Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal (PBM) has disbursed Rs 88.33 million among 8,000 destitute children under Child Support Programme (CSP) in 10 quarterly instalments.
On successful implementation of CSP in three pilot districts, the programme has been scaled up in eight additional districts, ie, Rawalpindi, Multan, Muzaffarabad, Ghanchey, Quetta, Kharan, Abbottabad and Nawabshah said an official of PBM here on Sunday.
Talking to APP he said that 20,000 potential beneficiaries have been enrolled in programme through Proxy Means Testing (PMT) method and during 2010-11 payment in these districts would be made shortly.
He informed that PBM is envisaging to upscaling the programme across the country in a phased manner to provide a monthly stipend to deserving students for continuing their education.
"CSP is basically a Conditional Cash Transfer, a sound investment in human capital which aims at twin mutually exclusive objective of reducing current consumption poverty and promoting accumulation of human capital and helping break a vicious cycle of poverty which is transmitted across generations", he informed.
Child Support Programme envisaging increased literacy rate and reduced dropout ratio amongst children compliment in achieving United Nations Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education, he stated.
He informed that under CSP, cash incentive of Rs 300 per month has been given if the family has one child and Rs 600 per month if the family has more than one child admitted in school and regularly attending with at least 80 percent attendance.
"As many as 40,000 families are registered under the program and on average two children of each family has been provided the stipend", he said.
He further informed that as a pilot project the programme was initially started in three districts, including Tharparkar, Bhakar and Kohistan, which supported 12,000 families having 36,000 children.
He informed that the payment is made on quarterly basis through Pakistan Post Office selected branches.
The official further said that if a family fails to admit the children in school or ensure 80 percent of class attendance then amount for that specific quarter is not paid as a penalty.
To further strengthen this programme, transparent proxy means test/score card are made by using different scientific methods, he said adding, the effective implementation of all systems/processes are addressed properly for ensuring maximum relief and easy mechanism for the existing CSP beneficiaries.