President for enhancing BISP outreach

President Asif Ali Zardari underscored the need to enhance the outreach of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Monday.

The president expressed these views during a briefing by the Chairperson of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Rubina Khalid at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

He asked the Chairperson of BISP to establish an office at Gwadar so that the deserving people of the area could benefit from the Programme.

Taking note of the 0.45% service charges by the banks from BISP cardholders, the president said that the service charges needed to be waived off, and in this regard, the State Bank of Pakistan should be approached to ask banks to open accounts for BISP beneficiaries.

He said that the new payment system would also protect BISP beneficiaries from exploitation. He also called for engaging donors and the private sector to support BISP in its endeavours to provide scholarships to the maximum number of deserving students.

The president was informed about the core initiatives taken by BISP, including the Benazir Kafalat Program, Benazir Taleemi Wazaif Programme, BISP Scholarships for Undergraduates Programme and Benazir Nashounuma Programme. Chairperson BISP informed that Rs 598.718 billion had been allocated for BISP during the ongoing fiscal year.

She said that Benazir Kafalat was the flagship program of BISP, providing unconditional cash transfers to eligible women and transgender persons across Pakistan. It was highlighted that Rs 461 billion had been allocated for the Benazir Kafalat Program, during FY 2024-25, for 9.3 million eligible families.

The President appreciated BISP for providing monetary relief to the deserving and underprivileged strata of society.