Rs24b irregularities found in BISP as 140,488 govt employees draw aid meant for poor

ISLAMABAD – A total of Rs24 billion in financial irregularities has come to light in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), where 140,488 government employees allegedly received money earmarked for deserving families.

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

The documents say that in the 2019-20 fiscal year, government employees and pensioners received Rs23.13 billion from BISP. Payments allegedly continued for six years despite the irregularities being identified in 2019, and Rs900 million was paid even after the employees were flagged.

The record shows that in 2020-21, more than 12,000 government employees received Rs146.7 million. The number of government employees found drawing BISP funds was 2,447 in 2021-22, 2,235 in 2022-23, 227 in 2023-24 and 12,078 in 2024-25.

The documents state that spouses of government employees were also involved in the irregularities. Among those who allegedly received funds meant for beneficiaries are 236 BISP’s own employees.

According to the documents, the FIA recovered Rs540 million from government employees involved in the irregularities, while other government departments recovered Rs145 million. BISP recovered Rs21.5 million from its own employees, bringing total recoveries to about Rs706.5 million, or roughly Rs710 million.

BISP has sent the record of the government employees involved to the relevant institutions, and it has decided to scrutinise the records of more than 600,000 government employees and pensioners for further investigation.

The documents submitted to the National Assembly say recovery and investigation are continuing. However, the wide gap between the alleged Rs24 billion in irregularities and the amount recovered so far has raised questions about government oversight and accountability systems.