The Senate Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, chaired by Senator Sardar Al Haj Muhammad UmerGorgaij has unanimously opposed any change in numerical structure of the organization and recommended that the former basic structure shall stay unchanged.
The committee made these observations during a visit to the BISP Headquarters where the lawmakers attended briefing on the performance of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF).
On this occasion, CEO PPAF, Nadir GulBarech, informed that the PPAF was created to address the nation’s multifaceted poverty challenges by engaging civil society and developing and strengthening the micro-financing sector.
Primarily he said that PPAF in collaborates with the civil society to cater the basic facilities of the community like health and education.
Over the course of years, with a footprint in over 149 districts of Pakistan, PPAF has provided interest free loans to 3.2 million beneficiaries and inculcated skill development in over 1.161 million individuals.
Likewise, PPAF has formed 150,000 community organizations and extended a helping hand to over 39,000 disabled persons.
As far as the financial operations of the organization are concerned, the Pakistan government has provided PKR 1 billion as an endowment fund to sustain the organization and lent around PKR 17.56 billion under the World Bank and IFAD projects out of which PKR 13.24 billion have already been repaid.
Senator Aon Abbas raised concerns over the possibility of the PPAF being included in the government’s rightsizing list. He emphasized the PPAF being the only organization with nominal foothold of political intervention as the country has witnessed the downfall of profit-making organizations due to political intervention. Senator RubinaQaimKhani highlighted several complaints pertaining to blockage of BISP beneficiary card and the third-party commission agents depriving poor masses of the due share of their stipend by keeping half of amount in lieu of withdrawal charges. She also inquired about the existing beneficiaries of BISP while urging transparency in BISP disbursements. The departmental representative of the BISP informed that the existing number of BISP beneficiaries are around 9.3 million families and the current number will reach 10 million families by the end of this Financial Year. However, as per the recent survey, it has been observed that there are around 14 million families living below the poverty line and the current financial constraints have made it difficult to include all the eligible families into the programme.
