Karachi (Bureau Report):
Senator Rubina Khalid, Chairperson of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), has emphasized the need to transfer health and education-related programs to provincial governments for more effective implementation, while keeping BISP’s core support programs at the federal level. She made the remarks during a visit to the Sindh Social Protection Authority (SSPA) office under the Government of Sindh’s Department of Social Protection on Wednesday.
During the visit, Sindh Provincial Minister for Labour, Human Resources, and Social Protection Saeed Ghani welcomed the Chairperson, while Chief Executive Officer of SSPA, Irshad Sodhar, briefed her on the authority’s ongoing initiatives.
Senator Rubina Khalid highlighted that BISP is keen to establish a robust system of data integration with the Sindh government to enhance program effectiveness. Provincial Minister Saeed Ghani underscored ongoing efforts for broader collaboration and data-sharing agreements with BISP, which aim to improve accessibility of social protection programs for millions of beneficiaries in Sindh. He also noted work is underway to create a central data repository in coordination with other government departments.
Dr. Asim Ejaz, Director General of BISP, shared that Sindh has approximately 9.8 million households, of which 9.1 million are registered with BISP. Currently, 2.65 million households are receiving unconditional cash transfers under the Benazir Kafalat Program.
CEO Irshad Sodhar informed the delegation about existing data-sharing protocols between BISP and NADRA, which facilitate registration under the “Mamta Program.” He added that 910,000 mothers have been registered across 15 districts of Sindh, and over 4 million hospital check-ups have been completed so far.
The visit was also attended by Secretary of the Department of Social Protection Khadim Hussain Channa, Senior Project Manager Zulfiqar Mithani, DG BISP Sindh Adnan Al-Hassan, Technical Consultant BISP Muhammad Noman Ali, and other senior officials.