ISLAMABAD: The First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari received a comprehensive briefing on Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) at Parliament House here on Monday.

She was informed that the National Socio-Economic Registry contained data on 38.7 million households, that 23 million households have updated their information under the Dynamic Registry, and that the recent recertification exercise has identified more than 3.5 million new potentially eligible families. But BISP is currently providing financial assistance to only 12 million households.

The briefing also highlighted that under the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif Programme, educational support is being extended to 12.4 million children linked to a minimum 70 per cent school attendance condition, while the Benazir Nashonuma Programme is providing assistance to approximately two million pregnant and lactating women and children under the age of two, with 52,000 adolescent girls additionally included under a pilot phase.

It was informed that the Benazir Hunarmand Programme, launched by President Asif Ali Zardari and First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, is providing free skills training to deserving individuals, with more than 7,000 have already been enrolled in the programme.

On the digital front, more than 10 million beneficiaries are being connected to the formal financial system through Digital Social Protection Wallets under the Prime Minister’s Cashless Economy initiative, with more than 8.5 million free SIMs distributed and linked to wallets, and over 410,000 beneficiaries having received digital and financial literacy training.

Speaking on the occasion, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari said that the Benazir Income Support Programme stands as a lasting reflection of the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to provide support and opportunity to vulnerable segments of society.

She emphasized efforts be made to strengthen transparency, financial inclusion and service delivery through ongoing reforms.Effective social protection programmes play a vital role in supporting deserving families and enabling women to participate more fully in economic and social life, she said.

Dputy Speaker National Assembly Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, MNA Ms. Shazia Marri and MNA Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2026