GILGIT, March 22 Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Farzana Raja on Sunday formally launched the programme in Gilgit by distributing forms among members of the Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA).

Speaking to the NALA members, she said the government was committed to reaching out to poor families for mitigating their sufferings. She said initially 3.5 million people would benefit from the programme and the number of beneficiaries would be doubled next year.

She said the beneficiaries would enjoy the facilities of accident and health insurances, beside subsidy on various commodities being sold at utility stores.

She said the government was determined to achieve desired results and asked people to submit the forms to Nadra so that payment to them could be started.

She stressed transparency in the programme and said huge responsibility lay with responsible persons to provide forms to the needy and deserving citizens.

She told the participants about mechanism of the programme and said that forms of the programme had been distributed without any discrimination and that it was a public welfare programme aimed at resolving the problems being faced by the people.She said late distribution of the forms was due to some technical faults which had been removed.

Ms Raja said a survey in collaboration with World Bank had been initiated and 15 districts across the country had been identified as pilot districts and that Ghanche district was taken from the Northern Areas where this project would start in first week of April.

She requested the legislators to cooperate with the survey teams which would go door-to-door to gather actual data. She said it would be a sort of census and would help in gathering information about poor families.

She lamented that in Azad Kashmir, few legislators tried to manipulate things and deprived thousands of people from the benefits of this programme.

Ms Raja said a micro-financing scheme would also be launched and shortly president and prime minister would announce this.

She said the government had focused on women emancipation and appreciated women's participation in all sectors of life.

She disclosed that a programme for Haj and Umrah would also be started and a comprehensive plan had been devised in this regard.

Later, talking to mediapersons, she said the government would deal with 17 Amendment in accordance with Charter of Democracy.She also inaugurated the central office of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Gilgit and spoke to the workers who came there from across the region.

President of the PPP Northern Areas chapter Syed Jaffar Shah said people of the region had sacrificed a lot for the party. He complained that PPP workers were being ignored by government officers and were not given due importance.