to deal with subsequent challenges of the cash transfer recipients.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2015. 

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