MD of Pakistan Bait ul Mal should be appointed at earliest, Senate Committee strongly recommends

ISLAMABAD, July 09 (SABAH): A meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety under the Chairmanship of Senator Sardar Al Haj Muhammad Umer Gorgaij was held on Tuesday at Parliament House. The meeting was also attended by Senator Abdul Shakoor Khan, Senator Jaan Muhammad, Senator Dost Ali Jeesar, Senator Rubina QaimKhani, and the senior management of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety along with representatives of the attached departments.

The Committee was briefed on the operations and performance of the Ministry and its attached departments. It was informed that the Ministry administers four departments namely Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), Pakistan Bait ul Mal, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO). Additionally, the Ministry has initiated the National Poverty Graduation Programme (NPGP), a joint venture of Government of Pakistan and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The main objective of NPGP is to provide monetary support and training to deserving individuals in order to uplift their livelihood. The program is initially being implemented in 21 districts of the country with a total volume of USD 132.6 Million. Moreover, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has also joined NPGP which will support addition of four (04) more districts from the Ultra Poverty Index in second phase of the programme.

Committee, during the meeting, inquired the BISP authorities regarding allocation of funds for the province of Balochistan, wherein, it was informed that approximately 6.5 to 7 lac families are eligible for the support programme and further 5% of the total funds have been allocated for Baluchistan. The Committee recommended that the volume of funds for Balochistan should be increased, given the high ratio of people living below the poverty line in the region. The Committee, in order to directly facilitate the beneficiaries, also emphasizedthat, role of the agents should be eliminated.

The BISP authorities also briefed the Committee that, BISP has signed MoUs with additional six banks to facilitate the payments through banks. Moreover, BISP is planning to distribute handouts at the union council level to ease the process and ensure transparency.

Accordingly, the Committee was informed that, the key position of Managing Director, Bait ul Mal has been vacant forover more than eight months. The Committee took serious cognizance of the issue and strongly recommended that the Government should ensure the appointment of MD, Bait ul Mal at the earliest, benefiting the general masses.