Around 2,543 government officers were getting BISP fund, claims Fawad Chaudhry

Around 2,543 government officers were getting BISP fund, claims Fawad Chaudhry 

Islamabad (Monitorign Desk 9 Jan 2020): The PTI government’s deep cleansing of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) by virtue of a unique initiative involving the use of data analytics for an integrity drive reveals how blatantly convenient it can be for governments to misuse tax-payers’ money to win political support in an attempt to grab votes. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that 2,543 government officers of grades 17-21 also benefited from BISP cash grants in the past, thereby deprived the truly deserving of their share.

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has criticised around 2,543 government officers of BSP 17-21 who benefited from the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), saying they should be ashamed.

Chaudhry tweeted a list of the names of officers who benefited from the programme and said that these officers should be ashamed for looting the money belonging to the poor.

Also Read: Ghani accuses Sania of harming 800,000 people linked to BISP

According to the list tweeted by Fawad Chaudhry, 2,543 government officers between BSP 17-21 had added either their own names or those of their spouses to the list of beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme, and benefited from the program.

Officials from Balochistan and Sindh received highest amounts through the BISP program. Overall, three officers of grade-21 and 59 officers of grade-20 quarterly received the sum under the program whereas 429 officials of grade-19 were also among the beneficiaries.

Further 342 officers of grade-18 from Sindh and 1,240 officers of grade-17 overall derived advantages from the scheme. The list also includes six BISP representatives. The process of ousting ineligible persons from the program is ongoing.

Also Read:     Over 140,000 Benazir Income Support (BISP) beneficiaries were govt employees: Reveals data (Dawn)

The second highest number came from Balochistan province where 741 government officials were signed up for the poverty alleviation scheme. From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 403 government officials availed the BISP, while 137 did so from Punjab.

From the federal government, 62 officers availed the program. Additionally, one officer of the Pakistan Railways, 22 of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and 49 of Gilgit-Baltistan were also marked as undeserving recipients of the BISP.

The government earlier removed over 800,000 people from among the beneficiaries of the BISP after describing them “undeserving".

In a post on Twitter, Sania Nishtar, who serves as the BISP head as well as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, said 2,543 government officers of grade-17 and above had availed the BISP and had now been ‘exited' from the program. “True: 2,543 exited from @bisp_pakistan are government officers/their spouses Grade 17 and above. We have written to Chief Secretaries and Ministries officially. At @bisp_pakistan disciplinary action is underway. Safeguards built for future under @Ehsaas_Pk governance reform," she wrote.