Punjab disappoints its beneficiaries

Around 600 beneficiaries of the Waseela-e-Haq programme have been given their first installment while the rest wait.

LAHORE: Around 600 beneficiaries of the Waseela-e-Haq loan programme have been given their first installment of Rs50,000, while the rest are waiting for the government to fulfil its promise.

There are 3,600 beneficiaries of Waseela-e-Haq, an offshoot of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), in parts of Punjab whose names had been included in 14 ballots so far, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The authorities say that BISP is working on a transparent strategy on how to disburse the money among the deserving people.

The loan programme was launched in September 2009 to provide loans of up to Rs300,000 to one beneficiary from each commune after balloting from the list of BISP beneficiaries. One household from each commune is entitled for Waseela-e-Haq, while the number of BISP beneficiaries in one commune is 3,000.

BISP data from Punjab shows that the number of beneficiaries receiving Rs1,000 per month is 1,321,891. Punjab has been divided into eight divisions and the federal government has so far disbursed Rs14.8 billion among people listed in the BISP and Waseela -e- Haq schemes.

In Lahore division, of a total of 173,000 BISP beneficiaries, around 714 communes have been listed for Waseela-e-Haq. Of these 714 communes, only 90 households have been given the first instalment of Rs50,000 so far.

“The basic aim of Waseela-e-Haq is to provide and enhance small businesses,” said BISP Lahore regional director Chaudhry Muhammad Khalid. He said that the BISP has recently started its National Poverty Survey in Punjab and data is being collected for all households. “After the survey more households for BISP and Waseela-e-Haq schemes will be enrolled,” he said.

Khalid added that out of Lahore’s estimated population of 8.2 million, 1.2 million are the number of estimated households to be helped. He said that this was the first-ever initiative to empower the country’s women.

“The Rs300,000 loan has to be returned in 15 years,” he added. People will get their money through a cheque from the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund.

Rana Muhammad Asghar, one of Waseela-e-Haq’s beneficiaries, told The Express Tribune that his mother’s name has been announced for the programme. “After the announcement, the Rs 1,000 that we were receiving under BISP has been cancelled,” he said.

Some people are not optimistic about the loan programme. Punjab University’s dean of economics and management science department, Dr Zafar Iqbal Jadoon, said: “Unfortunately in Pakistan, schemes like BISP and its offshoot the Waseela-e-Haq, seem to be attractive but are not tailored for the long haul.”

In his opinion the BISP will probably not sustain itself because it was crafted without proper planning or a comprehensive study. “If the government is serious about eradicating poverty then it should utilise all funds allocated for BISP in the education sector and try to create more jobs.” He added that the government should initiate a microfinance scheme like that in Bangladesh.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2010.