ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (APP):The Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety on Thursday expressed serious concern over delays in receiving briefing material and shortcomings in the public awareness campaign of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), directing the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety to ensure timely provision of required information. The committee met under the chairmanship of Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur to review BISP performance, awareness campaigns, …
Senate committee seeks details of BISP media campaign, deputationists
ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (APP):The Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety on Thursday expressed serious concern over delays in receiving briefing material and shortcomings in the public awareness campaign of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), directing the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety to ensure timely provision of required information.
The committee met under the chairmanship of Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur to review BISP performance, awareness campaigns, Social Protection Wallet (SPW) initiatives, penalization mechanisms for partner banks and deputation matters.
The committee expressed grave dissatisfaction over the delayed receipt of briefing material from the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety and directed the Ministry Secretary to ensure that such lapses were not repeated.
The Secretary expressed regret over the delay and assured the committee that he would personally investigate the matter and take steps to prevent such lapses in future.
The committee also discussed BISP’s public awareness campaign regarding the role of partner banks and their point-of-sale (POS) agents.
BISP Chairperson Rubina Khalid informed the committee that BISP had been collaborating with the Gates Foundation to educate the public that BISP had no role in the activities of POS agents of partner banks, which fell under the contractual obligations of those banks.
The committee observed that despite the passage of 16 years, BISP had not been able to effectively communicate this distinction to the public, resulting in the programme being held responsible for inefficiencies at POS agents.
The BISP Chairperson acknowledged that an ineffective media campaign had contributed to the issue and said a vibrant media campaign was now underway to correct the situation.
She informed the committee that beneficiaries were not currently conducting digital transactions through Social Protection Wallet (SPW) accounts. BISP had secured time until December 2026 from the State Bank of Pakistan, during which such transactions would not be conducted, while the programme was also considering seeking an extension for educating beneficiaries about digital transactions.
The committee appreciated the opening of nine million digital wallets and the free distribution of SIMs among beneficiaries.
Responding to questions regarding the scope, timeline and budget of the awareness campaign, the BISP Chairperson said the programme was exploring collaboration with existing partner banks through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
She said earlier campaigns through the Press Information Department (PID) had proved tedious, while BISP was in the process of hiring a social media company on a monthly retainer to create and disseminate content across social media platforms.
The committee observed that advanced artificial intelligence software could also be used for content creation. The BISP Chairperson said BISP lacked the requisite human resources and specialized skills and was also facing a severe shortage of staff.
The committee sought details of the costs of BISP’s media campaigns during the past two years and directed that the information be provided within one week.
The BISP Chairperson said digital wallets would help address the existing problems as POS agents would no longer have a monopoly over transactions.
Regarding penalization of partner banks, she said banks had been penalized in accordance with their contracts, which would expire by January 2027, after which new contracts would be executed.
The committee observed that penalization had previously taken place at the end of contracts, giving banks considerable time to fail to provide the required services.
The BISP Chairperson informed the committee that the issue had been addressed and penalties were now imposed annually, making banks more cautious about fulfilling their contractual obligations.
The committee decided that before undertaking any mass education initiative, BISP would provide complete details of its media campaign to committee members within one week for advance study.
Discussing savings and better utilization of BISP funds, the committee was informed about a World Bank-sponsored pilot project titled the Hybrid Social Protection Scheme.
Under the project, beneficiaries save Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month and receive a 40 per cent top-up with each quarterly disbursement. More than 4,000 beneficiaries have registered for the pilot project.
When the committee asked whether the saving requirement could have an adverse impact on beneficiaries’ nutrition, the BISP Secretary clarified that it was a pilot project being implemented under international commitments and there was currently no plan or budgetary provision to scale it up.
He said the results would be analyzed and assessed before any decision on expansion, adding that a cap of 18,000 beneficiaries was being considered. Detailed information was sought within one week.
Under another agenda item, the committee was informed that banks’ claims had been reduced due to penalties imposed for contractual failures. An amount of Rs1.25 billion pertaining to the period from 2010 to 2019 would remain in the government treasury and would not be paid to the banks.
The committee was further informed that a third-party chartered accountant firm was being hired to conduct an assessment.
Regarding deputation matters, the committee was informed that 478 deputationists were currently working in BISP and their details would be provided to the committee within one week.
The committee also discussed the confidentiality of tranche amounts provided through SPW accounts and the mechanism for resolving discrepancies.
The BISP Chairperson said the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan had been requested to integrate the grievances management system, with banks also forming part of the system. She added that interoperability would be applicable in the coming tranche.
The committee deferred the remaining agenda items for discussion at its next meeting.
Members of the National Assembly who attended the meeting included Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Huma Akhtar Chughtai, Shahid Usman, Mohammad Ilyas Choudhary, Ahmad Atteeq Anwer, Saba Talpur, Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali, Aasia Ishaque Siddiqui, Misbah Uddin and Arshad Abdullah Vohra.
The Secretary Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Secretary BISP and senior officers from the ministry and Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal also attended the meeting.
