Ramazan Mai Shehri Pareshan... Relief Schemes Par Rush
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00:00 We will talk about the Benazir Income Support Programme in Pakistan, which is highly praised
00:07 all over the world. It is a great programme and many people are benefiting from it.
00:12 In Ramadan, special cash grants are given, monthly packages are given.
00:17 For them, the offices of the Benazir Income Support Programme have long lines of people.
00:23 Now, we are seeing that the arrangements are good, but there are many bad news.
00:30 People are very worried about this issue. There is fasting, there is heat, and there are long lines.
00:36 Let's see what people are saying. Let's talk more about this.
00:39 They said, "You can deposit Rs. 5000". We said, "No, we are not your farmers, so we will come and see".
00:44 We went, but there was nothing. They are not giving us any money. They have taken our money as well.
00:50 This is the problem. Women are beating each other.
00:54 Earlier, we were given Rs. 24,000, but then we did not get it.
00:58 Then I got an entry. They have been standing here from morning till evening.
01:02 I have already made the third round. I am standing here from 10 am.
01:05 Neither my mother nor my father is here. They don't cooperate with me.
01:08 They did the same drama yesterday.
01:10 When we reached room number 10 in the evening, they stopped giving us money.
01:15 Even today, they are doing the same.
01:17 Let's talk to our representative Shoaib Nizami.
01:21 Shoaib, tell us about the people who are here. What are they saying? Where is the problem?
01:28 Right now, outside the office of Islamabad BSP, we can see long lines of women.
01:36 They are standing in a trench worth Rs. 10,000.
01:41 Long lines of women are here to collect that money. They have been standing here since morning.
01:47 Women are complaining that they are not getting their money.
01:50 They are not getting their amount.
01:52 They are not getting their money from the offices or shops where they used to work.
01:56 That is why they are coming to this office.
01:59 When we talked to the BSP representative, he said that
02:03 there were some complaints about the BSP money being taken from the shopkeepers for clarification.
02:11 That is why they are giving the money directly from the banks.
02:17 A verification process is going on here for this.
02:21 It is taking time.
02:22 There are 7 different categories in which women have to be included.
02:26 They have to be verified after their filtration.
02:29 It is taking time in all these processes.
02:31 We are trying to open offices in places where they believe in the transparency of the trench.
02:40 We will arrange money for people in the areas of Islamabad BSP so that the lines can be closed.
02:48 This program has been implemented in Pakistan for a long time.
02:52 But if people are facing such injustices in the month of Ramadan,
02:59 their lawyer should not be helpless.
03:01 Why is this happening?
03:02 What are the arrangements?
03:03 Why is this not working?
03:04 Let's talk about this.
03:05 We have with us the Director General of Benazir Income Support Program, Naveed Akbar.
03:09 Thank you very much, Mr. Naveed Akbar.
03:11 As we said, the World Bank and all the reports speak very strongly about this program.
03:17 But when we see these arrangements and hear the complaints of people,
03:21 were there no preliminary arrangements?
03:24 Are they having to go through verification today?
03:27 Are they taking a shopkeeper's commission?
03:30 What are the issues?
03:31 In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate.
03:33 Thank you very much for accepting our request and taking our stance.
03:37 The basic issue is that there are about 9.3 million families in our country who are benefiting from this program.
03:45 We pay them a salary of 10,500 rupees per month.
03:52 This is a very large number.
03:54 If we look at the numbers of banks in Pakistan,
03:59 then according to that, there are about 600 to 700 beneficiaries in the Free Bank.
04:04 Now, I would like to tell our beneficiaries through you,
04:11 that we issue this contract for three months.
04:16 And after this three-month period, they have about nine months to come and collect their money.
04:25 Now, as soon as we release the tranche,
04:28 obviously, as you know, the poverty in this country,
04:31 and especially in Ramadan, people need money.
04:34 So, every family, every beneficiary tries to go and collect their payment on the first day.
04:41 Now, there are also issues of capacity.
04:44 There is so much volume.
04:46 Because I keep telling you that this semi-tranche that we have released,
04:50 of 93 million families, we have released a tranche of about 97 billion rupees.
04:55 Now, it is not possible that we can serve all people in one day or two days,
05:00 no matter what mechanism we introduce in it.
05:04 I keep telling you that we implemented it on the first day of Ramadan.
05:08 Today, after about 15 days, about 60 million families,
05:14 out of 93 million families, have collected the money.
05:19 More than 60 billion rupees have been withdrawn so far.
05:23 Now, the situation of this tranche, there are basically two types of people in it,
05:28 which they have mentioned in your report as well.
05:32 One is those people who are benefiting from our program, which I mentioned 93 million.
05:38 And there are many families who are not benefiting from our program.
05:42 And the basic reason for this is not that they are not poor.
05:46 The basic reason for this is that we do not have enough resources to serve all people in this program.
05:52 Mr. Naveed, this is absolutely right.
05:54 I am sorry to cut you, but there is a question here that this is true that we work with limited resources.
05:59 But there could have been some management in it, right?
06:02 Because this was not happening before Ramadan.
06:04 This has happened in Ramadan.
06:06 Obviously, people do not understand.
06:08 They all reach on the first day.
06:10 So, could there have been any implementation on this that a serial number would have been given?
06:14 From this number to this number, come this day.
06:16 From this number to that number, come that day.
06:19 Because you also gave mobile SIMs and all those things.
06:22 These arrangements were there, right?
06:24 Yes, basically, what you mentioned, our 93 million families who are benefiting from Ramadan,
06:30 they know their whole system because they take it every three months.
06:35 In Ramadan, this time, we have done this especially that we have allocated some more families
06:40 on the direction of Prime Minister Pakistan for 2000 rupees.
06:44 These are basically the people who are coming for the first time.
06:47 They have never benefited from Benazir Bhutto's support program before.
06:50 So, basically, when these additional people came, they did not have an idea of the old system, line, queue, queue management.
06:58 Because of this, our crowd has increased.
07:02 That is, you can understand that in Islamabad, where we were providing support to 10,000 people,
07:08 there this number has now increased to 45,000.
07:11 So, you can understand that four times more people have come.
07:13 Now, the arrangements we have made for this are basically that we have established more centers.
07:18 We have established centers in the Muslim-based areas of Islamabad where the number is more.
07:24 And for the future, we are taking it to the level of Union Council.
07:28 We have recently hired new banks.
07:32 And, God willing, we will be able to reach the next payment.
07:35 God willing, let's hope that the new people who are facing the problem,
07:38 they will be registered properly.
07:40 And if you have the means, of course, they will reach them.
07:43 Thank you so much.
07:44 Thank you very much for being with us.