Rs4.2 bn corruption unearthed in Sindh BISP

Official says 75 officers identified and issued ‘show-cause-notices’

ISLAMABAD: Irregularities worth billions of rupees surfaced in accounts of Benazir Income Support Programme, Sindh, putting a question mark on fair distribution of taxpayers’ money among the poor under this internationally recognised social safety network.BISP Islamabad team with help of Sindh regional office Karachi conducted an internal audit of accounts of BISP Sindh, finding misappropriation, fake entries, irregular procurement, over-payments and ‘ghost beneficiaries’ worth over Rs4.2 billion, revealed official documents exclusively obtained by The News.

Wrongly updated computerised national identity cards (CNICs) resulted misappropriation of around Rs1.9 billion on accounts of over 54, 000 poor beneficiaries in various sub districts of the province, documents revealed.Over 52,000 beneficiaries, who really deserved for monthly stipends, have been knocking doors of BISP regional offices or of partner banks for their due monthly stipends over there since 2013 but in vain, official findings revealed.

Partner banks did not release stipends to the poorest of the poor in this province even over Rs2.8 billion were deposited by the BISP Finance Division to them years earlier, findings stated.

“This shows that BISP beneficiaries are suffering from miseries and partner banks are enjoying the benefits of huge deposits,” stated the documents. Senior BISP officials, The News spoke to, admitted that there was no proper agreement/mechanism between BISP administration and partner banks about the Benazir Debit Cards (BDCs) and element of communication also lacked between the two partners. Amount could not be released to these beneficiaries as their cards were either expired or stolen, they added.

Officials made dubious withdrawal worth Rs1.8 million on accounts of some 100 unverified replaced the BDCs issued by senior officials in Hyderabad, revealed the investigations, adding misappropriation worth Rs2.8 million on accounts of 200 also replaced BDCs in this district issued without biometric verification through the logins of other divisions of Sindh.

Similarly, wrong entries of CNICs resulted misappropriation worth Rs710 million on account of 21,000 beneficiaries in Hyderabad division, official document further stated that dubious withdrawal of cash grant of Rs10 million  against  unverified replaced BDCs issued by Karachi Division.

The BISP investigators also found doubtable withdrawal worth Rs34.5 million after issuance of replaced BDCs to beneficiaries in interior Sindh without biometric verification by the Karachi Division, the document suggested that loss of Rs21.384 million to public exchequer was also done due to wrong up-gradation of 950 CNICs at sub district Kambar.

BISP  officials found wrong entries of around 10, 151 beneficiaries, resulting losses of Rs 343million. Officials issued dummy BDCs in Lyari Division through partner banks which caused losses worth Rs81, 000 to the national’s exchequer, they observed.

They also found dubious withdrawal of some Rs21 million on accounts of 755 unverified replaced BDCs issued by an officer in Lyari where an issuance of replaced BDCs without biometric verification which led a dubious withdrawal of Rs13.3 million from various banks in Sindh.

The misappropriation of some Rs30 million noted by officials due to wrong entries of around 1, 121 CNICs after replacement of BDCs without biometric verification with different logins in Mirpur Khas Division, revealed the documents. Over 2.52 million families of total 6.48 households declared poor in Sindh, according to statistics collected in a ‘Poverty Survey’ conducted under the flagship of the BISP.

“[The] 75 officers were identified and ‘show-cause-notices’ were issued [to them]. The total amount of corruption/misappropriation cannot be ascertained at this point, as the updates are marked as ‘suspicious’ and referred to a ‘fact finding committee’ of BISP for detailed scrutiny and re-verification through relevant documentary evidence,” BISP administration responded to queries posed by The News.

“A few cases from Sindh have been thoroughly investigated and referred to FIA for necessary action at their end. Some officers from Sindh have been repatriated to their parent departments as well. In short, the investigations and disciplinary actions are ongoing processes,” read the official response.

Two committees have also been constituted, one to oversee the legal action against officials involved in ‘wrong updates’ and another to review the suspected cases, based on reports from the field and in light of documentary evidence, and give a final verdict on whether an individual update is wrong or not, concluded the BISP written response.