By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: The beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) are suffering the worst mentally, physically and financially in Chitral, Drosh and Booni for receiving their quarterly stipend from the frachise shops of mobile phone companies where they can be seen in long queues for the last four days consecutively.
The mismanagement in the disbursement of the stipends has reportedly caused due to the failure of BISP high-ups in implementing the terms of reference (ToR) with Al-Falah bank to which the contact has been awarded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sources in BISP told Chitral Times that the as per ToR, for every five hundred beneficiaries, there should be a biomatric verificaiton service (BVS) machine while in practice, for 19500 beneficiaries across the district, there are only four; two in Chitral city, one each in Drosh and Booni.
The bank was duty-bound as per terms of the contract deed to provide a BVS machine in every village council as per number of the beneficiaries to disburse the stipend at their doorsteps without any cost but at present each beneficiary is being charged Rs. 200 to Rs. 300.
The beneficiaries in Chitral town told Chitral Times that they were passing through mental agony and physical exhaustion as they are made to wait in front of mobile shop for days for their turn.
They said that the women coming to the towns of Chitral, Booni and Drosh for receiving a stipend of Rs. 5000, already more than half of it in meeting the travelling and stay in hotel expenses.
Some of the beneficiaries in Chitral city, Drosh and Booni complained that they had to wait for days in the franchise shops for their turn of putting their thubms on the BVS machine and being paid.
The beneficiaries have demanded of the government to make special provison of disbursing the stipend through Pakistan Post in Chitral keeping in view its enormity is area, unavailability of the telephone signals in all the villages and the large distances from the valleys to the towns of Chitral, Booni and Drosh.
