ISLAMABAD - Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) data showed that Balochistan and FATA have the highest disability prevalence and highest unemployment rate respectively while Sindh has the lowest literacy rate among all the provinces.
According the data, collected through National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) in pilot districts Punjab has the highest proportion of youth population, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with second the highest literacy rate after Punjab, Balochistan with the highest disability prevalence, Gilgit with the highest proportion of post graduate population and FATA with the highest unemployment rate. The data shared by BISP with the Planning Commission here Thursday.
A press release issued here stated that Minister of State and Chairperson BISP Marvi Memon held a meeting with Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz to discuss the maximum utilisation of National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) in planning. During the meeting she shared the results and analysis of data collected during NSER survey in pilot districts across Pakistan. Member Social Safety Dr Asma Haider and Chief Poverty Alleviation Zafar ul Hassan were also present in the meeting.
Sartaj Aziz said that data sharing between various organisations would result in better development planning and the departments should collaborate with each other so as to benefit from each other’s experiences. He said that the collaboration between BISP and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) would be helpful in enriching PBS data bank that is utilised for development planning. He directed his team to coordinate with BISP so as to utilise maximally from NSER as it would help the Planning Commission in the monitoring of SDGs.
While briefing on NSER, Chairperson BISP said that BISP NSER data should be used for targeted subsidies by all government departments. She added that the ongoing NSER survey is technology enabled that is being done through tablets. The automated systems enable BISP to ensure 100 per cent accurate data collection by identifying and rectifying any error in the collected data during survey on real time basis. It is history in the making as it would make BISP the top social safety net of the world, thus putting Pakistan ahead of other countries.
Data analytics of collected data from pilot districts was also shared with the Planning Commission. Data analysis of province-wise age distribution, education level, employment status, population brackets, literacy rates, disability stats, house construction based pilot districts survey was also presented. The data showed Punjab with the highest proportion of youth population, KP with second highest literacy rate after Punjab, Balochistan with the highest disability prevalence, Gilgit with the highest proportion of post graduate population and FATA with the highest unemployment rate.
Sartaj Aziz said that data-sharing between organisations must be two-way. The departments that utilise BISP data must share the details of data usage so that BISP is able to analyse the status of its beneficiaries on regular basis. Chairperson BISP apprised him that the mechanism for double data-sharing is being developed. It was discussed to hold dialogues with different ministries on data-sharing so as to maximize the utilisation of NSER for development planning and targeted subsidies.
