ISLAMABAD: Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri has directed all officials of her ministry to ensure full transparency in the disbursement of financial assistance to all beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Ms Marri, who is also the chairperson of BISP, presided over a high level zoom meeting here on Monday to review various initiatives of the social protection programme.

BISP Secretary Yusuf Khan, Additional Secretary Dr Tahir Noor and all director generals including heads of provinces and regions spoke through zoom links.

The secretary briefed the minister regarding the ongoing quarterly disbursement of Benazir Kafaalat which has been enhanced from Rs7,000 to Rs8,500 by the federal government.The details of other initiatives including disbursement of Benazir Taleemi Wazaif, Sindh government`s payments of Wheat Seed Subsidy to farmers of flood affected areas of Sindh, and atta (flour) subsidy payments were also discussed.

The ongoing survey of National SocioEconomic Registry `Dynamic Registry` was also discussed under which the status of already registered beneficiaries is being reassessed. Dynamic Registry provides new and deserving beneficiaries with the opportunity to take benefit from the initiative on qualifying the criteria/ poverty benchmark.

Regional director generals for Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir briefed the minister with regard to complaints of illegal deductions received, recovery made and the Points of Sale Agents (POS agents) blocked under the complaints of deductions. They also pointed out the issue of the shortage of manpower in meeting.After the briefing, Ms Marri underlined the need for educating beneficiaries regarding the increase in the financial assistance of Benazir Kafaalat for quarter of JanMarch and AprilJune from Rs7,000 to Rs8,500 and Rs9,000 respectively. She urged the beneficiaries to lodge their complaints in case of unlawful deductions in the nearest BISP office.

The minister also directed field staff to enhance vigilance at the grassroots level to control the complaints of illegal deductions received from some areas against the POS (Point of Sale) agents of partner banks.

She further urged partner banks including Habib Bank in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan and Bank Al-Falah in the rest of the country to simplify the payment mechanism through their ATMs so that BISP beneficiaries could withdraw their funds easily.

The minister asked the secretary (BISP) to work out a plan to address the issue of shortage of manpower in provinces.