By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The head of Pakistan’s flagship social protection programme called on Monday for critics to apologise to millions of beneficiaries whose dignity she said had been wounded by remarks likening state welfare payments to a vehicle for turning recipients into beggars.
Senator Rubina Khalid, chairperson of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), stopped short of naming the target of her rebuke at an Islamabad press conference, but her remarks came directly after she referenced comments made last week by Rana Sanaullah, an adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on political affairs.
Speaking on a private television channel, Sanaullah had alleged the BISP database was riddled with inaccuracies, particularly in Punjab, claimed the programme was “marred by corruption” and declared it served no purpose beyond making its recipients dependent on handouts.
“BISP does not turn people into beggars — it prevents people from becoming one,” Khalid said, her tone measured but pointed. “It is insulting. No one has the right to insult, and I would appeal to them to apologise to beneficiary families whose sentiments have been hurt by their words.”
The programme, established in 2008 and named after slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, provides cash transfers to roughly nine million of Pakistan’s poorest households and is widely regarded as the country’s most significant social safety net. It is administered under the current Pakistan Peoples Party-aligned coalition government, lending the row an unmistakably political edge.
Khalid said the programme catered to people who worked to earn a living but required state support when circumstances demanded it, and that such support should never come at the cost of their self-respect. She urged all those making what she called derogatory statements to refrain from doing so and warned that the programme should not be “targeted for political motives.”
“It takes years to build something and only a day is enough to destroy it,” she said, defending the integrity of the BISP database, which she described as the largest in the country after that of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Sweeping claims that its data was inaccurate, she added, were irresponsible.
The senator said she remained open to constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement, but drew a clear distinction between legitimate scrutiny and what a formal BISP statement called “negative propaganda” — language she described as “condemnable.”
Both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Sharif retained full confidence in the programme, she said.
Khalid used the press conference to highlight what she described as significant programme milestones. More than eight million free “Benazir SIMs” have been distributed to open digital wallets for beneficiary women, a measure she said was designed to eliminate unauthorised deductions and remove unnecessary obstacles to accessing payments. All BISP disbursements will transition exclusively to digital wallets from July 2026, she said.
More than 2.2 million women and their children are enrolled in the Benazir Nashonuma nutritional support programme, which she said had contributed to a 22 percent reduction in stunting. Over 12 million children are receiving educational support through the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif scholarships programme, and 6,000 young people have been enrolled in vocational training under the Benazir Hunarmand skills initiative.
Khalid said BISP’s model of women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion had attracted attention beyond Pakistan’s borders, with several countries and international organisations studying it as a replicable framework.
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