Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety (PA&SS), Ms. Shazia Marri, said that the incumbent government has further enhanced Benazir Income Support Programme’s budget from Rs. 404 to Rs. 455 Billion for the Financial Year 2023-24. She informed the journalists about the budget increase during a press conference held on Monday here in Islamabad. She further said that Benazir Nashonuma program’s budget saw a leap upwards from Rs. 4.87 billion in 2021-22 to 21.88 billion in 2022-23 which was an increase by 349%. Where as, an amount of Rs. 32.27 billion has been proposed in the upcoming budget of 2023-24.Minister also apprised the audience that Benazir Nashonoma program had registered 0.643 million children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers to date and was all set to meet the target of 1.5 million during the next financial year 2023-24. Ms. Shazia Marri emphasized the importance of the role of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in uplifting the lives of the underprivileged and marginalized segment of the society. BISP, which commenced in 2008 and was the brainchild of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, has proven to be a highly successful programme. The program functions on non-political grounds, providing financial assistance to approximately 9 million women across the country which is targeted to be expanded to 9.3 million households after the recent increase in budget, she added.While talking about the budgetary allocations she said that over the years, the budget allocation for the Benazir Income Support Programme has witnessed significant growth, reflecting the government's commitment to social welfare of the poor of the poores. When the incumbent government came to power the BISPs budget allocation was Rs. 235 billion, which has now been augmented to Rs. 455 billion in a short span of over one year. The Minister also informed the audience that quarterly cash transfer amount was increased from Rs. 7000 to Rs. 8750 during the last quarter, 25% increase. She informed that the government intended to further increase the stipend of Benazir Kafaalat program in light of the economic situation. The federal minister also announced to start a mobile service for the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) in remote areas of Sindh, Balochistan, South Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The service which will be operational by July this year, would provide easy access to people in far-flung areas of these provinces. She also informed the audience that 820,000 beneficiaries who were filtered out of BISP beneficiary list by the last government, were being re-examined after they appealed to be heard. Out of these, she said, 136,525 beneficiaries have successfully been enrolled again with Benazir Income Support Programme and they will receive their stipend in the upcoming tranche. During the press conference, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi urged the Sindh government to follow all the instructions to protect the citizens from the cyclone impacts.While discussing the situation caused by Cyclone Biparjoy, during the press conference, Mr. Faisal kundi highlighted that the government is closely monitoring the situation, with particular attention to areas such as Sajawal, Badin, and Thatta which are highly vulnerable. These areas have been placed on high alert, and efforts are underway to ensure the safety of over 8 million people. The Minister of State urged the public to cooperate with government and adhere to safety measures issued from time to time during emergency situation.
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