LANDIKOTAL: An official paper has revealed that a large number of serving employees and pensioners of different government departments in Khyber district have withdrawn millions of rupees under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The paper, which was made public by BISP, said the funds were intended exclusively for the poor and vulnerable families that prompted the authorities to initiate recovery of the funds.
According to compiled official data of BISP, more than 25,000 persons serving or retired from different departments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fraudulently issued millions of funds for several years.
In the BISP paper, around 1125 citizens employed with government service across multiple departments in Khyber district were also found to have received BISP payments for the last several years. The total disbursed amount in Khyber district which was recorded in the available lists stands at approximately Rs176.81 million. The employees, who withdrew huge amount from BISP Zakat money, were from the 15 government departments in Khyber.
A senior BSIP official requesting anonymity said that they rechecked the illegibility criteria with the collaboration of other state agencies.He said the government servants recorded their false family data in the BISP survey form misusing the criteria set for Zakat beneficiaries and received the funds through their women family members for years.
The official said authorities were committed to ensuring transparency. The official said the BSIP was meant to provide financial support to impoverished households, with funds partly sourced from public welfare allocations and Zakat meant for deserving and economically disadvantaged families.
He said payments to government employees and pension beneficiaries violated the programme eligibility criteria due to negligence of the BSIP employees and other departments.
Some high-ranking officials appearing in the list included executive engineers, medical superintendents and senior education administrators, typically falling in BPS-18 or BPS-19 categories.
The records further indicated that payments were mostly uniform, with many beneficiaries receiving amounts between Rs150,000 and Rs190,000, while some cases showed higher payments. Officials familiar with the review process stated that recovery proceedings were expected to follow from next month, with authorities planning to reclaim the amounts received by ineligible individuals. The process may include deductions, voluntary refunds or departmental action where required.
Officials said the disclosure had raised concerns about verification and monitoring mechanisms. When contacted, District Police Officer (DPO), Khyber, Waqar Ahmad told The News that as he received the directives he would start the recovery process from the police department employees.
