'National survey on poverty to be launched next month'

Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Farzana Raja has said that "National Survey on Poverty" would be launched during next month aimed at ascertaining the exact ratio of poverty in the country.
The upcoming survey on poverty would be first of its kind in the country, which held the government to prepare future line of action for curtailing the poverty line in the country she said.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday afternoon she pointed out that BISP has been initiated in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP as well as in Azad Kashmir with an amount of 34 billion to facilitate 35 lakh families and so far 5 lakh deserving families have received the amount in the country. She said that each application form was being scrutinised for assessing the genuineness, the distribution of amount at the doorstep of the applicants in the country. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were monitoring the BISP for ensuring transparency and corruption free distribution of the fund among the deserving families she added.
It was healthy omen that Benazir Income Support Programme was fully backed by all political parties and so far 15 lakh application forms have been provided to MNAs and Senators for the distribution among the deserving persons while 8000 application forms have been provided to each MNA and Senator while two lakh application forms of BISP have been rejected she disclosed.
The BISP Chairperson further stated that the sphere of this programme would be widened next phase and it is expected that more deserving families would be benefited under the programme. Raja disclosed that under BISP "Emergency Camps" have also been established in FATA for accommodating 45,000 shelter less families, which such camps have also been set up in Balochistan.
The government was striving hard to accomplish Benazir's vision aimed at bringing women into mainstream adding that dream of national development could not be materialised without the involvement of women folk in the overall development process of the country.
It was Benazir who struggled for the cause of women rights and ensures a respectable status in the society and sacrificed her life for the sake of national cause. The government has focused its special attention on the promotion of democracy at gross root level and strengthening the democratic institutions for converting the country into a strong and real democratic state she said.
She said that in order to accomplish the vision of Benazir the government was making adequate efforts for redressal the problems being confronted by the masses on top priority basis.