ISLAMABAD: Chairperson Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) Farzana Raja has said that the government is earnestly focusing on relief and rehabilitation activities for Internally Displaced Persons through BISP.

“BISP is vigorously pursuing the ongoing registration process of IDPs to reach out to them for their rehabilitation. All the IDPs will receive financial assistance through `Benazir Smart Cards’ launched recently in coordination with NADRA,” the Chairperson BISP says. The newly announced assistance package of Rs. 25,000 for relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation of IDPs will also be disseminated through the Benazir Smart Cards, she said.

She said after large-scale displacement of people, it was impossible to assist them under the postal system so it was decided to provide all the financial assistance for the IDPs through Benazir Smart Cards. BISP had started registration of IDPs on advice of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to provide them relief, she said.

“The President and the Prime Minister are giving utmost importance to the relief and rehabilitation of the IDPs and we are completing our task on war-footing,” said Farzana Raja.
Briefing about the BISP’s role for relief activities in calamity hit or disturbed areas, she said, under the Emergency Relief Package, the Program would provide financial cover to victims of 2005 earthquake, bomb blasts and the displaced families.

Health insurance, accident insurance and vocational training would also be provided through this card, she said and added, above 500 families were provided Benazir Smart Cards in its launching ceremony at Katcha Garhi in Peshawar last week. She said the Smart Card would be linked with banks, utility stores and post offices. It carries a biometrics chip to ensure that only relevant person uses it after getting verified his or her thumb impression.

She said more than 42,000 displaced families have been registered and the process continues to register all families staying in and off the camps. “About 40 counters of BISP have been placed in and outside the camps to register displaced families. We are also using services of female staff of post office department deputed specially to reach out to displaced women from camp to camp,” she said.

She said women at Charsada, Swabi, Peshawar and Mardan camps have been asked to get their CNIC from NADRA. The families staying at camps would be provided assistance there and those staying off camps, will have to provide their postal address for the purpose. BISP chairperson said the women are taking keen interest in the registration process and the number has risen to two million including more than 18,000 women from FATA.

She said since its launch in October 2008, the BISP was supposed to disseminate the financial assistance worth Rs 34 billion to 3.5 million families and so far “we have distributed above Rs 15 billion to 1.85 million distressed families.” Owing to the increasing future demand, Farzana Raja said the budget for the programme would be at least doubled from Rs 34 billion to Rs 68 billion for upcoming fiscal year.

As the registration of those families is getting pace, those are unable to even afford one-time meal or having monthly income of less than Rs 6,000, the financial assistance would reach to about seven million families in next two years, she added. Farzana Raja said, terrorism and economic stability are inter-linked and the government is endeavoring for country’s deliverance from terrorist elements.