By Haseeb Kiyani
Is poverty an issue in Pakistan? The answer is “No.” Poverty itself is not the issue; rather, it is the result of many other socio economic imbalances and inequalities. However, poverty has a direct link with citizen’s basic needs, including living standards, food, physical growth, literacy, economic opportunities, justice, security, and communication, particularly for the poorer segments of society.
Providing these basic necessities to its citizens is a primary responsibility of a state. Now if poverty is not an issue in itself but is closely linked to socio-economic indicators, then the second million-dollar question is: “Should a state focus only on socio economic indicators and overlook the immediate basic needs of its people, such as food, shelter, and relief?” Again, the answer is “No.” The third important question is: “What should a government do?”
The answer is that a government should establish Social Protection (SP) and Social Safety Net (SSN) mechanisms alongside a comprehensive socio economic development plan. Keeping in view the above three questions and their possible answers, the critical question is: Where does Pakistan stand? The answer is Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) which is a flagship social protection example in Pakistan.
BISP provides financial assistance to over ten million poorest families through an unconditional cash transfer with an annual budget is over 800 billion rupees.
Many people ask: in the current era of high inflation, what difference can a cash transfer of Rs. 14,000 for 3 months make to a family’s economic condition? Can such an amount lift people out of poverty? Of course, it cannot, but it plays an important role in containing poverty and preventing vulnerable families from falling into deep extreme poverty.
According to BISP’s impact assessment studies, beneficiary families receiving stipends spend about 70% on their food, while the remaining amount is spent on medicines, house rent, education, and other necessities.
Consequently, these findings suggest that BISP plays an important role in protecting citizens from hunger and severe deprivation which is a basic responsibility of a state. BISP is relatively a young and dynamic organization. It is also among the few institutions with nationwide coverage, including AJK, GB and the former FATA areas through over 400 offices across the country.
One of the most unfortunate political stigmas attached to BISP is that it provides cash transfers to politically selected women or families. It is therefore important to understand how BISP identifies its beneficiaries.
BISP uses internationally recognized standards to assess the socioeconomic conditions through Proxy Mean Testing (PMT) methodology under a dynamic National Socio Economic Registry (NSER). Through national-level periodical survey and the application of the PMT, a score is assigned to each household that determine its relative socioeconomic status.
After determining the PMT scores of households, the government, in consultation with BISP Chairperson, establishes a cutoff PMT score for eligibility of beneficiaries. This cutoff is determined in consideration of the number of families the government intends to support and the budget allocated for BISP. There is also a relaxation on the PMT score for the families having one or more person with disabilities. Apart from families identified through this data driven system, no influencer can arbitrarily add a person to the list of beneficiaries.
Facing the challenges related to transparency and accountability, as well as threats by scammers and fraudulent actors. Through an evolved process BISP has moved toward more advanced Biometric Verification System (BVS), and cash volet mechanism for cash disbursement. It helps ensure that only eligible beneficiaries can withdraw their payments through designated banks’ authorized payment agents as and when required.
BISP beneficiaries are the most vulnerable segments of society, therefore, the BISP management with highly professional teams carefully balance between transparency and accessibility to minimize the difficulties faced by its beneficiaries. To strengthen BISP’s capacity, international development partners, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and other organizations also provide significant financial support as technical assistance.
Pakistan has enormous potential and a substantial need for expanded Social Protection programmes. The journey toward establishing a stronger welfare state, BISP has enormous potential for expansion in diverse areas like Social Protection for farmers, low-wage workers, laborers, women, youth, elderly people, unemployed and vulnerable populations.
Author is Social Protection Expert
haseebkiyani@hotmail.com
