Govt committed to socio-economic uplift of deprived segments: Marvi Memon

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP): Present Government under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has resolved to utilize all resources for the welfare of downtrodden and deprived segments of society to address the issue of poverty in the country.
This was stated by Minister of State and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), MNA Marvi Memon in her opening remarks at 2015 South-South Learning Forum on “Emerging Social Protection Systems in an Urbanizing World” in Beijing, China.
Marvi is representing Pakistan at the Forum, said a message received here Monday from Beijing.
Around 250 policymakers from 75 countries have gathered in Beijing
for 2015 South-South Learning Forum on “Emerging Social Protection Systems in an Urbanizing World”.
The week-long Forum, which was officially opened by Chinese State
Counselor Wang Yong and World Bank Group Vice President Keith Hansen, is a
landmark, pioneering event to discuss, share and learn from emerging knowledge and practical innovations on social protection in urban areas.
Chairperson BISP in her remarks also highlighted Pakistan’s commitment
to poverty alleviation under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and in this regard informed the gathering that how the modern systems are being used to efficiently implement country’s flagship income support programme.
The BISP is providing financial assistance to 5.1 million beneficiary
families by successfully bringing them in Social Safety Net Program through
National Socio-economic Registry (NSER).
The present government, she said has allocated substantial amount to
the tune of Rs. 102 billion in the current budget. The monthly stipend was also raised by this government from Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1200 in 2013 and Rs. 1500 in 2014.
She also underlined that BISP has adopted modern IT based innovative
solutions to maintain transparency and contain any chances of misappropriation in the working of the organization.
The BISP has introduced Biometric Payment Mechanism for transparency in
payments to its beneficiaries and reduce the middlemen culture. Moreover, Android based high-tech tools in order to improve monitoring and complaints systems have been employed in the offices of BISP.
Marvi said BISP is also working for the provision of basic education
and health facilities to its beneficiaries in remote areas through IT
based solutions.
The participants highly appreciated Pakistan’s pioneering role in
combining the national identity database with socio economic registry to
transparently identify the poor and deliver social assistance to those who are in need.