ISLAMABAD - A subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) showing his concerns on the transparency of poverty survey conducted by BISP authorities has asked the authorities concerned to conduct a fresh survey within three months.
A subcommittee meeting of the Public Accounts Committee was held at Parliament House under the chair of MNA Sardar Ashiq Gopang here on Wednesday. The committee took a briefing on the performance of BISP by the Principal Accounting Officer Tahir Anwar.
The committee did not show its confidence in the briefing and remarked that poverty survey was not conducted in a transparent manner. The committee asked the BISP authorities to conduct a fresh survey and report to it within three months.
The principal accounting officer informed the meeting that a fresh survey was due in 2016. The committee members showed resentment, saying why a fresh survey could not be conducted at the moment.
 “If the government fails to deliver, new elections are announced and why poverty survey could not be conducted now?” he questioned.
The committee questioned why Punjab having a population of 100 million is getting only Rs 86 billion as comparison with Sindh that has a 30 million population and getting a higher amount of Rs 71 billion. The committee remarked that the distribution of BISP money among the provinces should be fair and accurate.
The committee pointed out that majority of the poor was living in urban areas while majority of BISP beneficiary belonged to rural areas. The survey should be conducted on scientific basis with more accuracy.
The committee was informed that BISP had distributed a total of Rs 226 billion among the beneficiaries till 30 May 2014.
The poverty survey has registered a total of 7.76 million poor throughout the country while total BIPS beneficiaries are 5.425 millions, the committee was informed.
The committee was also informed that more than 2.3 million applications are still pending with the BISP for getting monthly stipend.