ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Friday advised BISP to
distribute cash grants among the poor through Benazir Smart Cards (BSC)
throughout the country instead of post offices to avoid delays and
other complaints in the present delivery mechanism.
This he said
during a briefing on BISP in the Presidency today which revealed that
the BSC introduced in four districts of the country as pilot project
had proved to be a huge success. Spokesperson to the President Mr.
Farhatullah Babar said that the President also asked NADRA to
significantly reduce the charges of Benazir Smart Card so that it was
easily affordable. The President also urged all the leading commercial
banks to partner with BISP in introducing the Smart Card in all parts
of the country and making it ATM friendly also. The President
appreciated the banks who have shown readiness to partner with BISP in
implementation of Benazir Smart Card program. He applauded the efforts
of all concerned in introducing this technology based solution to the
poorest segment of the society saying that this would help the
Government to implement a complete financially inclusive system to the
poor. Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Ms. Hina
Rabbani Khar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal
Minister for Water & Power, Mr. M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary
General to the President, Ms. Farzana Raja, Chairperson BISP, Mr. Yasin
Anwar, Acting Governor State Bank, Mr. Qamar Zaman Kaira, Begum Shahnaz
Wazir Ali, Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, Chairman NADRA and other
senior officials were present during the meeting. Presidents/heads of
commercial banks including HBL, NBP, Alfalah, Tameer, Summit, Al-Habib
and UBL were also present during the meeting. Farhatullah Babar said
that due to various complaints in delivery mechanism of BISP benefits
to the beneficiaries, BISP was directed to adopt more efficient and
technologically advanced mechanism of delivering BISP funds through the
BSC.
The meeting was informed that the various Banks have
indicated their choices of districts of operations and Governor SBP
would soon convene a meeting to decide allotments of districts to
various banks.
The Spokesperson said that the President during
the meeting appreciated BISP team for making the program a transparent,
apolitical and largest social protection program of the country. He
also appreciated objective targeting mechanism and Poverty Scorecard
Survey to identify the deserving. The President noted with satisfaction
success of Benazir Smart Card Program in the pilot phase and saying
that the success of the program has encouraged the Government to
implement it across the country.
The President said that BSC
was planned to be used not only for cash transfers but also for other
BISP benefits like Health Insurance. The President also lauded the
commitment and tireless efforts of Ms. Farzana Raja, Chairperson BISP. Online
