BUNER: More than 3,000 women registered with the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Buner have not been paid.
Representatives of the group appealed on Sunday that they be paid the Rs12,000 that is owed to each of them.
“We are tired of coming to the BISP office. We have done whatever they asked, but they are still not giving us our money,” said Rehmat Bibi, protesting against the BISP scheme.
Angry and frustrated, she quipped, “The government got millions of dollars from the international community for the [army operation in Malakand] but they failed to solve our woes.”
Bakth Zeba, also protesting, complained they have had to spend more than four months in displacement because of the government.
“When we came back to our homes, the government started BISP which was successful initially. But later they stopped all support to us,” she said.
Around 75% of the women in Buner affected by the militancy are still deprived from the BISP, according to official sources. The women said that if their funds were not released soon they will take to the road for their rights.
BISP was initiated in 2008 and aims to supplement the income of impoverished families across the country. According to the programme’s website, it aims to target 40% of people in the country, who are below the poverty line. Families enrolled in the programme are “paid cash assistance of Rs1,000 per month at their doorsteps”, according to the website.
It is not just the BISP that has failed to provide relief to people in Buner. About 300 men in the district were allotted Watan Cards without any money in the accounts.
“We are about 300 men who have got the ATM cards but they are empty. We have visited BISP offices many times but all in vain,” said Azim Khan an affected person.
The Watan Card scheme was launched to help with the rehabilitation of flood victims. The cards can be used at all ATMs across the country and were meant to make the disbursement of cash easy.
Each card was good for Rs20,000 in the first phase, while Rs100,000 were to transferred to the account associated with each card in the second phase.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2012.
COMMENTS (4)
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In rural areas first Individual candidates has to buy votes with personal fortune now PPP has come up with this great idea of buying with the money of Government. This is the worst idea ever may be in the history of economics ensuring that poor people given identity of a poor and to remove a thing called self respect also to keep them poor forever. These approx. 50 billion rupees can be spent on industry, power sector, subsidies and micro production projects to remove the poverty. But it can really eliminate the poverty and illiteracy and these two things are guarantee for votes of PPP.
It sounds as though both the Benazir BISP card issued to women, and the Watan cards issued to men, are government funded Debit Cards.
Since about 300 men in the district were allotted Watan Cards without any money in the accounts, there is a distinct possibility that money has also not been allocated to the Benazir cards. Either the money was not allocated properly, or some corrupt individual(s) has figured out how to siphon money from these accounts, or the projects were implemented without rigorous testing to ensure that the would work in the "real" worlld.
It should be fairly easy to trace ALL transactions affecting the 300 Watan cards. An independent working group, including those who planned and implemented both systems, should trace all transactions to determine where the problems are, and how they should be fixed.
We will make these people beggers but not provide them education or jobs otherwise they may vote against PPP. We thrive on Poverty. Jiey PPP, Jiey Poverty!