LOWER DIR: A number of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries have complained about lack of facilities at the Timergara cash distribution point established for them by a private bank.

Waiting for their turn while sitting under the open sky, veiled women from different parts of the district told a group of visiting journalists that the BISP Timergara campsite didn’t have a washroom, a waiting room and drinking water facility.

They said the BISP had released their three months’ stipends to be made only through specific campsites. They pointed out that earlier they received their payments from mobile phone outlets easily.

The women said some of them returned without getting their amount due to rush.

The beneficiaries demanded of the bank authorities to provide them with basic facilities like drinking water, chairs, shade and washroom at the distribution point. They also demanded of the BISP authorities to increase the number of campsites so they could get their payments easily.

Some women said due to issues with fingerprinting, they had to wait for months for receiving payments.

A BISP staffer told Dawn on contact that about 52,000 beneficiaries from Lower Dir ad been registered for which a total of seven campsites had been set up across the district.

The official said each beneficiary had to get their payment after three months.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024