The provincial head of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ikram Ghani said that more than 1,150,000 families from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 40,000 from FATA had been registered under the BISP.
Talking to VOA, he said during the first phase of the survey, the BISP teams got only 40 thousands families registered in FATA because majority of the people could not get the forms but now BISP will ensure the availability of these forms to all deserving people of the tribal areas.
“We are expecting that we will get more than 200,000 families registered during the current phase of the survey,” he said.
To a question, Ikram Ghani said that government had chalked out a plan under which BISP teams in FATA will carry out surveys in the tribal regions based on poverty index. However in Bajaur tribal region the survey is almost in its final phase as 80% of the area had been surveyed.
He said BISP teams will initiate door to door survey in Mohmand tribal region followed by the surveys in Orakzai and Waziristan tribal regions. The basic purpose of these surveys is to bring people from all walks of life in tribal regions into a streamline, he added.
Ghani said that more than 6 million people had been registered under the programme across the country, adding that the number 1.15 million of KPK does not include the families registered in FATA as the BISP teams have just initiated survey in the tribal areas.
Classical singer enthrals audience: An evening of classical music with Ustad Sultan Fateh Ali and his students enthralled the fun lovers of federal capital here late Tuesday at Kuch Khaas Centre for Arts, Culture and Dialogue.
The show entertained audience with classical and semi classical singing by Ustad Sultan Fateh Ali of the Patiala Gharana accompanied by a group of his students.
The remarkable performance compelled the audience to join melodious tones with dancing and singing.
Patiala Gharana is a family which produced several generations of renowned classical singers. Sultan Fateh Ali is the son of the famous maestro Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and nephew of the late Ustad Amanat Ali Khan. Since the age of seven years, he started receiving training in classical music. Sultan is an extremely versatile singer, and apart from classical singing, he is amazing at semi classical, ghazal, folk and light singing, said the organizers.
He formed the first pop band of Lahore in 1987 called `The Avengers’, and was one of the pioneers in combining pop and classical music.
He also performed in different countries all over the world and currently he is teaching classical singing at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) as well as at ‘Mausikar’, which is run by a trust by the same name.
