IN the year 2022, I got myself enrolled in a four-month Certification in Information Technology (CIT) course under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for which I was to receive a monthly grant of Rs5,000 and a certificate on completion at the end of the course. I was part of a batch that had about 150 studnets. The entire batch completed the course without receiving a single penny.

Unfortunately, eight months have passed, and, after much hue and cry, the trainees have received Rs3,500, and have been told that this amount settles their two-month stipend. How can one settle an outstanding amount of Rs10,000 with Rs3,500? Is this fair at all? No, it is not. It can never be. And, by the way, what about the stipend for the two remaining months? Looks like somebody has settled the balance amount of Rs10,000 by paying Rs0. Is that the case?

Despite having lodged complaint after complaint for the last about 18 months, we have very little cue as to what we should now do. All we can do is to hope that somebody relevant somewhere in the country would actually read these lines and decide to come to our rescue.

Aliza Khalid
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2023