Exclusion of Over 42,000 Deserving Women from Quetta from BISP Is an Economic Suicide Attack on the Poor: Public Circles

QUETTA (Daily Qudrat Quetta): Millions of women receiving financial assistance under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) across the country have been excluded from the programme, with reports that the assistance funds of more than 2.25 million women in total have been stopped. Among these women are 42,231 women belonging to Quetta, who will be deprived of financial assistance after being removed from the programme.

According to sources, during the process of re-examining the lists of deserving families under BISP and assessing the economic and social situation of households, a large number of women were excluded from the programme. As a result of this process, reports indicate that about 2.25 million women across the country have been declared ineligible for BISP assistance.

According to sources, a large number of women in Quetta have also been affected by this decision, and 42,231 women have been excluded from the programme’s current list. These women include those belonging to households that had been receiving quarterly financial assistance through BISP for several years.

It is stated that during the re-scrutiny of the lists of beneficiaries, the eligibility of women was reassessed on the basis of various government records, economic situation, family assets, income and other available information. Households regarding which it was determined under the prescribed criteria that they no longer meet the programme’s financial assistance criteria were excluded from the assistance programme.

According to sources, the government is continuously updating data to deliver financial assistance to deserving families and remove ineligible individuals from the programme, so that assistance funds can reach families genuinely facing financial difficulties. However, on the other hand, women removed from the programme and their families are also expressing reservations over this process.

Concern also prevails among affected families regarding the 42,231 women excluded from the programme in Quetta. For many families, the BISP quarterly amount has been an important means of meeting household expenses, children’s needs, medical treatment, food and other basic requirements. In such a situation, stopping the assistance carries the risk of additional financial pressure on low-income families.

Affected women say that if they have been declared ineligible again on the basis of a survey or data, they should be informed of the reasons, and if any woman’s exclusion occurred due to incorrect information, a record error or incomplete data, she should be given a proper opportunity for appeal and review.

On the other hand, the policy regarding BISP is also being considered important — that assistance funds should be provided only to families that meet the prescribed eligibility criteria. For this purpose, the data of beneficiaries is regularly scrutinised so that transparency in the financial assistance system can be maintained and government resources reach genuinely deserving families.

After the exclusion of millions of women from the programme across the country, this matter has become particularly important for households whose daily subsistence depends partly or wholly on BISP financial assistance. Affected women are demanding that the reasons for ineligibility decisions be clarified and that the cases of women wrongly removed from the list be re-examined.

In Quetta too, after the exclusion of 42,231 women, public circles are stressing that in a province facing economic difficulties like Balochistan, the matters of low-income families should be given special consideration. Women say that if a family’s economic situation has not improved, stopping assistance merely on the basis of a minor change in records could increase their difficulties.

According to sources, after exclusion from the programme, affected women can obtain information about their eligibility and current status from the relevant centres, and if they believe their exclusion was made erroneously, they can submit their complaint or review request under the available procedure.

The Benazir Income Support Programme is a major social protection programme providing financial assistance to poor and low-income families, especially women, in the country. Through this programme, financial assistance is provided to millions of families; however, from time to time, as a result of scrutiny and re-surveys of beneficiaries’ data, some families are excluded from the programme while new deserving families are included.

After the recent exclusion of 2.25 million women from across the country and 42,231 women from Quetta alone, the affected families’ eyes are now focused on the relevant authorities’ explanation, the review procedure and future assistance policy.