BISP: An official begging initiative or a blackmailing tool?

Hi, readers.

Do you know that begging can become a deep-rooted habit, especially

• when it is used as a survival mechanism,
• learned behaviour passed down through generations, or
• a way to bypass working for income?

Now let’s see which of these three is being exploited by BISP.

The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is Pakistan’s so-called flagship social safety net, launched in 2008 by Yousaf Raza Gillani on the advice of President Asif Ali Zardari as a tribute to his wife, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.

The programme has been implemented in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as in the federally administered regions of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Islamabad Capital Territory.

The objectives of BISP were:

Poverty alleviation; and

Women’s empowerment.

The programme provides direct quarterly cash transfers to eligible low-income families. Beneficiaries are identified using scientific data from the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER), created by the party that has been ruling Sindh for the last 15 years. Guess who the scientist is there?

Eligible families:

• Must earn less than PKR 25,000 per month,
• Must have a female applicant holding a valid ID card;
• Must be a widowed or divorced woman without male family members; and
• Families with physically or mentally disabled individuals are also eligible.

Eligible families receive quarterly cash payments of PKR 13,500. This amount increases purchasing power by 20% of families earning approximately PKR 4,500 per month. Most low-income families spend 50–70% of their total income on food alone therefore, a cash payment of PKR 13,500 every quarter, or PKR 4,500 each month, allows a family of 5-6 people to purchase 20–25 days’ worth of flour.

In February 2026, an increase in financial aid for qualified women was announced by BISP headquarters under the name of the Khawateen Kafalat Programme: BISP has been for women anyway, but greed for more money forces the real beneficiaries to keep adding fancy titles to blackmail government, which requires parliamentarians’ votes to pass budgets or legislation. The quarterly payment was increased by PKR 1000, bringing the total amount to PKR14,500 per beneficiary. Also, to provide mothers and children with more assistance, stipends under the Benazir Educational Scholarships and the Benazir Nashonuma Programme (another fancy word) have been increased by Rs 500, bringing the relief money up to PKR 15,000 per month.

During fiscal year 2008–2009, more than 3 million Pakistani families received cash transfers through BISP; which accounted for 10% of the population living below the poverty line however, the federal government has now allocated a historic PKR 838 billion for BISP in the 2026–27 budget, expanding coverage to approximately 12 million families across Pakistan but the entire money will go to Sind without which no budget speech and no voting would take place in the budget process, hence the government would be forced to accept demands for money. If the budget is not passed, the government may collapse.

Dear readers, did you now understand the psychology behind the famous slogan

Democracy is the best revenge?  لَخ لَعْنَت (curse) on such democrscy. Shun it immidiately

In my view,

It is better not to sacrifice dignity for destiny because, at the end of the day, you will get what is destined for you. Are you listening, man?

The ground reality is that

BISP has not met even one of the two goals:

According to the World Bank,

Poverty in Sindh has climbed significantly, rising from roughly 30–35% in 2008 to 32.6% by 2024–2025. Current estimates, suggest that nearly 29% to 45% of the population lives below the poverty line in Pakistan despite BISP support. If the poverty rate is increasing, and women empowerment is deeply fragmented where is BISP cash support going? Down the drain?

Dr. Shahid Masood, a renowned TV analyst, said in one of his programmes, “Live with Dr. Shahid Masood,” that in Sindh, one person possesses the CNICs of over 5,000 women and draws BISP cash support in their names. That is where the money is going.

Dear readers, don’t you think this single evidence is enough to label BISP: a tool of corruption in the hands of MNAs and MPAs of Sindh?

Another evidence is sending of the entire BISP budget to Sindh, which is enough to label it a blackmailing tool used against the sitting government. Otherwise, money allocated for BISP budget (Rs 838 billion) is not zakat money which Sindh deserve more than any other province. Even if it is so, why is it given to Sindh only? The deserving’s are in every nook and corner of this country. Why has it not been distributed proportionately to all units of Pakistan? Besides, if the purpose is not being served, it is better to close BISP forthwith and instead use the money to open vocational training institutes so that women can get training and earn their own living.

However, if BISP must continue, it would be better to give every registered woman a simple mobile phone with an Easy paisa account into which support money can be deposited. Poor women could then go to a nearby shop and receive the cash by themselves instead of depending on looters, who are looting in the name of helping poor women who cannot operate the system personally.

Dear readers, BISP is based on hard-earned taxpayers’ money which is being misused as people in Punjab are committing suicide along with their children, and elders are being buried without coffins. Where as in Sind, progreess is concerted only in urban areas like Karachi and Hayderabad while rural Sindh is continuously being maltreated. Whether this is deliberate or by default is not known. The fact remains that what the rural Sind is getting, they will keep getting the same because, to them, the dignity of a Sindhi Vadera is more important than their own survival. After all!

ہے جرم ضعیفی کی سزا مرگِ مفاجات

See you again. Take care. Bye.