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Saturday, August 06, 2011
Zardari asks BISP officials to distribute cash through BSCs
* President also asks NADRA to reduce charges of BSCs significantly to make them affordable
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday, asks officials managing Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to distribute cash grants among the poor across the country through Benazir Smart Cards (BSCs) instead of post offices in order to avoid delays and other complaints inherent in the present delivery mechanism.
He expressed these views during a briefing on BISP held at the Presidency.
It was revealed at the briefing that BSCs introduced in four districts of the country as a pilot project had proved to be a huge success.
Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the president also asked NADRA high-ups to significantly reduce charges of BSCs so that these could be easily affordable.
The president also urged all leading commercial banks to partner with BISP in introducing smart cards in all parts of the country and making them ATM-friendly.
The president appreciated the gesture of banks, which have shown readiness to partner with BISP in the implementation of BSC programme.
Zardari lauded the efforts of all concerned in introducing this technology-based solution for the poorest segment of society, and said that this would help the government implement a complete financially inclusive system for the poor.
Federal Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, Secretary General to the President Salman Farooqi, BISP Chairperson Farzana Raja, State Bank acting governor Yasin Anwar, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Spokesman Farhatullah Babar, NADRA chairman 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 about delivery mechanism of the BISP, more efficient and technologically advanced mechanism of delivering BISP funds through the BSC was adopted.
The meeting was informed that various banks had indicated their choices of districts of operations and the SBP governor would soon convene a meeting to decide allotments of districts to various banks.
The spokesperson added that Zardari appreciated BISP team for making the programme transparent, apolitical and largest social protection programme in the country. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk