ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi launched on Thursday the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Endowment Fund and Graduation Programme, announcing a grant of Rs1 billion for the fund.

The Graduation Programme of BISP is supported by $35 million grant of the Asian Development Bank.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the fund, the prime minister said that the government took pride in the programme that had seen an increase in allocation and cash transfers of over 50 per cent. He said the government was also committed to ridding the country of poverty and for this purpose a big budget had been allocated.

The prime minister said that under the graduation programme most deserving of the beneficiaries were being paid ‘direct cash’ to help them to stand on their own feet by launching their business and the initiative would play a key role in alleviating poverty to a great extent from society. He said he had high hopes from beneficiaries of the programme, adding they would contribute to the progress and prosperity of the country.

The prime minister said that he believed that allocations for the programme should be further increased and the initiative should focus on eliminating poverty in the next five years. Mr Abbasi appreciated the working of the BISP programme with an outreach of 5.7 million women. He also wished that the graduation programme, which is now targeting five districts, should be expanded to more districts.

Speaking on the occasion, BISP Chairperson Marvi Memon said that the BISP had Rs121 billion fund which was being used for unconditional cash transfers, conditional cash transfers such as Waseela-i-Taleem as well as some other complimentary initiatives to rid society of poverty and illiteracy. She said the main focus of the programme was on women’s empowerment.

Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan Jean-François Cautain said that the EU was a partner in development of Pakistan and it supported the changing field of the BISP from the cash transfer mechanism to the graduation model.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2018