Chairperson, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Farzana Raja has said that the BISP is restricting the inflationary pressure on the society, as the government could not wait for the trickle down effect to reach the poor in the wake of economic development.
She said that the government had introduced the BISP to extend the benefit directly to the poor. According to her, programme is aimed at covering almost 15 per cent of the entire population, which constitutes 40 per cent of those below the poverty line. A monthly payment of Rs 1,000 per family is paid to increase the income of a family already earning Rs 5,000 or less. BISP is the biggest social welfare programme of South East Asia and has been initiated with the intentions to make 2.7 million families economically self reliance especially strengthen women financially.
Another addition of BISP is income generation programme, 'Waseela-i-Haq', under which interest-free loans of Rs 300,000 is being given to 'needy and deserving' people under a formula prepared by the World Bank. BISP has been initiated by PPP-led government with initial allocation of Rs 34 billion ($425 million approximately) for the year 2008-09 which was the third largest allocation in the total budget and was 0.3% of the GDP for the year 2008-09. The allocations in the programme were increased to Rs 70 billion for 2009-10 to give cash assistance to five million families.
The Programme was initiated to partially offset the impact of inflation on the purchasing power of the poorer section of the society. The government has now planned to expand the coverage to seven million families by 2010-11. In the years 2005-07, inflation stood at almost 10 per cent with food inflation in the range of 13-15 per cent.
In the year 2007-08 sharp rise in oil prices and primary products in the international as well as domestic market resulted in double-digit inflation rate, which has almost halved the purchasing power of the people.
Hence there was urgent need for direct and speedy relief to the poor sections of the society and BISP is the response to the above compulsions. The programme is aimed at covering almost 15 per cent of the entire population, which constitutes 40 per cent of the population below the poverty line.
A monthly payment of Rs 1000 per family would increase the income of a family earning Rs 5000 by 20 per cent. BISP will cover all four provinces, including Fata, AJK, FANA and ICT. Husband, wife and dependent children constitute a family.
To evaluate the benefits of BISP a survey conducted in different localities of provincial capital of Punjab. During the survey, the beneficiaries of this programme told this scribe that the programme is unique in its kind. It is aiming at assisting them in meeting their needs but the amount being given under the monthly scheme is too meager that could only help them partially.
It seems that during the course of fixing the monthly financial assistance, the planners did not realise the inflation and price hike factors as Rs 1000 can only assist in purchasing flour for the family of a six-persons. They have demanded of the government to enhance the monthly financial aid and rationalise the amount being given to the poor families.
It has also been evaluated that distribution of cash was not a long-term solution to the deep-rooted problem of poverty. Even at one dollar a day the monthly income requirement is Rs 2,550 per person. The BISP support is thus only 6.5 per cent of the requirement of a dollar a day. During the course of studying the programme some flaws have been recorded as the BISP defines "family" as father, mother and children, and takes "income" to be the total income of the family. But, how will the income be assessed and verified, especially that of people working in the informal sector and dealing in cash transactions? Are married sons and daughters supporting their own families included in the total income? It seems that the selected families will continue to receive grants for the rest of their live as there is no provision for cutting of the subsidy.
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