Islamabad: The Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety convened its 19th meeting to address issues related to the Benazir Income Support Programme’s (BISP) performance, awareness initiatives, and management of digital wallets. Chaired by Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, the Committee expressed dissatisfaction with delayed briefing materials and criticized BISP’s public education efforts.

According to National Assembly of Pakistan, the Committee highlighted concerns over the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety’s lack of discipline in providing timely briefing documents. The Ministry Secretary apologized and assured an investigation into the delays. The Committee also scrutinized BISP’s collaboration with the Gates Foundation and its ineffective public awareness campaigns, noting that BISP’s failure to educate the public had led to a negative portrayal of the program.

The Chairperson of BISP acknowledged the challenges in correcting the program’s image and informed the Committee of ongoing efforts to enhance media outreach. Despite opening nine million digital wallets, the Committee found BISP’s digital transaction initiatives lacking and urged a comprehensive media campaign before further education efforts. They also discussed penalization mechanisms for partner banks and the need for more timely application of penalties.

The Committee requested detailed media campaign costs and information on BISP’s Hybrid Social Protection Scheme pilot project within a week. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks and was attended by Members of the National Assembly and officials from relevant ministries.