KARACHI Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Tuesday formally launched the Rs four billion Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women Support Program at an impressive ceremony held at Chief Minister House.

Under the program, which will benefit half-a-million poor women in the first year, each MPA will be given 1000 forms to be given to women assessed poor by them. Poor women will get a monthly support income of Rs 1000.

However, addressing the ceremony, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said that actually this program was set for launch in September but since the spade work was very difficult task, it is being launched in December which is also the month of Shuhada and it was in this month that our Quaid Benazir Bhutto had also shahadat on 27th.

He directed Law Minister and MPA from Larkana Mohammed Ayaz Soomro, to get the due process of filling of forms completed before December 27 when President and Co-Chairman PPP Asif Ali Zardari will personally hand over cheques to poor women in Larkana on December 27.

He said that the recipients of the income would get the amount of Rs 6000 for six months - September 2009 to March 2010 and then paid to them quarterly.

The Chief Minister pointed out that at the center this program has been started as Benazir Bhutto Income Support Program whereby one million poor women would be benefitted but in Sindh is has been launched with a different name.

He said that this class of women have remained ignored in the past and he dont think if anyone in the past had ever conceived such a program and there is still need in the society to empower women financially in keeping with the PPP manifesto.

Qaim Ali Shah pointed out that earlier the Sindh Government has started distribution of agriculture land among landless Haris. He said during the government of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the land holding for landless haris had been kept at 16 acres but this time PPP government is giving 25 acres of land and each acre is not less than Rs 5-10 lac.

He said under Women Support Program, the amount would be given to only those women, who have no source of livelihood.

He made it clear that if a women would be getting support under Benazir Bhutto Income support program, she would not be eligible to get support under Women support program.

He said that the name of Benazir Bhutto is blessed one and it is because of her name that poors are getting all this.

Similarly, he said, this government is doing much for jobless youth for whom a skill training program is going on and on the completion of which they would be absorbed in relevant fields. -APP