ISLAMABAD: The government under its social protection programme has increased financial assistance for the poorest of the poor to Rs8,500 from Rs7,000.

The financial assistance being provided by the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is aimed to enable those living below poverty line fulfill their daily use requirements.

The government has also released the three-month quarterly installment of January to March 2023 to its beneficiaries.

At present, as many as nine million deserving poor women are registered as beneficiaries for the assistance.

The government has appropriated an amount of Rs73.8 billion for the first installment of the current year.

Apart from this, the government has also released first installment for the scholarships under the BISP educational stipends meant for the school-going children of registered beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries from Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and those living within the federal capital territory will receive their amount from the designated branches of Habib Bank Limited ATM and other distribution centres whereas those from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan have been advised to receive their payments from Bank Al-Falah.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2023