Timely disbursement: Door-to-door survey in 12 districts soon

BISP chairman says payment mechanism is being shifted to biometric verification system

ISLAMABAD: A door-to-door survey would soon be launched in 12 pilot districts soon followed by the national roll out of the National Social Economic Survey (NSER).

This was stated by Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairman Marvi Memon on Saturday as she visited various payment points and the houses of recipients in Skardu, Shigar and Khaplu districts of Gilgit-Baltistan.

“BISP is fully committed to timely disburse funds to beneficiaries through the banks, interact with the beneficiaries and gain first-hand information regarding their satisfaction level with the service delivery and customer care,” Memon remarked.

She pointed out that BISP had recently released its quarterly payments worth Rs25 billion in the last week of December 2016.

Since payments in Skardu, Shigar and Khaplu are made through debit cards, Memon visited different ATMs and point of sales (POS) centres.

The BISP chairman, while interacting with officials in Khaplu, said that the welfare organisation was conducting a new National Social Economic Survey (NSER).

In this regard, she said the pilot phase of survey was underway in four districts where desks have been set up to register people. A door-to-door survey will be launched in 12 pilot districts soon, followed by the national roll out.

Locals expressed their reservations about the new survey and poverty scorecard.

She said that BISP was shifting its payment mechanism to Biometric Verification System (BVS) for payments. Currently, 83.9% of beneficiaries withdraw their stipends through debit cards, while 13% use the biometric mechanism and 3% receive their funds through Pakistan Post.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2017.