Islamabad:
Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Farzana Raja on Monday said that poverty is a global phenomenon, and no country could achieve sustainable development without addressing this problem.
Raja was talking to a delegation of ex-Finnish parliamentarians, comprising Vappu Taipale and Ilkka Taipale, experts from social and health sector. She said the government, despite various economic challenges, had decided not to ignore the needs of the poor and downtrodden segments of society, as this approach was imperative for the overall progress and development of the country.
She informed the delegation that the women empowerment had always been the top priority for Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its leadership. Therefore, BISP was advancing the same vision through its various initiatives that were basically designed to benefit the poor, she added. Raja said that besides reaching out to downtrodden segments of society across Pakistan, the BISP had introduced them with the state of the art technology.
The BISP chairperson said the government was fighting against terrorism as well as poverty simultaneously. The BISP was a transparent and objective programme designed to serve the people indiscriminately, she added. She informed the delegation that a poverty survey was conducted across the country to provide every deserving family a fair opportunity to get registered with BISP. The poverty survey, towards its final stages, was underway in FATA which was the region worst effected by terrorism, she informed the delegation. The Finnish delegation applauded the steps taken by BISP for the poor and termed the scale of poverty survey unprecedented and highly admirable.
Earlier, Provincial Minister for Finance Murad Ali Shah, along with Provincial secretary finance, met Farzana Raja and discussed various issues pertaining to BISP’s beneficiary families from Sindh, Waseela-e-Haq Scheme and disbursement of financial assistance. Murad Ali Shah, on the occasion, assured BISP chairperson of full cooperation of Sindh government, particularly in effective disbursement of financial assistance to beneficiary families. app
source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk / Tuesday, January 17th, 2012