ISLAMABAD, Dec 30: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday approved payments to deserving people under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) with effect from October this year.

The prime minister, who

was presiding over a BISP meeting, asked members of the National Assembly and Senate to ensure completion of the required data by returning the dully filled in forms by Jan 31.BISP chairperson Farzana Raja told Dawn that it had been decided in principle that in January each applicant would receive Rs4,000.

“People will not suffer because of delay in the processing of forms. The amount in any case will be paid with effect from October after forms are received from the applicants”.

She said that about 250,000 forms had been received so far. Of these, 127,000 have been verified by Nadra.

The list has been sent to the Pakistan Post for preparing money orders, Ms Raja said.

An official statement said the prime minister directed that care should be taken to ensure transparency and a fair identification and distribution system.

He said the government’s objective was not just to dole out money but to empower the people economically by introducing ways of generating employment, providing micro-financing and skill training facilities.

Ms Raja informed the prime minister that the BISP was aimed at providing financial support to socially and economically handicapped segments of the society for which the government had allocated Rs34 billion for 2008-09.

She said that identification would be made through a three-tier verification process to ensure that only the deserving people got the relief.

The programme at later stage will also be used for health insurance, educational facilities and population planning.

She informed the meeting that the Prime Minister Emergency Relief Package had been launched for affected people of Fata and the NWFP and a similar package for earthquake affected people of Balochistan would soon be initiated to cover 8,000 families in Ziarat, Pishin and Harnai districts.