The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has firm belief that a nation cannot make progress without catering to the needs of poor segments of society and the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has followed the same approach while laying the foundation of a social welfare state three years back. BISP Chairperson Farzana Raja said this while speaking at a certificate-distribution ceremony among 173 male and female graduates of the three-month vocational training course of ‘Pak-China Friendship Scholarship’ – a shared venture of BISP and China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD).
The services to the poor is a practical manifestation of the dreams and vision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, she added.
During the ceremony, Waseela-e-Haq cheques worth Rs 14 million were also distributed among 92 families.
Besides others, Ambassador of China in Pakistan Liu Jian, PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warriach, PPP MNAs Raja Pervaiz Asharf, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Nadeem Afzal Chan were also present. Farzana Raja said they were grateful for the cooperation of Chinese government and CFPD for curbing poverty in Pakistan. She said financial self-sustainability for the poor and the downtrodden was being sought through vocational training programme under Waseela-e-Rozgar and interest-free loan for business through Waseela-e-Haq.
The BISP was intending to enroll more than one million children through Waseela-e-Taleem initiative from the beneficiary families in schools in April 2012 to secure their future, she maintained. The Chinese Ambassador said that BISP was doing remarkable job regarding poverty alleviation, and China would keep on supporting its future endeavours as well. He said the mutual cooperation between BISP and CFPD in vocational training was improving ties between the two countries. He also congratulated BISP for launching the successful vocational training programme. Imtaiz Safdar Warriach and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also spoke on the occasion.
