70 BISP beneficiaries become ‘rural sales agents’

LAHORE : The woman parliamentarians with the collaboration of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) visited the Rural Sales Programme of a multinational company in Pindi Bhattian.

Ministry of Planning Parliamentary Secretary Kanwal Shauzab and MNA Zill-e-Huma visited Pindi Bhattian where approximately 70 BISP beneficiaries have become “rural sales agents,” collectively contributed to sales of approximately Rs8 million in the Pindi Bhattian region.

The rural sales shops are being run solely by BISP beneficiaries in Pindi Bhattian. The women are involved in direct selling of the company’s products after receiving a rigorous sales training. The company has collaborated with BISP to bring the beneficiaries out of poverty.

The programme is based on public-private partnership (PPP) which focuses on creating sustainable solutions to some of the key issues being faced by rural women in Pakistan such as malnutrition, financial exclusion and lack of livelihood opportunities.

This transformative collaboration has enabled BISP beneficiaries to earn a dignified livelihood for themselves and their families. To date, more than 400 BISP beneficiaries have been enrolled as rural sales agents across 12 districts of Punjab and Sindh.

In addition to a rigorous sales training, women also participate in the nutrition awareness sessions tailored for rural women that have helped them make healthier lifestyle choices for themselves and their families.

Kanwal Shauzab said, “Prime Minister Imran Khan's first priority is to eliminate poverty from Pakistan and to improve education, nutrition, health and wellbeing of children and women.

We have taken care of all these factors in our 12th Five-Year Plan. Our aim should be to empower women and provide them with facilities through which they become self-sufficient.

If today's women are empowered, it will have a direct impact on the generations to come.”

Emphasising the importance of woman empowerment, MNA Zill-e-Huma said, “This occasion has given me a lot of hope and encouragement for women’s stature in the economy.

It is the first step towards empowerment for these women and I am positive that it will lead to betterment of their future. It is indeed a blessing to become economically self-reliant due to which they are able to earn their livelihood respectfully.”

An official of the company, Waqar Ahmad, said, “The partnership is extremely relevant, given out commitment to the UN SDGs 1 and 5: No Poverty and Gender Equality. Our joint focus is on reducing poverty and promoting economic growth. We are committed to providing greater access to fortified products to our rural society.

Through this initiative, we hope to empower our rural women by providing them with livelihood opportunities, along with improving nutrition status and the quality of life for them and their families”.