Angry women protested against the illegal deduction from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) allocation and attacked the director of BISP and device holders in Badin.
The director and staff were forced to flee by climbing over the center's boundary wall to escape the fury of the enraged beneficiaries.
According to reports, the protest erupted at the BISP center set up at Badin Technical College during a visit by Taufiq Channa, Director of BISP. As soon as Channa arrived, dozens of women who had gathered to receive their payments began shouting slogans and physically attacking device holders, accusing them of deducting portions of their cash disbursements.
Eyewitnesses reported that some device holders were caught and beaten by the women, who forced them to publicly apologize. Staff at the center had to help the director scale the wall to escape, after which the disbursement of funds was suspended.
Sources claim that an estimated Rs440 million is illegally deducted from installments meant for over 150,000 women in the district each cycle. Allegations suggest that these funds are being pocketed by a nexus of device operators, BISP officials, local police, and so-called social activists and journalists.
Three device operators were reportedly arrested earlier after an Express Newspaper report prompted action from local authorities, but no permanent solution has been implemented, and complaints of deductions persist.
Meanwhile, the device holders have offered a justification of their own, claiming they are forced to pay kickbacks to political figures, local influentials, and others - including police and journalists - leaving them with no choice but to deduct amounts from beneficiaries.
Following the chaos, all disbursements at the Technical College center were halted.
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