The Benazir Income Support Programme BISP launched in 2008 is Pakistans largest and most significant social safety net aimed at supporting the countrys poorest and most vulnerable households Designed with strict eligibility criteria the program excludes government employees tax filers passport holders and property owners However a staggering revelation between 2019 and 2020 exposed massive exploitation of the system—thousands of government employees and their families were unlawfully benefiting from the program .
Scale of the Misuse
In December 2019 Dr Sania Nishtar then Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Welfare announced the results of a forensic audit of BISP beneficiaries The audit uncovered that 820165 individuals were ineligible to receive financial aid and were consequently removed from the program Of those 14730 were serving government employees including individuals from the postal and railway departments and shockingly even some BISP staff members
An additional 127826 beneficiaries were spouses of government employees bringing the total number of inappropriately enrolled individuals connected to government service to nearly 140000 .
Governments Response and Action
The federal cabinet swiftly approved the removal of all flagged individuals from the BISP database Show cause notices were issued to all identified government employees with a ten day deadline to respond Officials warned that failure to comply would result in termination of service and further disciplinary action .
Shahzad Akbar the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability revealed that over 2000 government officers ranging from Grade 1 to 22 were referred to the Federal Investigation Agency FIA for further investigation He emphasized the need to name and shame those responsible and ordered relevant departments to initiate recovery of funds from those who had wrongfully received payments .
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Breakdown by Region and Rank
- The audit provided a comprehensive breakdown of offenders
- 2037 officials belonged to Grades 17–22 including high level officers and bureaucrats
- By region 554 were from Balochistan 342 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 101 from Punjab and 938 from Sindh
- In the northern territories 9 officials were found in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 40 in Gilgit Baltistan
Adding further embarrassment to the programs administration internal investigations revealed that 43 BISP employees themselves including 39 from Grade 1–16 and 4 from Grade 17–22 were drawing stipends from the program These individuals were immediately dismissed
High Profile Names Identified
Although full lists have not been publicly disclosed due to privacy constraints several media reports named senior officials involved in the fraud Among the most notable was Justice Mian Arif a Grade 22 officer along with officials from the Education Department such as Muhammad Shiraz and Muhammad Saleem .
Other identified Grade 17 officers included Muhammad Afzal Qazi Kabir Ahmed Mohammad Muskin Muhammad Yusuf and Riaz Ahmed Khan .
Systemic Weaknesses and Reform Measures
Dr Nishtar stated that the removal of these individuals marked the beginning of an annual data verification and cleanup exercise to ensure only eligible citizens receive BISP aid The government used NADRAs database to cross check records with data on passport holders vehicle ownership telecom usage travel history and property ownership .
Beneficiaries were flagged and removed if they
- Owned vehicles or multiple properties
- Had traveled abroad
- Held executive passports
- Had unusually high mobile phone usage
These new checks are now institutionalized as part of a long term reform agenda
Implications and Way Forward
The scandal revealed critical flaws in oversight and data integrity which allowed fraudulent beneficiaries to go unnoticed for years Most alarmingly it diverted much needed resources away from impoverished women and children the very population the program was designed to protect .
While decisive action has been taken including job terminations and legal proceedings the government faces the ongoing challenge of rebuilding trust in the program Regular audits public transparency and improved inter agency data sharing are crucial to prevent recurrence .
This episode serves as a wake up call about the vulnerabilities in Pakistans social welfare infrastructure It also underscores the need for continued vigilance and reform to ensure that public aid reaches the truly needy not those abusing positions of privilege .