Spouses of govt staff allegedly misuse BISP

It has been revealed that the wives of several government employees in Matiari district were receiving financial assistance under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), prompting authorities to begin recovery of the funds through deductions from salaries.

According to sources, the issue came to light after it was found that spouses of employees from various departments—including police, health, education, irrigation, SCARP division, and the deputy commissioner's office—had been receiving BISP payments despite not meeting eligibility criteria.

More than 600 such cases have reportedly been identified, following which concerned authorities took immediate notice of the matter. Approximately three months ago, the BISP chairperson had written to the Accountant General (AG) offices, highlighting the names of government employees whose spouses were illegally benefiting from the programme.

Following this correspondence, recovery proceedings have now been initiated. Sources said that the recovered amounts are being deducted directly from the salaries of the concerned employees.

So far, recoveries include over Rs729,000 from 45 employees of the SCARP department, Rs252,000 from 15 employees of the deputy commissioner's office, Rs685,000 from 42 employees of the irrigation department, Rs224,000 from 14 employees of executive engineers, and over Rs694,000 from 17 employees of the education department.

The recovered funds will be returned to the Benazir Income Support Programme.