Only time will tell if the Benazir income support programme is going to deliver its intended relief to the poor of the poorest families in the country. As it is, it faces a number of problems that are inherent in the prevailing system and have dogged past schemes to lessen the burden of poverty.

The idea of targeted subsidy to the poor was first conceived by some economists led by Qaiser Bengali who estimated that some 3 million families across the country were on the verge of starvation and struggling to survive the hyperinflation. He wanted to make the system apolitical but before such a system could be put in place he was shown the door and PPP MNA Farzana Raja was appointed the chairperson of the programme with the status of federal minister. This could politicise the programme as well as making it highly expensive administratively what with federal minister heading it with provincial coordinators and the paraphernalia of supporting offices and staff. Although Mr Qaiser Bengali has been retained on the policy board, he could only be an intellectual voice with no authority.

Critics and policy think tanks who are watching the developments are of the opinion that after utilisation of Rs34 billion the system could collapse as it does not stand on a sound and viable footing. It suffers from some critical shortcomings as only women with a valid computerized national identity card (CNIC) could avail this facility. This immediately excludes a large number of the needy women who do not have this card and the policy itself runs against the cultural ethos in at least the backward tribal and rural regions where most of the target families should be living. The logic of limiting entitlement for the scheme to only women may have some propaganda value as a liberal measure but it is surely not a pragmatic approach. Moreover, all government and opposition MNAs are aware of the fact that women have not acquired CNICs for cultural reasons and were barred from voting for this reason.

In fact, there was an unwritten agreement between secular and religious parties to keep women off voting. Basing the programme on women was going to be counter-productive as it would keep a substantial number of families barred from availing the relief under it.

While it is true that the temptation to avail the relief fund will make many women get themselves registered with Nadra and thus improve the data base on poverty but since that is not the main objective of the programme its real purpose of providing relief to the poorest would be jeopardized by its gender basing.

However, the ID card condition can be improved if Nadra appoints women staff to register women population in the countryside probably without the photograph condition.

Again the idea of equal distribution of the programme money among the provinces is said to lack strategic thinking as due to this Punjab will have the largest share of the fund. There is no distributive strategy targetting the rural poor vis-à-vis urban areas or between developed and less developed districts.

Under the scheme, 1,640,000 families would get the assistance in Punjab province followed by 776,000 in Sindh, 520,000 in NWFP, and 312,000 in Balochistan. Moreover, 160,000 families will get assistance under the scheme belonging to Fata, 48,000 in the federal capital territory and 80,000 minorities across the country.

The Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) has been kept excluded from the programme, though the PPP has a strong following in the area.

The distribution of Rs1,000 per month (Rs33 per day) is not a long-term solution to the prevailing poverty in the country. Unless the government encouraged setting up of industries and other business activities to generate employment it would be difficult to overcome the menace of poverty with cash assistance. While the scheme may help in maneuvering the employment figures by claiming to have reduced unemployment in the country, more gray areas are there in the system as the function or power of the committee or officials involved in the whole process have not been defined. However, the forms will be distributed by MNAs and senators after rechecked by Nadra and the money will be delivered through post offices.

Still, with all its present defects the programme is being seen as a welcome measure and could be helpful in bringing some relief to the poorest of the poor if its politicization, over centralization and bureaucratic handling could be eliminated through transparency and ensuring that the money does not end up in the pockets of PPP stalwarts.