Benazir Income Support Programme: Transparency, service delivery guiding principles: Marvi

Minister of State and BISP Chairperson Marvi Memon on Sunday said transparency, service delivery and customer care were the guiding principles of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
She was speaking while inaugurating Biometric Verification System (BVS) in Rahim Yar Khan. The ceremony was attended by BISP beneficiaries, BISP officials, local politicians, notables and media, a press release issued here said.
She said the BISP had made significant improvements in its payment modes since inception. Payments through BVS would eliminate the middle man culture making it more transparent and efficient, she added.
Marvi said some 148,565 beneficiaries, who were paid through Benazir Debit Card in Rahim Yar Khan, had been shifted to the biometric based withdrawal mechanism.
She said for the purpose of biometric withdrawal, 303 Points of Sale (POS) throughout the district had been established so that beneficiaries might be able to withdraw their stipends easily, saving their time and travel costs.
The BISP Chairperson also visited various POS and observed the beneficiaries withdrawing their amounts through BVS.
She reiterated that the mandatory presence of beneficiary to receive payment would make her financially more empowered as per Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar's vision of financial inclusion. To receive payment through BVS, beneficiary would present CNIC only at POS or franchisee of the partner bank and affix her thumb impression for the withdrawal, she said.
Marvi Memon said that a system generated receipt would be given to her showing the record of payment and balance.
The chairperson said that the BISP was known internationally for its state of the art operational mechanisms and commitment to the poorest of the poor.
"It is a unique programme that not only helps the poor in their survival through cash grants; it undertakes to enable beneficiaries to exit poverty in the long term by educating their children as well through its Waseela-e-Taleem initiative," she added.
The minister said that BVS was the most simplified and user friendly payment mode with less security tiers as compared to other modes of payment.
In 2008, when the BISP started its operations, payments were made through Pakistan Post. Gradually, the payment system was shifted to smart cards, mobile phone banking and debit cards, she added.
She said at present, 10.34 per cent of beneficiaries were drawing their stipend through BVS, 88.37 percent through debit cards and 3.22 percent through Pakistan Post. The minister said that now only one per cent of the beneficiaries that received stipend through mobile banking had been shifted to BVS.