President Asif Ali Zardari on 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, 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. SANA
