BISP cards blocked during the previous regime to be restored: Kundi

Minister of State for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Faisal Karim Kundi on Tuesday said the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) was a non-political scheme under which about nine million deserving women were being benefitted across the country. Faisal Kundi, who is also the central information secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), stated this during a meeting with different delegations and party representatives here at the residence of PPP District President Malik Farhan Dhap in Paroa. He said the poor voters of every party were being facilitated under this program. Kundi said that Rs 80.7 billion were being distributed among deserving people under Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) across the country. He said the recent payment distribution process of BISP was being monitored by him, Federal Minister Shazia Marri and the BISP officials. Keeping in view the extreme weather conditions and the hardships being faced by the beneficiary women, the payments were transferred to specific retailers from the payment centres, he added. Kundi said that 900,000 cards were blocked during the previous regime and we had promised the nation to restore them, adding, about 250,000 cards including 7,000 from Dera Ismail Khan had been restored to date. About 165,000 women from Dera Ismail Khan benefitted under BISP while 12,000 more have been registered from the area during a recent survey. Kundi said that Dera Ismail Khan has been included in the districts of the pilot project under which the beneficiaries would be paid through banks by next month. Moreover, he said Rs70 billion were given to the flood victims. He said a NADRA office had been opened in Paroa Tehsil despite the obstacles and now he had demanded the Interior Ministry to immediately establish the same facility in Paniala. “We inaugurated the rehabilitation work on Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) last month and issued instructions to the contractor to complete the work within one month but the problem is not being solved,” Kundi informed. “I request the WAPDA chairman to pay a visit himself so that the responsibility for this delay should be identified,” he added. Meanwhile, Faisal Karim Kundi lauded the Interior ministry’s decision of setting up counters for issuing passports at several NADRA centers across the country and demanded for the same facility at Tehsil level in Dera Ismail Khan. According to a press release, the state minister paid tribute to the interior minister for providing facility of Passport in NADRA offices and termed it a people-friendly initiative. Faisal Kundi demanded that this laudable facility should also be provided to the residents of far-flung areas of Dera Ismail Khan. He said the facility of passport processing counters should be provided at NADRA centers in Tehsils Daraban, Paroa, Kulachi and Paharpur. Moreover, the minister demanded of the interior ministry to establish a NADRA office in Paniala. Meanwhile, Faisal Karim Kundi expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad incident of roof collapse in a seminary in Bannu. In a statement, he said the people of the southern districts were saddened due to the incident of the roof collapse of a seminary that took place earlier today in Bannu. Faisal Kundi said that he shared equal pain with the parents of the martyred students and the seminary administration at this testing moment. He asked the Bannu administration to pay full attention to the treatment of the injured students in the incident. He prayed to the Almighty to rest the departed souls in peace and grant courage to the bereaved families to bear this loss with fortitude. It is worth mentioning here that three students of a seminary died and two others got injured when a roof of a seminary collapsed in the Bannu district, one of the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to rescue officials, the roof of the seminary located near Nala Kashupul in Bannu caved in, leaving students and teachers trapped under the debris. After being informed about the incident, rescue teams and residents rushed to the site and started the rescue operation.