Poverty survey in FATA next month

Survey to start from February, Waseela-i-Haq cheques distributed among women.

PESHAWAR: Poverty survey in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) will start from February. This was announced by Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Farzana Raja at while addressing a ceremony at the residence of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party provincial chief Syed Zahir Ali Shah here on Tuesday.

The ceremony was held to distribute cheques for Rs100,000 each to 120 women under the Waseela-i-Haq programme of the BISP.
Farzana Raja said that these families were given the first instalment to start their own businesses and give their children a brighter future.
“If these families properly utilise this amount they will get two more instalments after the end of the second and third month,” she said.

The BISP chief said that the alleviating of poverty was the main objective of the present government and there had been great progress on this front for the past two years.

She said that earlier 120, 140 and 100 cheques for Rs100,000 each had already been distributed in Dera Ghazi Khan, Lahore, and Sindh.

She said that BISP was the biggest social safety net programme that was successfully executed within a short span of two years and has facilitated over three million people.  The total number of families would be increased to five million by June, she said, adding that the hallmark of the programme was its transparency and initiation of mobile phone banking was part of it.

“We are giving rights to those living below the poverty line and it is a step towards making Pakistan a welfare state.”

She said BISP was not only limited to giving Rs1,000 per month to poor families, but is also included life insurance of Rs100,000 for all five million families. Raja said that in case of death of a beneficiary, State Life Insurance will pay the family Rs100,000 within 15 days.

She said that a member of each of five million families will be provided technical and vocational education, adding that 300 students from Bannu and Karak districts were already getting education under this program. She said that 10,000 persons will get technical and vocational training under this scheme by June 2011.

She said the government has launched Health Insurance under the BISP that, “will be available to all participating families and Rs25,000 will be provided to these families for treatment at any hospital,” she said.

Notably, victims of terrorism across the country have also been included as beneficiaries of BISP.

Sarwar Khan, a resident of Dera Ismail Khan who travelled to Peshawar to get his check told the Express Tribune that he was very happy to get it and will use it to start his own business, adding that BISP was a ray of hope for poor people like him.

Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan, Minister for Excise and Taxation Liaqat Shabab, MNAs, Senators, MPA and large number of PPP workers were present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.