ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID
Addressing a press conference at Gilgit Press Club on Thursday, Jafarullah said data will be collected all over again to make sure no deserving person is left out. “The decision has been taken in view of widespread complaints from the people,” he added.
Flanked by lawmakers including Parliamentary Secretary for Law Aurangzeb Khan Advocate, opposition member Muhammad Shafi and others, Jafarullah said a large number of G-B’s underprivileged people were left out during previous surveys, violating the intention being the financial support programme.
The survey to assess poverty in G-B was conducted by NGO Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, a project funded by the Aga Khan Development Network. “The poor were deliberately ignored to accommodate the supporters of previous rulers,” Jafarullah contended.
The deputy speaker said a resolution will be passed in the legislative assembly to provide the initiative its legal cover. He said the legislators will reach out to the poor in every constituency of the region.
A total of 54,471 people are provided support under the BISP’s umbrella in G-B. 36,788 reside in Gilgit while the rest hail from Baltistan. BISP is a non-conditional cash transfer programme initiated by the Pakistan Peoples Party federal government in 2008.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2015.
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