Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) authorities to place a condition for the programme beneficiaries to get their children enrolled in schools to promote the education culture in the country.

He said after a certain period, a condition should be placed for the beneficiaries that they will only be able to get their stipends if they send their children to schools.

“We will not be promoting the army of beggars but promoting the army of doers who will build Pakistan with their mental and physical capacity and a time will come soon when Pakistan will stand on its own feet and will generate our resources,” Shehbaz Sharif said after launching the Social Protection Account under BISP.

He appreciated Minister for BISP Shazia Marri who with her hard work, expanded the programme and ensure transparency in it.

He recalled that during the devastating floods last summer when the government was also facing intense economic crisis, the flood caused heavy destruction in most parts of the country.

He said under BISP, the federal government distributed Rs 70 billion in all the provinces in the most transparent manner.

This amount, he said was apart from the aid money sent by the friendly countries, and local and international donor agencies.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said former prime minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed had a great vision of poverty alleviation and she introduced the programme which was successfully continued.

With regards to Pakistan’s programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he thanked all the friendly countries who helped to get through with the IMF and sign a staff-level agreement.

He hoped that this programme would succeed and the nine-month insurance will be available to Pakistan to bring in reforms and restructure the country’s economy.

Shazia Marri said the number of enrolled children under the programme was 2.6 million in 2022 while the coalition government had increased the number to 7.52 million in one year.

Under BISP, she said a targeted subsidy of Rs 16.3 billion was also provided to the 8.6 million families (Rs 2000 each) to mitigate the effects of petroleum products.

She said under the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the quarterly stipend for the BISP beneficiaries was increased by 25% from Rs 7000 a year ago to Rs 8,750 now.

On the occasion, the prime minister also distributed the Social Protection Accounts kits among the beneficiaries who came from different parts of the country.

Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb and Minister of State for Poverty Alleviation Faisal Kareem Kundi were also present on the occasion.