The Role of Cash Grant Scheme of Benizir Income Support Programme in Poverty Alleviation in the Rural Areas of Distrect Mardan (A Case Study of Three Selected Villages of District Mardan)

Abstract

The present study was attempted to assess the role of cash grant scheme of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in poverty alleviation in the rural areas of district Mardan. For this purpose three villages of district Mardan were purposely selected. The total numbers of 70 respondents were randomly chosen from the lists provided by the BISP district office Mardan. Information about grant utilization and its effects on income, daily use expenses, health, education, food expenditure and other minor consumptions of beneficiaries in the study area were collected. A paired t-test has been used for comparative analysis. A significant increase of 3.11% in the overall expenditure, 16.50% increase in education expenditure, 18.50% in health expenditure and 15.61% increased in food consumption was witnessed. The scheme was also poses some shortcomings such as political interference in selection criteria, small amount of grant, problems in the disbursement through postal services for female beneficiaries and absence of awareness programs.It is recommended that increase in amount, availability of the grant will in time and awareness for proper utilization of grant will make this scheme more useful and it will help to reduce the poverty.

Keywords: Poverty, Benazir Income Support Programme(BISP), Cash Grant, Woman Empowerment.