BISP being remodelled to meet challenges
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has called for diverting funds to the needy irrespective of their political, religious and other affiliations.
Speaking at the inauguration of an international conference on the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER), he praised the methodology and role of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in improving the lives of the underprivileged class.
The speaker praised the BISP for serving the destitute while keeping in view the transient nature of poverty.
Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said the BISP budget reflected the government’s commitment to social protection. Congratulating the BISP chairperson for updating the NSER, he said that it would not only provide accurate and transparent information but also link multiple programmes for the beneficiaries.
BISP chairperson MNA Marvi Memon said the NSER, being bigger than the programme, was being shared with the public and private sector organisations for poverty reduction and development programmes. The BISP currently stood at number five in the world but had the vision of becoming number one, she added.
World Bank Country Director Illango Machapattu stated that the BISP was an internationally recognised social safety net programme and countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Afghanistan had learned from it. The World Bank, he said, looked forward to expansion of the pro-poor and financial inclusion agenda of the BISP.
The United Kingdom Department for International Development’s Country Director Joanna Reed said the UK government supported the BISP because it dispensed the aid to real needy.
She mentioned that the UK watchdog Independent Commission for Aid Impact in its recent report had appreciated the BISP and added that the shifting of payments to the biometric verification system and NSER update would make it the world leader.
Social worker and former PPP member Shahnaz Wazir Ali said the BISP had excelled to becoming a model social safety net and she hoped the programme would go a long way to empowering women.
The conference was attended by parliamentarians, diplomats, development partners, academicians, research scholarsts, national and international experts.
Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2017