The Government of Pakistan has announced that one crore beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) will start receiving payments directly at home through digital wallets from March 2026. The move is expected to reduce corruption and save recipients, particularly women, from standing in long queues.
Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation, Imran Ahmed Shah, made the announcement during a National Assembly session while responding to a question from PPP leader Sharmila Faruqi. He added that one crore accounts have already been created and phone SIM cards have been distributed to facilitate digital payments.
Imran Ahmed Shah explained that BISP has signed an agreement with Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal in 2023 to share data. So far, 40,000 cases have been checked, and 8,000 duplicate accounts were removed. He said further improvements will be made in the coming months.
During the session, Sharmila Faruqi called for an increase in the BISP budget. In response, Imran Ahmed Shah said that government ministries do not get a share of foreign exchange reserves and confirmed that the government has allocated 716 billion rupees for BISP.
