ISLAMABAD: Against the backdrop of rising instances of unauthorised deductions from the quarterly stipends being offered to deserving beneficiaries, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has claimed that the crackdown against the agents involved in illegal cuts is under way with “full force.”
“The crackdown operations against bank agents who are involved in deductions from beneficiaries’ cash stipends are being carried out with full force,” BISP said on Friday.
It said multiple cases have been registered and arrests have been made after receiving complaints of illegal deductions during payment of the BISP quarterly stipends.
Moreover, monitoring teams under the leadership of the senior BISP officials of have paid surprise visits in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and other areas, the BISP said in a statement.
These surprise visits were made at payment centres, and agents involved in illegal deductions were also blacklisted, the statement added.
Chairperson BISP Shazia Marri has directed the relevant authorities to take strict action against the agents who are found involved in illegal deductions, it said.
The BISP said it is disbursing quarterly stipends (January –March) among nine million deserving families across the country who are registered under Benazir Kafaalat initiative, adding that so far, 7.5 million received their cash assistance through designated banks or their Point of Sale (POS) agents.
Besides the disbursement of Benazir Kafaalat quarterly tranche, quarterly instalment of Benazir Taleemi Wazaif is also being paid to the deserving families, according to the BISP.
Children of the registered beneficiaries who are enrolled in schools with an attendance rate of over 70 per cent are entitled to Taleemi Wazaif or educational scholarships, the BISP statement said.
Moreover, the distribution of 2,000 rupees per family as flour subsidy, announced by the Sindh, is also going on, it said. Out of the total 6.4 million deserving families registered with the BISP, 2.68 million beneficiaries have been paid the flour subsidy amount in Sindh, the statement said.
Under Wheat Seed Subsidy Programme of the Sindh government, Rs 3.15 billion have been disbursed among 133,000 flood-affected farmers through the BISP, it added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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