Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is planning a soft launch of a proposed Dashboard on December 1. On the occasion a media briefing is also planned to generate awareness among the masses, though it will officially be launched on January 1, 2015, a press release issued here on Thursday revealed. The BISP is a social safety net programme launched in July 2008 with an immediate objective of benefiting the poorest of the poor, particularly women.
Since its inception, BISP has grown rapidly and is now the largest poverty alleviation programme in Pakistan. The number of active beneficiaries has increased from 1.7 million households in FY 2008-9 to approximately 4.63 million in June 2014. The cash transfer amount is raised by the current government from Rs 1,000 per month to Rs 1,500 per month to each beneficiary, which is provided on quarterly basis, amounting to Rs 4,500 per quarter.
Since BISP involves a huge amount of cash transfer, Enver Baig, Chairman of the Programme has taken the initiative to make the cash transfer system online. He has directed to prepare a software interface, known as "BISP Dashboard". This will ensure transparency by keeping track of the entire amount received from the donor agencies, including World Bank, Asian Development Bank and DfID and the Government of Pakistan, the amount transferred to banks for disbursement and the amount received by each beneficiary as well. The Dashboard will be able to keep track of all the registered beneficiaries and the date-wise release and withdrawal of the disbursements. The information will be displayed on each level from regions, divisions and up to tehsils/talukas.
This Dashboard will enable the BISP management to monitor the flow of cash transfer and the trends of utilisation of the disbursements by the beneficiaries. It will not only act as a control against corrupt practices, but also point out the delays in the cash transfer. The availability of current and up-to-date data will help the administration in many ways. Chairman BISP has directed the authorities to make the Dashboard available online, for enhanced transparency, so that all the stakeholders are able to monitor the performance of BISP on real-time basis.-PR
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