Farina Raja: a woman of substance

Farina Raja, who has been awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, is no ordinary woman. She is a woman of substance, a woman who has dedicated her whole life to the welfare of the poor masses of Pakistan, a woman who has worked untiringly for the accomplishment of her life mission and was ultimately successful in achieving her goal.
Her life is a lesson in continuous hard work and struggle to protect and promote the rights of the downtrodden of Pakistan. That is the reason why when the PPP government after coming to power conceived the Benazir Income Support Program to help and succour the needy families. Farzana Raja was selected to head the project and implement it successfully.
Her choice as BISP chief was natural in the light of her past achievements, and she justified the choice by her able, dedicated and competent handling of the assignment. From the word go she worked a person possessed. She gathered together a hard working and talented team to assist her in the onerous task. Having a complete command of both micro and macro management, she organised her work like a true professional, set goals and deadlines and so motivated and guided her team that all the targets were achieved one by one as per schedule.
Madam Farzana Raja has been awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz for her unprecedented work in the socio-economic field, especially her efforts in successfully implementing the Benazir Income Support Program and rescuing over 60 million people from the morass of poverty and enabling them to lead a more decent life. In the history of Pakistan, BISP is the first social security program of its kind through which monthly income support has been provided to 60 million families groaning under the crushing burden of rising prices owing to the short sighted policies of the previous government.
Cash handout is only one part of BISP outreach program for the poor and needy families. Under Madam Farzana Raja's guidance Free Health and Life Insurance has been provided to millions of families as a safety net for the future. Another sub-program is the Waseela-e-Taleem under which millions of poor children have been imparted free education so that they can become productive citizens of the future.
To fight unemployment another program under the BISP umbrella has been launched by the name of Waseela-e-Haq and Waseela-e-Rozgar under which hundreds of thousands of families have been provided with means to earn their livelihood through honest means. Special attention in this connection has been given to empowering womenfolk financially and socially.
In order to ensure the maximum geographical spread for BISP Madam Farzana Raja personally visited remote corners of the country. Irrespective of all political affiliations, the Chairperson of BISP visited all the four provinces and established working relationship with the provincial governments in order to ensure that the people of all parts of the country benefit equally from the program. The extension of BISP to the tehsil level has been the most important element in the tremendous success of the program in the short span of three and a half years. Poverty survey and compilation of a complete and Asia's biggest databank of all the provinces of the country including Gilgit and Baltistan, including introduction of branchless banking, Benazir Card, Benazir Health Card and similar other banking facilities have been provided to the poorest people of the country for the first time in our history.
No wonder Madam Farzana Raja's achievements have been widely hailed, appreciated and applauded at the highest forums in the world, including the UN, World Bank and ADB. The US, UAE and Turkish government have also showered praise on the success story of BISP. These certificates of endorsement have ensured continued financial and technical support from the international lending agencies to the BISP and its various projects.
It is a tribute to the able handling of BISP by Madam Farzana Raja that today BISP is looked upon as a role model not only in Asia but in other parts of the world as well. This is a fact that has been acknowledged by no less a person that UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon and also by the President of the World Bank. An important dimension of the BISP and its various projects is that the entire operation has been carried out most efficiently and in a transparent manner. No political consideration was kept in view at any stage with the result that its benefits have reached all sections of the people without any discrimination.
All in all Benazir Income Supports Program has been like a dream come true for the poor people of Pakistan. It is a program that has changed the face of poverty in Pakistan and ushered in a new era of prosperity for the less privileged people in the breadth and length of Pakistan.-PR