Draft National Poverty Alleviation Policy ready, NA panel told

Secretary of Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety informed National Assembly's Standing Committee that draft National Poverty Alleviation Policy is ready

By Asim Yasin
July 26, 2025

Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur is seen chairing the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division at the Parliament House on July 25, 2025. — Facebook@NationalAssemblyOfPakistan
Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur is seen chairing the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division at the Parliament House on July 25, 2025. — Facebook@NationalAssemblyOfPakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Secretary of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee that a draft National Poverty Alleviation Policy is ready, and they are awaiting feedback from provincial governments. 

A federal-provincial Poverty Alleviation Coordination Council will be established once the policy is approved.

The Standing Committee held a meeting with its Chairman Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur in the chair here at Parliament House. Presiding over a contentious review of Pakistan’s welfare system, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur led committee members in exposing banking sector roadblocks to BISP implementation while demanding urgent reforms to protect vulnerable beneficiaries.

The committee members also highlighted the outdated nature of the 2019 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data shared by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, directing them to produce updated and comparative analysis of the metrics in the next meeting.

The meeting commenced with an acknowledgment of the ministry’s compliance with the committee’s direction from previous proceedings, while members expressed concerns regarding incomplete responses in the submitted compliance report, particularly concerning State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). They demanded that the ministry to take up this matter with the SBP.

A significant portion of deliberations focused on financial inclusion barriers faced by BISP beneficiaries. The committee members noted with concern the continued resistance from commercial banks in opening accounts for beneficiaries, with Private Financial Institutions (PFIs) demonstrating marked preference for their conventional clients over welfare recipients.

In response, Secretary BISP provided detailed dual-track solution involving simultaneous physical BISP Sahulat and digital wallet account initiatives.

The physical account pilot will commence in Karachi on August 14, symbolically aligning with Independence Day to emphasise country’s downtrodden women’s financial emancipation.