Benazir income support programme: Setting up social safety nets

ISLAMABAD: Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Marvi Memon has recommended the idea of a league of social safety nets through data sharing of people living below the poverty line in all Asian countries. Representing Pakistan in the Asia-Pacific Social Protection (APSP) Week held at Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters, Manila, she presented a bird’s-eye view of the evolution of BISP as a flagship social safety net system in the country. She said that BISP has developed a biometric payment mechanism with more than 250,000 touch points across the country that utilises both banks and branchless banking networks. Memon highlighted that under the Waseela-e-Taleem (WeT) initiative, a Conditional Cash Transfer program, 1.3 million children have been enrolled in schools. BISP has developed exportable experience and many countries have sought its assistance in establishing social security net programs, the chairperson concluded. She acknowledged the cooperation and assistance of ADB and other partner organisations in making BISP a success.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2016.

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