ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: The government will formally launch the Benazir Income Support Programme on Thursday.

Under the programme, the government will provide first-ever direct cash relief of Rs1,000 per household to some 3 million poorest of the poor of the country to off set negative effects of the rocketing prices of food items, unemployment and the under-paid labourers.

Launching of the programme announced in the national budget in June had been twice delayed. It was earlier scheduled to be launched on August 14 and then before Eid-ul-Fitr.Briefing the media about the programme, Minister for Information Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday that the programme had been kept separate from Zakat and Baitul Mal.

She said special feature of the programme was that the support amounts would be disbursed among women households instead of male members to ensure empowerment of women.

The minister said a number of international monetary and donor agencies had shown interest in providing financial support to the programme.

She said more deserving people would be covered under the programme.

According to the procedure, members of parliament will identify the most deserving people which will be ratified by Nadra within 15 days after which cheques will be disbursed to the selected families through post offices.

Under the criteria, widows, handicapped and families earning less than Rs6,000 per month were eligible for receiving the income support cheques. Those who have already been benefiting from the Punjab government’s relief programme, government pensioners, Zakat or Baitul Mal are ineligible for the scheme.

Ms Rehman termed the programme historic and rejected allegation that the government was politicising it.

She said it was first time in the national history that a government was taking responsibility of providing direct relief to the downtrodden sections of the society.

Eminent economist Kaiser Bengali has been appointed honorary coordinator of the programme.

Talking to newsmen, he said the scheme had been designed in a manner that it would not cost any infrastructural expenditures and the entire amount would directly go to the accounts of deserving people.