HYDERABAD: The Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Chair and Convention Centre, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, organised a dialogue session on “BISP: Prospects, Challenges and the Way Forward” at Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Chair.
The session was presided over by Vice Chancellor, University of Sindh, Professor Dr Fateh Muhammad Marri, while renowned economist, public policy expert and former member of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr Kaiser Bengali was the keynote speaker.
Other speakers included Professor Dr Arfana Mallah, Director, Dr M A Qazi Institute of Chemistry, and Dr Ronaque Ali Behan, Assistant Professor at the Area Study Centre for East and Southeast Asia.
Dr Abdul Razaque Channa, Chairman, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, moderated the session.
Addressing the participants, Dr Fateh Muhammad Marri described the Benazir Income Support Programme as an important government initiative and said that more than 10 million women from poor families across the country were receiving financial assistance through the programme, enabling them to meet their food and other essential needs.
He said that it was a purely public welfare programme and that, although there was room for further improvement, it should not be subjected to unnecessary political assumptions. He added that poor and deserving people across the country were benefiting from the programme without any political discrimination.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bengali said that he had been visiting the University of Sindh since 1980 and had always felt happy to visit the institution.
Discussing the topic, he said that the concept of the income support programme was envisioned by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto with the objective of providing financial assistance to the poor, particularly women, and that her party’s government implemented the programme in 2008.
Dr. Bengali said that he considered himself fortunate to have played a role in the basic formulation of this important programme. He said that the programme could not be linked to the question of poverty eradication, as its objective was not to eliminate poverty but to provide financial assistance to poor people and reduce their financial difficulties to some extent.
He said that the perception that people would stop working after receiving financial assistance under the programme was incorrect. He explained that if a person’s monthly expenses were Rs40,000, the assistance represented only 10 percent of the expenses and, therefore, could not be relied upon completely.
He said that although the programme had faced opposition, the support, special interest and monitoring of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had contributed to its continued operation for the past 18 years.
He further said that linking the programme with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) database had not only reduced questions regarding transparency but had also enabled millions of women to obtain national identity cards.
He suggested that over employment in the programme should be reduced, more deserving people should be registered to receive financial assistance, and the amount provided to beneficiaries should also be increased.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026