Action to be taken against govt employees benefitting from BISP

Lists of provincial govt employees registered as BISP beneficiaries sent to chief secretaries, says Dr Sania Nishtar

KARACHI: Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) chairperson and Special Assistant to Prime Minister (PM) on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar has said that lists of all provincial government employees who were registered as BISP beneficiaries have been dispatched to the chief secretaries of all provinces so that disciplinary action could be taken against them.

She shared this while speaking at an open meeting held to address the issues of BISP beneficiaries in Malir on Saturday. Scores of women, registered for the programme and eligible of receiving financial assistance, were present on the occasion.

According to Nishtar, 140,000 government employees had been found to be wrongly registered as BISP beneficiaries. These included officials from Grade-1 to Grade-16 and even those ranked higher, she said, adding that some officials of the Pakistan Post too had been wrongly receiving financial assistance under the programme.

"However, a crackdown on the offenders has been initiated and it has been decided that disciplinary action will be taken against them," she said. She revealed that four Grade-17 officers had been suspended for benefitting from BISP and Rs400,000 collected from them. "The amount has been transferred to the national treasury," she said. Meanwhile, an inquiry was underway against two more officials, said Nishtar.

Addressing the women attending the meeting, Nishtar said that funds allocated to help the destitute were to be swelled on the directives of the PM. "They will now be provided Rs6,000, after an increase of Rs1,000," she added.

Nishtar said that the funds would be released in installments, with each installment being provided during the first week of every month.

Elaborating further, she said steps were also being taken to open bank accounts for those receiving financial assistance by the government. "Every woman will now have a bank account through which she will be able to withdraw money via ATM," said the PM's aide. Nishtar said that the government was to launch aid programmes for different segments under the Ehsaas project, adding that it intended to implement Kafalat programme to support poor women.