Financial irregularities worth Rs24 billion uncovered in BISP

Financial irregularities worth Rs24 billion have been uncovered in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), with 140,488 government employees allegedly receiving funds intended for deserving families.

According to documents presented in the National Assembly by the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation, only Rs710 million has so far been recovered against the billions of rupees involved in the alleged irregularities.

The documents show that government employees and pensioners received Rs23.13 billion from BISP during the 2019-20 financial year. Despite the irregularities being identified in 2019, payments allegedly continued for six years. A further Rs900 million was reportedly disbursed even after the employees had been identified.

According to the records, more than 12,000 government employees received Rs146.7 million during the 2020-21 financial year.

The figures also show that 2,447 employees received BISP funds in 2021-22, followed by 2,235 in 2022-23, 227 in 2023-24 and 12,078 in 2024-25.

The documents indicate that the alleged irregularities also involved the spouses of government employees. Those who reportedly received funds intended for eligible beneficiaries included 236 BISP employees.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) recovered Rs540 million from government employees allegedly involved in the irregularities, while other government departments recovered Rs145 million. BISP also recovered Rs21.5 million from its own employees.

The total amount recovered stands at approximately Rs706.5 million, or around Rs710 million.

BISP has forwarded the records of government employees allegedly involved in the irregularities to the relevant authorities. A decision has also been taken to scrutinise the records of more than 600,000 government employees and pensioners as part of further investigations.

According to the documents presented in the National Assembly, recovery efforts and investigations are ongoing. However, the significant gap between the Rs24 billion in alleged financial irregularities and the amount recovered so far has raised questions about oversight and accountability within the programme.