The Benazir Income Support Pro gramme board has approved the inclusion of the transgender community as beneficiaries of the Benazir Kafalat Programme.
In the 56th Board of Directors meeting chaired by federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety and BISP Chairman Shazia Marri, the board members urged the Na-tional Database and Registra-tion Authority to simplify a system for updating the trans-gender community’s CNICs. Speaking on the occasion, Marri termed the approval of the transgender policy as a “land-mark achievement” of the pre-sent government and urged the board members to use their “good offices and influence” to mobilise the marginalised community so that the maximum num-ber of transgender persons could benefit from the policy.
On Friday, the federal minister outlined the process for the members of the transgender com-munity to register themselves with BKP, adding that they would receive Rs7,000 upon suc-cessful registration.
The board also acknowledged that organisations like BISP, Nadra and partner banks have “worked tremendously” to extend financial support to flood af-fectees in a short span of time.
The board decided that BISP was going to adopt a new payment system under which the benefi ciaries would be able to get funding directly through the bank of their own choice, thus ensuring a transparent cash disbursement mechanism. Marri also informed the board that under the prime minister’s cash relief assistance for flood-affected people, Rs70 billion were disbursed among 2.8 million families.
However, she said that there was a “lot more” that still needed to be done for the flood victims’ relief and rehabilita-tion.
