Bilawal announces 25pc raise in BISP stipend

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Saturday that there will be an immediate increase of 25 percent in the amount of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) stipends.

He said that provision of relief money by the Government of Sindh to the flood-affected small farmers will also be accelerated. He said the politics of PPP is based on bringing justice to the common man.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of dynamic registration of deserving women under the BISP through Nadra, the foreign minister said that the concept of this revolutionary programme was given by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in her manifesto looking at the poverty, inflation and economic crisis in the country. He said the purpose of BISP is to revolutionise the lives of the weakest women in the country.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said when this programme was being launched, the country’s bureaucracy, opposition politicians and so-called intellectuals were against it. “Before the start of the BISP, our opponents used to say that the people were being made beggars as Rs1,000 may not mean much to many people, but the same Rs1,000 received under the BISP can change the fortunes of a poor person, a child or a mother,” he said.

The foreign minister said that during his presidency, President Asif Ali Zardari fought against the entire system to implement the BISP and by holding meetings every week in the President’s House, poor women across the country were given assistance within a year. “We have made the BISP the most transparent institution. International organisations including the United Nations appreciate the BISP and its transparency.”

The PPP chairman said that there were two types of political parties in the world. The first type of parties says if the rich are made richer, they will provide employment to more people, while the second type of parties believe that no matter how much the rich are made richer, their scope for providing employment is still the same and limited. “I have noticed that the richer are mostly the miser.”

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the BISP not only runs a woman’s house, but also small businesses run along with it. Even today there is inflation, unemployment and economic crisis in the country. Under these circumstances, in the light of PPP’s philosophy, the amount of Benazir Income Support Programme as well as the number of beneficiaries should be increased as it is a comprehensive tool to reduce poverty in the country.

The PPP chairman said that it was sad to point out that Imran Khan used to say during his tenure that he did not come to government to see the prices of tomatoes and onions. “But we have to see the prices of tomatoes and onions as well because we are in the government to give relief to the common man,” he said.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that it was the result of prayers of deserving women of Benazir Income Support Programme that the conspirators against this programme failed and this revolutionary programme continued.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Zardari also appreciated the services of German aAmbassador regarding flood victims and BISP.

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP Shazia Atta Marri and others also spoke on the occasion.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of dynamic registration of deserving women under the BISP through Nadra, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the BISP was established by former president Asif Ali Zardari in 2008 in memory of Pakistan Peoples Party’s martyred leader Benazir Bhutto.

A few days later it was called the best social protection programme in the world. This programme was further strengthened in 2013. However, the federal government did not pay attention to the BISP for 9 to 10 years.

The chief minister said that currently there are more than 2.3 million deserving women who are benefiting from the BISP while more than 1.2 million educational scholarships are being given under the said programme. Around 107 centers and 136,000 deserving women are getting this facility.

He said the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto directed the Sindh government to first establish a social protection unit. “At present, we have a Social Protection Department. Sindh Government has also set up a Social Protection Authority making all arrangements under the law.”

He said the Sindh government was trying to strengthen the Benazir Income Support Program by creating its own data to deliver money to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps. The program has been working for pregnant women and new-born children for the past two years. Around 20,000 rupees are being given to deserving pregnant women.

The Sindh government is now expanding this program to the whole of Sindh. A program worth 45 billion rupees has been approved by the World Bank. Around 1.7 million women will be included in this program. The Sindh Social Protection Department is working on this project.