The Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) said on Friday it has found more than 100,000 fake entries on the lists of its food support programme under which each registered family gets 3,000 rupees annually. A thorough scrutiny ordered by the new PBM Managing Director Zumarad Khan revealed that same families were registered twice on the same list and thus got more money, a PBM press release said.
The release did not say whether any action was proposed to be taken against those found involved in making double entries on the lists. It also did not mention the amount disbursed on the basis of the flawed lists so far. According to the release the 109,000 families with double registration included 88,000 from Punjab and the rest from other provinces.
The new head of Bait-ul-Mal has urged members of parliament and provincial assemblies, Nazmeen and civil society representatives to keep an eye on the implementation of the food support programme and help prevent any irregularity.
Zumarad Khan assumed charge on Wednesday and in his first order he directed the concerned department to ensure smooth, timely and transparent disbursement of funds and plug any loopholes. The food support programme was launched in 2000. Initially it provided Rs 2000 each to around 1.25 million poor families in two biannual instalments of Rs 1000 through the post offices countrywide.
During 2003-04, the government increased the yearly subsidy to Rs 2400 and in 2005-06 it was raised to Rs 3000. The Bait-ul-Mal disbursed Rs 4.38 billion among the poor households under the programme in fiscal 2005-06 throughout the country. The annual budget of the programme has been increased to Rs 6 billion in 2007-08 to expand its reach.
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