The government has released Rs 10 billion, out of total budgetary allocation of Rs 50 billion, for Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in the first half of current fiscal year. In a written reply during Senate question hour on Saturday, it was stated that the government had released Rs 10 billion, out of Rs 50 billion earmarked in the current budget.
Since BISP's inception, Rs 104.5 billion has been released for provision of social safety net to the poor segment of the society against Rs 204 billion budgetary allocation. According to data, the budgetary allocation in 2008-09 was Rs 34 billion, but BISP received only Rs 21 billion. Again, in 2009-10 an amount of Rs 40 billion could materialise, against Rs 70 billion allocation. Then in 2010-11, Rs 50 billion was budgetary allocation but releases were Rs 33.5 billion.
Since October 2008 to July 2011 total payments to beneficiaries through the parliamentarian system was around Rs 66 billion. The cash grants issued under the poverty scorecard format of targeting since August 2011 is Rs 22.146 billion. According to data, BISP within a span of three years provided relief to 6 million poor families including internally displaced people (IDPs), floods and earthquake affectees and bomb blast victims all across Pakistan.
The number of beneficiaries who had been declared eligible so far after data entry and analysis by Nadra is 3.16 million. However, eligible beneficiaries are 2.56 million, who have CNICs. The BISP has awarded nation-wide poverty scorecard survey contract to Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN), Awais Haider Liaquat Numan (NHLN), Aunjum Asim Shahid Rehman (AASR), FINCON, Population Census Organisation (PCO) and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). The BISP spent Rs 2.4 billion to carry out poverty scorecard survey.
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