OF all the efforts that the government of Pakistan has been able to put in for the poorest of the poor, there are two programmes that stand out.

One is the Benazir Income Support Programme and the other is the Utility Stores Corporation.

Since the former has the backing of powerful donors, its allocation has increased year after year. But the utility stores have been cut off from funding by the federal government, according to its own management, after some irregularities were discovered in the way that matters were being handled there.

There should be zero tolerance for any kind of irregularity in programmes that are designed to benefit the poorest segments of society, and when the managing director of the corporation admitted that an audit had revealed corruption to the tune of millions of rupees in the organisation, some corrective action obviously became necessary.

But simply cutting the corporation off from all subsidies is a heavy-handed response, particularly since the impact of this move hits the poorest the hardest.

The government would do well to heed the advice of the Senate committee that has called for a resumption of funding for the corporation.

Once again, while there should be no room for any kind of irregularity in the programme, funding should not be a casualty.

A more helpful response would be to initiate an inquiry, perhaps with donor support, into the machinery of the corporation and strengthen its internal controls.

An independent board has helped endow the BISP with some credibility, and perhaps that model can be followed at the corporation too.

It would be a travesty if due to neglect, the Utility Stores Corporation should have to be shut down altogether. The poor who rely on it to meet their daily needs have no alternative, and no voice in government to speak up for their interests.

The government should consider the consequences of its actions, and immediately seek to rectify the problem rather than amputate it altogether.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2016