Over 3.9 million families across the country have received cash assistance under the major women empowerment initiative of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) with majority (1,377,470) of its beneficiaries being placed in Punjab followed by 1,342,068 beneficiaries in Sindh.
According to the “Pakistan NGO Alternative Report on CEDAW 2012”, a total of 857,897 BISP beneficiaries were from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), 166,068 beneficiaries were from Baluchistan and 76,471 belonged to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Meanwhile 46,496 beneficiaries belonged to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 30,697 were from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 6,998 beneficiaries of the programme were from the federal capital.
The allocation of the BISP from the federal budget for the financial year 2012-13 was Rs 70 billion to provide cash assistance to over 5.5 million families, which constituted almost 18 percent of the entire population. This showed that the programme was aimed at covering 40 percent of population living below the poverty line.
Out of a total of 7,041,014 beneficiaries registered with the programme, the remaining 3,136,849 families were not being provided cash benefits as they did not had computerized national identity cards (CNIC).
The BISP was a mega initiative of direct cash transfer to poor women and their families initiated with an outlay of Rs 34 billion for the year 2008-09 which almost doubled up to Rs 70 billion in the year 2009-10. When the programme met with early success, it was a measure to compensate low income families through a cash grant of Rs 2000 every alternate month to every beneficiary family.
The female heads of families or adult female members of families were benefitted by the programme. Apart from benefits of long term interest and free returnable financial assistance, the beneficiary was also provided vocational and technical training including health and life insurance coverage.
The report also stated that the Punjab had taken the lead on provincial reforms for the benefit of women. The chief minister had recently announced a series of reforms that would be put in place which included an increased quota of 15% (previously 5%) for women in government jobs in addition to 33 percent quota for women representation in all major government decision making bodies, including seats in the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC).
While a special fund of Rs 2 billion was also announced for promoting women economic independence through soft loans for women who wanted to set up their own businesses.
The appointment of a Women Development Secretary and Ombudswomen were also announced to monitor harassment at the workplace, and the provision of land for landless people in certain areas of the Punjab was announced in which the property would be jointly shared by the beneficiary husband and wife.
The report also mentioned the enactment of pro-women laws during the period between the year 2009-12, including “Criminal law (amendment) Act 2012, (Amendment in PPC on sexual harassment)”, “The protection against harassment of women at the workplace act, 2010”, “Prevention of anti-women practices (Criminal Law amendment) Act, 2011”, `Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010’, `The women in distress and “Detention fund (amendment) Act 2011” and “National Commission on the Status of Women Act, 2012”.
