NOWSHERA, Oct 04 (APP): Dr Muhammad Amjad Saqib, Chairman of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) here Wednesday said that equipping children of the beneficiaries with technical education and vocational training was imperative for their economic empowerment, poverty alleviation and social change in society.
He said all initiatives of BISP were aimed at providing much-needed financial support to disadvantaged people and enabled them to make easy access to essential resources and opportunities for socioeconomic and education development besides nourishment of their children.
He said BISP’s Kafalat, Taleemi Wazaif, children Naushnuma and other programs were launched by the government to alleviate poverty and ensure the dignity and self-respect of the downtrodden.
Chairman BISP expressed these views while talking to beneficiaries and media during his visit to BISP centres at Risalpur and Nowshera here. Director General BISP KP, Zohra Aslam and other senior officials briefed him about various initiatives, the process of registration, institutional reforms and the disbursement of payment procedure.
Chairman Dr Amjad Saqib said that over 9.3 million families including 64,000 families in the Nowshera district were benefiting from the program continued in all districts of KP.
He said Taleemi Wazaif program was an important initiative started to help students of beneficiaries to get a quality education without financial constraint and contribute to the country’s development process.
He directed BISP authorities to select students of FA/F.Sc of the beneficiaries for online training courses in Information technology and other technologies so that they could contribute to their families on the financial front besides providing employment to others.
Dr Amjad Saqib directed BISP Nowshera authorities to prepare a list of 10 talented students of FA/FSc for online IT and other vocational courses and submit it to BISP Headquarters for speedy implementation.
He said that a society can move on the road to progress and prosperity only when the people and state work together for socioeconomic and education empowerment of underprivileged people and bring them to par with the developed segment of society.
He said BISP carried authentic verified data of the poor families and urged the philanthropists to come forward and generously contribute to their economic well-being.
Besides ensuring maximum facilities and transparency in the disbursement of the payment, he directed the staff to concentrate on the education of beneficiaries such as the significance of plantation, technology, cleanliness and other socioeconomic issues imperative for social change in society.
Dr Amjad Saqib reiterated that transparency was the hallmark of BISP and warned strict action against any staffer or agent found guilty of corrupt practices or irregularity in the payment procedure.
He asked the beneficiaries and civil society to inform BISP authorities in case of a deduction in payment or any financial irregularity so that strict action could be taken.
Director General BISP KP, Zohra Aslam said that Rs9,000 were being provided to each beneficiary every three months through a transparent mechanism besides Rs2000 under BISP’s Nashnuma to each family for nourishment of a child under two years of age.
Earlier, the BISP Chairman visited different sections of these centres including registration, and payment and met with beneficiaries besides inquired about their problems.
He expressed satisfaction with the service delivery at BISP centres in the Nowshera district and directed the staff to ensure the dignity and self-respect of all disadvantaged individuals.