ISLAMABAD: Taking to the Twitter Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar stated: “4 grade 17 BISP officers dismissed from service on charges of corruption & misconduct as they got their wives enrolled as BISP beneficiaries fraudulently, using their position in BISP. Rs 440,196 has been recovered as part of Ehsaas Integrity & anti corruption drive”.
According to details those dismissed include Muhammad Nouman Zaheem, Assistant Director BISP, Tehsil Parova, Dera Ismail Khan, Shafi ullah, Assistant Director Tehsil office, Dera Ismail Khan, Syed Fazle Amin , Assistant Director Tehsil office Abbotabad and Sabeel Khan, Assistant Director, Tehsil office Palas, Abbotabad.
Earlier she negated the rumors that Nafisa Shah (daughter of former CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah) was in the list of people who have benefited from BISP: “I can confirm Nafisa Shah is not in the list of people who have benefited from BISP Pakistan. We should all rise above political differences to speak the truth; support reform and anti-corruption efforts in the interest of Pakistan and its most disadvantaged poor people.”
Relevant pieces published earlier:
Over 800,000 names of ‘undeserving’ persons removed from BISP database
25th of December, 2020
ISLAMABAD: At a Cabinet Meeting held yesterday (Tuesday 24th of December, 2019) Fed. Govt. has given approval to remove 820,165 names of undeserving persons from the database of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
According to details the decision was made when Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar had informed the Cabinet that the database of the BISP was being revised to exclude undeserving persons with the help of NADRA.
Cabinet was informed that the changes in BISP database were made in the wake of reservations expressed by some cabinet members in the previous meetings. It had been noted that PPP-P supporters were benefiting from the BISP while PTI workers were being ignored. It is pertinent to mention here that according to 2016 data there are 5.4 million beneficiaries of BISP (that was initiated back in 2008).
Cabinet was apprised that those who had over 12 acres of land did not fall in the category of deserving people. After the exclusion of 820,165 people, really deserving people would be included in the program.
Revamping BISP structure needed
24th of December, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Chairperson, Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), Dr. Sania Nishtar Sunday expressed her commitment to revamp the structure of the program through strengthening it as a social safety net, making it more transparent, plugging critical systems gaps and putting organizational governance in order.
The meeting of BISP Board will be held on December 24 with a vision to devise strategies with a view to strengthening fiduciary systems, financial management, and procurement systems, internal controls, and capacity and systems for planning, she said in a statement.
The BISP is a Pakistan’s largest safety net institution, which currently runs a PKR 125 Billion income-support program for 5.7 million poor women with an envisaged impact for over 37 million individuals, nationally.
She said BISP has many legacy issues, which were tried by the successive managements to address. Several gaps have been plugged, but many critical gaps remain to be closed, she added. She said BISP’s payment mechanism needs a redesign besides strengthening it.
Dr. Sania Nishtar said her priority is to institutionalize risk management and assurance, transparency, and culture of evidence-based decision-making. She said she is deeply conscious that those that benefit from the program are voiceless, which is why beneficiary empowerment and respect is also high on the list of priorities. In this regard, she expressed her commitment to work with the Board and management to reform BISP’s systems pillars.
Once critical gaps are plugged, the existing safety net system can be expanded, and the adequacy of the benefits can be increased as per government policy, especially with regard to complementary investments for human capital development (conditional cash transfers for nutrition, health, and education) and graduation programs, she said. In addition, demand-side safety net instruments can be introduced for protection against crises and catastrophic shocks, a salient safety net feature.
She said “I envision BISP as a dynamic digital Social Protection ecosystem for the future. In such an ecosystem, it would be possible to develop targeted policy interventions and deliver precise means-tested benefits to the poor and vulnerable by employing big data analysts and by tracking real-time information about the evolution of the beneficiary status, to make social protection adaptive.”
This will enable time-bound support for income stabilization and protection against catastrophic shocks on the one hand, and the creation of economic opportunities to decrease welfare-dependency, through relevant partnerships, on the other, she added.
In addition, this will also move Pakistan closer to delivering on it’s a global commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 1.3, which entails “ [developing] nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all”, Dr. Sania Nishtar said.
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