Updated: Saturday October 01, 2016/AsSabt
Thoul Hijjah 29, 1437/Sanivara
Asvina 09, 1938, at 09:03:22 PM
The Benazir Income Support Programme Act, 2010
ACT XVIII OF 2010
[18th August, 2010]
An Act to provide for establishment
of the Benazir Income Support Programme.
Whereas it is expedient to provide for
establishment of Benazir Income Support Programme and to regulate its affairs
and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;
And whereas it is desirable to provide
financial assistance and other social protection and safety net measures to
economically distressed persons and families;
And whereas under the Principles of
Policy as given in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the
State is obliged to promote social and economic well-being of the people and to
provide basic necessities of life;
And whereas it is expedient to bring a
positive change in the lives of poor and destitute by providing various
opportunities to them such as education, special education, vocational
training, skill development, workfare programmes, livelihood programmes, health
insurance, accident insurance and access to microfinance for improving their
financial status;
And whereas it is expedient to
establish an autonomous social safety net authority to coordinate the design
and implementation of targeted programmes for the poor; It is hereby enacted as
follows:---
CHAPTER - I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and
commencement.___
(1) This Act may be called the Benazir Income Support Programme Act, 2010.
(2) It extends to the whole of
(3) It shall come into force at once
and shall be deemed to have taken effect on and from the thirtieth day of April
2009.
2. Definitions.---In this Ordinance, unless there is anything
repugnant in the subject or context,---
(a) “applicant” means a person who applies for the
provision of financial assistance under the Programme;
(b) “Board” means the Board of the Benazir Income Support
Programme established under section 5;
(c) “Chief
Patron” means the Chief Patron of the Council;
(d) “Council” means the Council of the Programme
constituted under section 8;
(e) “eligible person” means a person or a family, as the
case may be, eligible for financial assistance under section 11;
(f) “employee” means a person in the employment and service
of the Programme;
(g) “Executive Patron” means the Executive Patron of the
Council;
(h) “Management“ means the Secretary, administrative and technical
staff of the Programme;
(i) “Member means a member
of the Board;
(j) “Programme“ means the Benazir Income Support Programme
established under section 3;
(k) “regulations“ means the regulations made by the Board under this
Act; and
(1) “Secretary” means
Secretary of the Programme.
CHAPTER - II
PROGRAMME,
ESTABLISHMENT, OBJECTS AND PURPOSES
3.
Establishment of the Programme.___ (1) Upon the commencement of this Act, the Benazir
Income Support Programme shall stand established for carrying out the purposes
of this Act.
(2) The
Programme shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common
seal with powers, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire and hold
property, movable and immovable, and to sue and be sued by its name.
(3) The
principal office of the Programme shall be at
Provided
that any set up outside the country shall be made with the approval of the
Council.
4.
Objective and purposes of the Programme.___The objective and purposes of the Programme shall be
to,---
(a) enhance financial
capacity of the poor people and their dependent family members;
(b) formulate and implement
comprehensive policies and targeted programmes for the uplift of
underprivileged and vulnerable people; and
(c) reduce poverty and
promote equitable distribution of wealth especially for the low income groups.
CHAPTER - III
GOVERNANCE OF THE
PROGRAMME
5.
Governance of the Programme.___ (l) The Chief Patron on the advice of the Executive
Patron shall constitute the Board of the Programme.
(2) The
Programme shall consist of the Chairperson, Members,Management and such
structure as determined by the Board, and shall function in accordance with the
regulations.
(3) The
Board shall, at any time, consist of not less than nine and not more than
eleven Members including the Chairperson to be appointed by the Chief Patron on
the advice of the Executive Patron.
(4) The
Members of the Board shall be appointed from amongst Government,
non-governmental organizations and technical experts who have relevance to the
purposes of the Programme having such qualifications and experience as may be
determined by the Federal Government by notification in the official Gazette
for a term of three years. The Members shall be appointed from Government and
non-governmental organizations with equal representation.
(5)
There shall be a Secretary who shall be appointed by the Federal Government.
The Secretary shall be ex officio Member and Secretary of the Board and shall
also be the Principal Accounting Officer of the Programme.
(6) The
Chairperson and the Members shall serve in honorary capacity and shall be
entitled to such facilities and privileges in the nature of compensatory costs
as may be determined by the Federal Government from time to time.
(7) The
Board shall meet at least four times in a year and a special meeting of the
Board may be convened by the Chairperson or on the request of five Members at
any time by giving a reasonable notice of such meeting:---
Provided
that the Board shall meet at such time and place and in such manner as may be
laid down by the Board and until such time as determined by the Chairperson.
(8) The
Board shall have the powers to conduct its business and regulate its
proceedings as it may prescribe from time to time.
(9)
Simple majority of the total membership of the Board shall constitute the
quorum for a meeting of the Board, and the decisions of the Board shall be made
by simple majority of the total membership of the Board. The Chairperson shall
have in case of equality of votes a casting vote.
6.
Powers and functions of the Board.___ (l) The Board's powers and functions shall be,---
(a) to approve the budget
of the Programme prepared by the Management;
(b) to take decisions on
the financial aspects of the Programme submitted by the Management for Board's
consideration;
(c) to monitor the
Programme in a transparent manner;
(d) to make regulations and
approve policies and manuals in order to carry out the purposes of this Act;
(e) to approve criteria of
eligible families for financial assistance under the Programme; and
(f) to present annual
progress reports to the Council and consider its recommendations.
(2) The
Board may, through a majority decision of its Members and subject to such
conditions as it deems necessary, delegate any of its functions and powers to
the Chairperson or any Member. All actions taken in the exercise of all such
delegated functions and powers shall be submitted to the Board for approval in
the subsequent Board meeting.
7.
Powers and functions of the Chairperson.___ (1) The Chairperson of the Board shall be the
Chairperson of the Programme.
(2) The
Chairperson shall be incharge ensuring consistency of operations with policies
of the Programme approved by Board.
(3) The
Chairperson shall provide strategic guidance to the Programme and ensure
implementation of the Programme in accordance with the decisions of the Board
and the provisions of this Act.
(4) The
Chairperson shall in consideration of the advice of the. Council executes the
Board decisions for enhancement of the Programme.
(5) The
Chairperson shall be responsible for meeting all objectives and policies of the
Programme and implementation thereof..
(6) The
Chairperson shall have the power to enter into any agreement, contract,
understanding with any international organization or institution or donor
agency or counter-part entity, on the advice of the Council and approval of the
Board.
(7) The
Chairperson shall assist the Council in publicizing the Programme as well as
raising funds.
CHAPTER - IV
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
COUNCIL
8.
Establishment of the Council.___There shall be a Council of the Programme with the
President of Pakistan as its Chief Patron and the Prime Minister as its
Executive Patron. The Council shall comprise highly reputable, distinguished
and well accomplished national and international individuals who shall be
appointed by the Chief Patron on the advice of the Executive Patron. The
Chairperson shall be the ex officio Member of the Council.
9.
Powers and functions of the Council.___ (l) The powers and functions of the Council shall be,---
(a) to mobilize financial
resources for the Programme; and
(b) to advise the Board on
the following matters, namely:---
(i) policies on poverty reduction;
(ii) enhancement of the
Programme;
(iii) reach out to the donors
through the Chairperson of the Programme; and
(iv) the Board affairs and
performance of its functions. (2) The Council shall meet at least once in a
year.
CHAPTER - V
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS
OF MANAGEMENT
10.
Powers and functions of Management.___The Management shall exercise powers and perform
functions that are necessary to achieve the objects and purposes of this Act,
namely:---
(a) to execute the policies
and plans approved by the Board;
(b) to adopt modern and
effective processing and distribution mechanism without any intermediaries so
that the financial assistance or funds are provided to eligible persons and
families;
(c) to identify eligible
persons or families for financial assistance or other benefits;
(d) to determine terms and
conditions of the employees and grant additional allowances or any other
incentives to them by making regulations to that effect;
(e) to take appropriate
measures for effective administration, monitoring and evaluation of the
Programme;
(f) to engage any person or
entity on contract basis to carry out assignments or for the consultancy in accordance
with the regulations;
(g) to establish
administrative structures at the field level for the efficient implementation
and accessibility of the Programme;
(h) to implement mechanisms
and processes that facilitate the removal of grievances and complaints related
to the Programme's operations as provided in the regulations; and
(i) submit quarterly
progress reports to the Board on the financial and operational aspects of the
Programme.
CHAPTER - VI
ELIGIBILITY FOR
PROGRAMME BENEFITS AND ITS DISBURSEMENT
11.
Eligible persons or families for financial assistance.The Board shall
determine, from time to time, criteria ,for eligibility of persons and families
for financial assistance from the Programme.
12.
Disbursement procedure.Funds of the Programme
shall be disbursed to eligible persons and families in a manner approved by the
Board and prescribed in the regulations.
CHAPTER VII
FUND, ACCOUNTS AND
AUDIT
13.
Fund. (1) There shall be
established a Fund known as Benazir Income Support Fund.
(2) The
Fund shall consist of,---
(a) revolving funds or
budget amount approved by the Federal Government;
(b) grants made by the
local, domestic or international bodies, organizations, entities and the
Government.
(c) aid given to the
Government for the purpose of the Programme;
(d) donations made by the
individuals or association of persons; and
(e) all other sums as may
be received by the Programme.
(3) The
Fund shall be administered in such manner as may be prescribed by the
regulations.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in
force, donations and grants received by the Programme shall be exempt from all
taxes.
14.
Budget of the Programme. (1) The Secretary
shall, in respect of each financial year, in accordance with the financial
procedures approved by the Board, prepare the annual budget estimates of the
Programme and submit the same to the Board for approval.
(2) The
Secretary shall have full powers to incur expenditure or re-appropriate
funds„subject to any general or specific instructions of the Board.
15.
Maintenance of Accounts and internal control. (1) The Programme
shall maintain complete and accurate books of accounts in connection with the
discharge of its responsibilities as may be prescribed by the Auditor General
of
(2) The
internal audit of the Programme shall be carried through an independent internal
audit officer who shall report directly to the Board. The internal audit
reports shall be presented to the Board for comments and follow up on the
remedial actions.
16.
Audit. (1) The accounts of
the Programme shall be audited every year by the Auditor-General of
(2) A
copy of the audit report, submitted to the President, shall be sent to the
Board for information and remedial actions, if any, and to the Council as well
as the Federal Government for information.
17.
Annual report.The Board shall approve
the Programme's annual report which will be laid before the Council and the
Parliament.
CHAPTER - VIII
EMPLOYEES OF THE
PROGRAMME
18.
Employees of the Programme.The Management may, for
the purposes of efficient performance of its functions or exercise of its
powers, appoint such employees as it may consider necessary on such terms and
conditions as may be laid down under the regulations:
Provided
that until such regulations are made to determine pay, pension and allowances
as otherwise in vogue in the Federal Government applicable to civil servants,
the terms and conditions applicable to the employees immediately before the
commencement of this Act shall continue to apply in accordance with such
directions as the Federal Government may, in case of its employees, issue from
time to time.
19.
Public servants.The employees of the
Programme shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section
21 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860).
20.
Indemnity.No prosecution, suit or
other legal proceedings shall lie against the Council, Board, the Chairperson,
Members, officers and other employees of the Programme for anything done in
good faith for carrying out the purposes of this Act or regulations or orders
made or issued there under.
CHAPTER - IX
MISCELLANEOUS
21.
Redressal of grievance. (1) Any person or
family aggrieved by a decision against the eligibility may, within thirty days
of the decision, file a representation in the form and to the authority as may
be prescribed by the regulations.
(2) The
representation made under sub-section (1) shall be examined for determining
eligibility for financial assistance under the Programme in accordance with the
manuals approved by the Board.
22. Act not to prejudice other laws.
The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and
not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force and the rules
made there under.
23. Power to make regulations. (1) The Board may make regulations in order to carry
out the purposes of this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the provision
of subsection (1), the regulations shall provide, inter alia, financial
assistance, payment schedule, grievance redressal, social audits and operation
of complementary graduation Programmes.
24. Validity of proceedings. (1) All acts, proceedings, decisions or orders of the
Board so constituted or re-constituted prior to the promulgation or
re-promulgation, as the case may be of the Benazir Income Support Programme
Ordinance, 2009 (XIX of 2009) and the Benazir Income Support Programme
Ordinance, 2009 (LXI of 2009), shall, in so far as not inconsistent with the
provisions of the said Ordinance or hereunder, be deemed to have been validly
made, taken or done in the exercise of its powers or in pursuance thereof, or
purported to have been made, taken or done by the Management or an officer so
authorized there under.
(2) No act, providing, decision or
order of the Board shall be invalid by reasons only of the existence of a
vacancy.
25. Removal of difficulties. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the
provisions of this Act, the Federal Government may make such order, not inconsistent
with provisions of this Act, as is necessary or expedient to remove such
difficulty.
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