BENAZIR INCOME SUPPORT PROGRAMME

A SERIOUS MEASURE OR CORRUPTION

Written by- Abid Hussain Advocate
Chairman, Human Voice Welfare Association
Benazir Income u!!ort "ro#ramme $as established by the %overnment of "a&istan throu#h
social safety net mechanism to contribute to the alleviation of !overty' It $as initiated to !ay
unconditional cash benefits of (s'),***+, to under!rivile#ed families, $ho are facin#
hardshi! by the hi#h inflation es!ecially of food items resultin# in reduction of their
!urchasin# !o$er, because such unconditional cash benefits could !otentially create
de!endency syndrome, but $ere not sustainable for a lon# time, hence this !ro#ramme $as
started to create o!!ortunities for these families to enable them to earn their livelihood
effectively and come out of !overty cycle'
As an strate#y, first of all Waseela-e-Ha- scheme $as started as one of the BI" initiatives'
.his $as a tar#eted scheme to !rovide loan amountin# u! to (s'/,**,***+, to the randomly
selected beneficiary families $ho $ere currently receivin# the cash transfers under BI" to
be validated throu#h the !ro#ramme eli#ibility criteria, Ho$ever, the loan for Waseela-e-Ha-
$ould su!!osed to only be used for establishin# mutually identified businesses'
In the mean$hile WA001A-0-0HA.2Health Insurance3 scheme $as also started for
im!rovin# access to health services and reducin# income from catastro!hic health shoc&s' It
$as su!!osed that 4icro Health Insurance !ro#ramme $ould !rovide the e5treme and
chronic under!rivile#ed $ith basic income su!!ort measures to access health care to co!e
$ith a variety of health shoc&s, and access to o!!ortunities for #raduatin# out of !overty
because more then 6* !ercent of the !eo!le in "a&istan, includin# many under!rivile#ed,
see& better -uality health care in the !rivate sector and !ay out of !oc&et and this im!oses
e5tra financial burden on the under!rivile#ed, resultin# in ine-uitable access to -uality health
care and relevant services includin# emer#ency services, mother and child health services,
hence to em!o$erin# them, Benazir Health Card $as launched throu#h
7ational+International Health Insurance Com!anies initially in )8 9istrict $here !overty
census has been com!leted'
Beside this WA001A-0-(:;%A(2Vocational < .echnical .rainin#3 scheme $as also
started' .he initiative aims of this scheme $ere to em!o$er female beneficiary or her
nominee by #ettin# dynamic and inte#rated technical education and vocational trainin#
service' .he vocational trainin# sector encom!asses both a reco#nized trainin# format that
leads to the develo!ment of a certificate-based s&ill, and a non-reco#nized rainin# such as in-
house or !roduct-based trainin# under the BI" frame$or&' ubse-uently, it $ould lead
to$ards ca!acity buildin# and !rofessional develo!ment'
BI" $as started by the a!!roval of %overnment of "a&istan under the Chairmanshi! of
enator =arzana (a>a' .he Head :ffice+Head ?uarter of this !ro#ramme $as set u! in Bloc&-
=, "a& ecretariat, Islamabad, $hereas the (e#ional :ffices $ere set u! in "un>ab,
Baluchistan, @hyber-"a&htoon&h$a, AA@ and indh' As !er the administrative set u! of this
!ro#ramme, 8 9%s are desi#nated, one in every !rovince and several 9irectors $ho are
ans$erable to the 9% of their res!ective !rovince' All the 9%s and 9irectors are !rovided
furnished offices alon# $ith staff members and millions of ru!ees are bein# s!ent on their
monthly e5!enses'
Bndoubtedly, it $as a very #ood !ro#ramme relatin# to the alleviation of !overtyC therefore,
first of all, this !ro#ramme $as !ublicized throu#h "rint and 0lectronic 4edias' "oor and
7eedy !eo!le from all over "a&istan $ere as&ed to #et themselves re#istered $ith this
!ro#ramme, in $hich above said schemes $ere introduced to them' .he tas& of re#istration
$or& $as desi#nated to the 9irector %eneral of every !rovince, $ho com!leted it $ith the
hel! of their 9irectors, each !rovided its o$n office' Whereu!on, millions of !oor !eo!le #ot
themselves re#istered ho!in# that they $ould be benefited monetarily by this !ro#ramme, but
the -uestion is $hether it is ha!!enin# as !er the !lan or notD :f course not, because the !oor
individuals or families are not #ettin# any amount, as !er the commitment of BI"' 7either
they are !rovided $ith (s'),***+- for their monthly e5!enses nor (s'/,**,***+, to start their
o$n small business, even after com!letin# their re#istration and receivin# re-uired trainin#
for runnin# small businesses as !er #iven+!ro!osed structure of the BI"' .he !eo!le have
been told to contact their local !ost offices to #et this amount' Conse-uently, old !oor ladies
and #ents in all over the country are &noc&in# the doors of their res!ective !ost offices for the
financial aid, but all in vain' .hey are even bein# maltreated and arenEt satisfactorily
ans$ered by the !ost offices staff, and no$ they are continuously !rotestin# in every !art of
the country' .heir ne$s and !hotos are flashin# in "rint and 0lectronic 4edias, but no action
or -uestion in this re#ard is risin# a#ainst the authorities of BI"' It is !ertinent to mention
here that this !ro#ram $as a!!roved by the "resident of "a&istan, but still there is no
accountability of the res!onsible of BI" from the !resident house, and on the other hand, the
Chair!erson of BI" =arzana (a>a often seen in the !rint and electronic medias claimin#
that she distributed million of ru!ees to the !oor !eo!le of "a&istan but no audit re!ort has
ever been !ublished in any ne$s!a!er for !ublic information'
Where have the funds of 4illion of (u!ees #oneD Why the !ost offices are not releasin# the
res!ective amount to the !oor !eo!le as an honest custodianD Has the amount still not
!rovided to the !ost offices by the hi#her authorities of the BI" to disburse :( the funds are
usur!ed by the !ost office officialsD Who are bein# benefited by this !ro#rammeD Why audit
re!ort of this !ro#ramme has ever been !ublished in ne$s!a!er for the #eneral !ublic
information + satisfactionD .hese im!ortant -uestions are still unans$ered'
I, on behalf of 7%: filed a Constitution "etition bearin# 7o'/FG6+G*)) in the Honorable
Hi#h Court of indh at @arachi for see&in# direction to the res!onsible of BI" for
immediate distribution of the res!ective amounts to the deservin#, ho$ever the (es!ondents
havenEt yet filed their comments + re!ly in the above !etition and are usin# delayin# tactics,
!erha!s they are $aitin# for the chan#e of #overnment, but I am ho!eful for a better
>ud#ment soon in favor of the !oor !eo!le of "a&istan'