Pakistan welfare program lifts 2 million from poverty, awaits PM approval for flood funds
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s poverty alleviation program is ready with data and mechanisms to reach families devastated by the recent floods but is waiting for the prime minister’s direction and fund allocation to begin the process, its chairperson said on Friday, adding the program has lifted 2 million household out of poverty so far.
The statement comes amid friction between the government and one of its allies, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), over how to assist over 4.7 million people affected by monsoon floods in the breadbasket Punjab province.
The PPP maintains that the Benazir Income Support Program is the most effective and fastest mechanism to assist flood victims, while the government of PM Shehbaz Sharif’s party in Punjab insists on channeling aid through its own relief card initiative.
Launched in 2008, BISP aims to support low-income families and empower women. Named after late former PM Benazir Bhutto, it has a budget of Rs716 billion ($2.5 billion) for fiscal year 2025–26. Through its Benazir Kafaalat program, BISP provides quarterly stipends of Rs13,500 ($48) to around 10 million women.
