ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Poverty Alleviation Faisal Karim Kundi on Tuesday said the government had released Rs55 billion to beneficiaries registered under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) following last year’s floods.

Apart from this, an amount of Rs13 billion has also been released under the Waseela-i-Taleem Programme for scholarships to the children of BISP beneficiaries, the minister said.

Each of the BISP registered beneficiary is entitled to Rs7,000 financial assistance. All the beneficiaries should approach the nearest BISP distribution centres for their financial assistance, the minister advised.

The beneficiaries will receive full payments and not a single rupee has been cut from this assistance, Mr Kundi said.

Strict action will be taken against anyone found involved in deduction from the financial assistance of the beneficiaries, he said.

“If there is any such complaint, the beneficiaries should immediately contact the BISP office,” he advised.

The SAPM also said that cards of about 100,000 beneficiaries had been blocked by the previous PTI government and promised that these people would be re-registered for financial assistance if they fulfill the required criteria.

He said that BISP had been conducting its dynamic survey with a special focus on the people displaced and affected by the last year’s devastating floods.

Preparations are underway and prime minister and foreign minister will be invited to inaugurate the survey, he said.

Mr Kundi also blamed the flour crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on the PTI provincial government.

KP produces one million ton wheat whereas its requirement is four million tons. Accordingly, three million tons are being provided by the Punjab but now the latter has stopped the supply, he said. Both these provincial governments are in the control of Imran Khan. Punjab should immediately release flour to KP, he demanded.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2023