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.

“As far as help for flood-affected families is concerned, we haven’t started yet because the funds we have are already committed,” BISP Chairperson Rubina Khalid told Arab News in an exclusive interview.

“In the past, relief was extended through BISP with funding provided by the prime minister from his own or other government resources. It is the prime minister who will direct us to move ahead.”

The rains and floods, which began in late June and peaked in Punjab in late August, have killed over 1,000 people nationwide and submerged crops on more than 2.5 million acres of land, mainly in Punjab.

Khalid stressed that the BISP is not mandated to directly conduct flood relief operations.

“BISP is not there to act as another NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority). This is NDMA’s job to make the assessments and arrangements. We are just saying that we are the vehicle of this cash transfer,” she said.

The BISP’s strength lies in its geotagged beneficiary database, which enables quick intervention in case of disasters, according to its chairperson.

“When NADRA (National Database & Registration Authority) or the PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority) declares a district a disaster area, we can immediately reach out with cash assistance,” she said.

“This quick injection of cash is essential because displaced families need more than food and shelter. They need financial support to restart their lives.”

About transparency in funds distribution, Khalid insisted any political interference in BISP operations is impossible.

“Even if the president or prime minister asks for someone to be enrolled, it cannot be done. There is a clear process, and only those who meet the prerequisites are registered,” she said. “Our system is apolitical and mechanical, leaving no room for favoritism.”

She underlined that women remain central to the program.

“The beauty of this program is that it empowers women. Millions who were previously unaccounted for are now recognized in the national database,” she said.

Lifting households out of poverty

Khalid revealed the BISP, which supports around 10 million families or nearly 60 million people, recently graduated two million households out of poverty through a recertification exercise.

“We did a recertification process which ended on June 30. Two million people are now out of the program, and we will be adding two million new beneficiaries,” she said.

The program holds data of 35 million people, out of which 10 million of the poorest households are shortlisted for cash support, according to the BISP chairperson.

Asked about past concerns about missed families, Khalid said: “We now have a dynamic registry system with offices across Pakistan, down to tehsil level. People being missed out is no longer a big problem.”

The program also runs education stipends under the Nashonuma health initiative and recently launched a skills training initiative.

Khalid admitted that inflation has reduced the value of their cash transfers, but stressed that they still help bridge the income-expenditure gap for Pakistan’s poorest. She said international donors, such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, finance various programs of BISP and the program will continue evolving.

“It is an income support program, not a handout,” she said. “Our recipients are like family. We will look after them like family.”