Sindh govt halts BISP

KARACHI: The PPP-led Government of Sindh has halted the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) amounting Rs 5 billion owing to diversion of funds for rehabilitation of flood-affected people of the province, officials told media.The programme was started in 2009, but it could not be implemented in other districts of the province except Larkana and Hyderabad with the excuse of devastating floodwaters, which forced migration of about ten million people of the province.The PPP-led provincial government had started Benazir Women Income Support Programme, earmarking seed money of Rs5b in FY 2009-10 with an objective to disburse it among more than 0.4m poor women of the province – Rs 1,000 monthly to every woman.When contacted, Provincial Minister for Social Welfare Department Mrs. N.D. Khan, who is also chairperson of Benazir Women Support Programme, told The Nation that government had evolved a mechanism to select the poor women through elected MPAs.The project was envisaged distribution of 2900 forms of programme through each MPA of province under which Rs1000 was to be paid to each woman for whole year, Provincial Minister said, adding that the government had stopped this programme as funds diverted to rehabilitate the flood affected, who were still facing difficult ituation.She recalled that some forms of programme were distributed among the MPAs, while amount was to be distributed through bank cheques, which already started from Larkana. But, programme currently stopped due to devastating floods in the province, she confirmed – Nation