In the land of the poor, the destitute justify taking what’s meant for flood survivors
Poverty drives women to the general post office in Sukkur, where compensation of Rs4,000 is being distributed.
SUKKUR:
Floor survivors or not, poverty was enough to drive hundreds of women to the general post office in Sukkur, where flood relief compensation of Rs4,000 was being distributed among the Benazir Income Support Programme (Bisp) beneficiaries. The government has announced compensation of Rs12,000 for flood-affected Bisp beneficiaries, which will be distributed among them in three equal installments.
“I have been standing here for the last four hours waiting for the clerk to call out my name so I can get my Rs4,000,” said Feroza Shaikh, a resident of Bachal Shah Miani near Sukkur. She said that the postman in her area told her to come to the post office on Monday to get the compensation.
The post office clerk asked them to bring two photocopies of their CNICs and then to form a queue, said Feroza. “I’m standing here but I can’t seem to get near the window,” she added. The queue was not moving mostly because it was laden with women who were not flood survivors.
Razia Begum, who had come from the Clock Tower area, said that she was also a Bisp beneficiary. Was she affected by the flood? “No, but I’m very poor,” she replied. Razia felt that since she was getting Rs1,000 under the income support programme, she was also entitled to the additional flood survivor compensation.
Shakoora Begum and Saeeda, both residents of Station Road, Sukkur, had also come to get their first installments, even though they too had been untouched by the floods. “My husband is disabled and I have to work hard just to make ends meet,” Shakoora said. Saeeda, a mother of five, had the same sentiment. “My son only earns Rs4,000 a month, which is not enough for our family,” she said to justify standing in line.
Little do these women know that the government plans to take the money right back from them once they have figured out the right data on flood survivors. When the director of the Bisp programme in Sukkur and Larkana divisions, Dr Ghulam Qasim Bughio, was asked about the Bisp beneficiaries who had not been hit by the flood but were still gathered outside the post office to get the additional Rs4,000, he admitted that these people will actually end up getting the money meant for flood survivors. This is because the government’s data has not been updated, he explained, adding that later the Rs4,000 will be deducted from the monthly income of those people on “easy installments” of Rs1,000 every four months.
Why not wait till the database was updated to avoid this inconvenience? “Because then the process would have been delayed and according to the government’s orders, we have to distribute the money now,” answered the director.
“We have to distribute this amount to 20,000 beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme,” said the chief post master, Syed Ghulam Abbas Tahir. He explained that they had decided not to send the amount to the homes of rightful beneficiaries because they had earlier received complaints that the postmen who delivered the money would ask for bribes. The solution, they had felt, was to simply ask the flood survivors to come to the post office.
There are 20,000 registered Bisp beneficiaries in Sukkur city, said Dr Bughio. The aim of the programme is to help those families who are living under the poverty line, said Bughio. According to him, the government is distributing Rs3,000 every four months to 1,300,000 beneficiaries in Sukkur and Larkana divisions.
Dr Bughio also rebuffed allegations of corruption in his department. Shifting the burden onto the post office, he said that some postmen try to take bribes from the beneficiaries.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2010.
Floor survivors or not, poverty was enough to drive hundreds of women to the general post office in Sukkur, where flood relief compensation of Rs4,000 was being distributed among the Benazir Income Support Programme (Bisp) beneficiaries. The government has announced compensation of Rs12,000 for flood-affected Bisp beneficiaries, which will be distributed among them in three equal installments.
“I have been standing here for the last four hours waiting for the clerk to call out my name so I can get my Rs4,000,” said Feroza Shaikh, a resident of Bachal Shah Miani near Sukkur. She said that the postman in her area told her to come to the post office on Monday to get the compensation.
The post office clerk asked them to bring two photocopies of their CNICs and then to form a queue, said Feroza. “I’m standing here but I can’t seem to get near the window,” she added. The queue was not moving mostly because it was laden with women who were not flood survivors.
Razia Begum, who had come from the Clock Tower area, said that she was also a Bisp beneficiary. Was she affected by the flood? “No, but I’m very poor,” she replied. Razia felt that since she was getting Rs1,000 under the income support programme, she was also entitled to the additional flood survivor compensation.
Shakoora Begum and Saeeda, both residents of Station Road, Sukkur, had also come to get their first installments, even though they too had been untouched by the floods. “My husband is disabled and I have to work hard just to make ends meet,” Shakoora said. Saeeda, a mother of five, had the same sentiment. “My son only earns Rs4,000 a month, which is not enough for our family,” she said to justify standing in line.
Little do these women know that the government plans to take the money right back from them once they have figured out the right data on flood survivors. When the director of the Bisp programme in Sukkur and Larkana divisions, Dr Ghulam Qasim Bughio, was asked about the Bisp beneficiaries who had not been hit by the flood but were still gathered outside the post office to get the additional Rs4,000, he admitted that these people will actually end up getting the money meant for flood survivors. This is because the government’s data has not been updated, he explained, adding that later the Rs4,000 will be deducted from the monthly income of those people on “easy installments” of Rs1,000 every four months.
Why not wait till the database was updated to avoid this inconvenience? “Because then the process would have been delayed and according to the government’s orders, we have to distribute the money now,” answered the director.
“We have to distribute this amount to 20,000 beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme,” said the chief post master, Syed Ghulam Abbas Tahir. He explained that they had decided not to send the amount to the homes of rightful beneficiaries because they had earlier received complaints that the postmen who delivered the money would ask for bribes. The solution, they had felt, was to simply ask the flood survivors to come to the post office.
There are 20,000 registered Bisp beneficiaries in Sukkur city, said Dr Bughio. The aim of the programme is to help those families who are living under the poverty line, said Bughio. According to him, the government is distributing Rs3,000 every four months to 1,300,000 beneficiaries in Sukkur and Larkana divisions.
Dr Bughio also rebuffed allegations of corruption in his department. Shifting the burden onto the post office, he said that some postmen try to take bribes from the beneficiaries.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2010.