Centre not considering complete abolition of poverty alleviation programme, clarifies Kheal Das
\n islamabad
\nMinister of State for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Kheal Das Kohistani said on Friday that the government is considering devolving the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) prgramme to provinces.
\nLaunched in 2008, BISP is Pakistan\u2019s flagship poverty alleviation and social safety programme, providing financial assistance to more than 10 million low-income families, particularly women.
\nSpeaking to reporters in Matiari, the federal minister clarified that the complete abolition of the Benazir Income Support Programme was not under consideration.
\nKohistani said discussions on the programme\u2019s administrative structure emerged after the implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, under which several ministries and departments were devolved to the provinces from the Centre. He added that some provinces had also voiced support for transferring BISP to the provincial governments.
\nThe minister said the federal government would make any decision on the matter only after consultations with coalition partners.
\nHis remarks came a day after reports emerged that Pakistan had given written assurances to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to phase out the existing electricity subsidy system and introduce a targeted support mechanism.
\nUnder the proposed mechanism, a new targeted subsidy framework for low-income consumers will be introduced from January 2027 through data obtained from BISP, The News reported.
\nPrior to this development, the provinces, particularly Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), strongly opposed the federal government\u2019s proposal to shift selected expenditures to provincial budgets during a National Finance Commission (NFC) session held in December last year.
\nFederal authorities argued that increasing provincial transfers, coupled with continued federal spending responsibilities, were widening fiscal deficits and adding to the Centre\u2019s borrowing pressures.
\nThe provinces had rejected suggestions that provinces should take financial responsibility for the BISP, Higher Education Commission (HEC), and development projects traditionally funded through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Centre not considering complete abolition of poverty alleviation programme, clarifies Kheal Das islamabad Minister of State for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Kheal Das Kohistani said on Friday that the government is considering devolving the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) prgramme to provinces. Launched in 2008, BISP is Pakistan\u2019s flagship poverty alleviation and social safety […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-545387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n