ISLAMABAD: Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is launching skill development programmes for the children of BISP beneficiaries following an inclusive policy to identify beneficiary families, Secretary BISP Amer Ali Ahmad has said.
“BISP is world-known social safety net which is providing financial support to 9.3 million households under its Kafaalat initiative,” the secretary BISP informed a delegation of 38th Mid-Career Management Course (MCMC), from the National Institute of Management (NIM) Peshawar, that called on him at the BISP headquarters on Tuesday.
The delegation comprised of 18 participants of the 38th MCMC and two faculty members, an official statement from BISP stated.
Additionally, the secretary said, BISP extends stipends to 8.2 million school- going children and Nashonuma support to 1.22 million without any discrimination, the statement added.
Additional Secretary BISP Dr Muhammad Tahir Noor provided an in-depth overview of BISP and its core initiatives, which encompass Kafaalat, Taleemi Wazaif, Nashounuma, Undergrad-uate Scholarship and the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER), the statement said.
He briefed the delegates on payment mechanism for BISP beneficiaries and the challenges faced by BISP in this regard.
BISP is presently providing a quarterly stipend of 9,000 rupees per beneficiary to deserving beneficiaries identified through NSER under the Kafaalat initiative.
BISP Chairperson Dr Amjad Saqib has recently proposed an increase in this stipend amount. It is not clear yet how much increase does the BISP intend to formally propose to the federal government in the existing stipend.
The officials said that government may increase the stipend amount after financial evaluations in consultation with BISP, Finance Ministry and Cabinet Division.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023