By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
KHYBER: An official paper released by the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has revealed that a large number of serving employees and pensioners from various government departments in Khyber district have withdrawn millions of rupees intended exclusively for poor and vulnerable families, prompting authorities to initiate recovery efforts.
According to compiled official BISP data, more than 25,000 persons serving or retired from various state departments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have fraudulently misappropriated millions of rupees over several years.
In the BISP paper, around 1125 citizens employed with government service across multiple departments in Khyber district were also found to have received BISP payments for the last several years. The total disbursed amount in Khyber district, as recorded in the available lists, stands at approximately Rs.176.81 million.
The employees withdrawn the huge amount from BISP Zakat money were from the 15 government departments including the offices of district police office, medical superintendent offices, offices of executive engineer, pensioners, former Khyber Khasadar Force(KKF), regional professional offices, district health offices, staff of the government girls and boys colleges, DHO health Khyber office, deputy commissioner office, government primary schools staff, Khyber Levies employees, Office of principal government polytechnic, assistant director animal husbandry staff, assistant direcotr LG & RD Khyber employees, civil courts employees, civil defence Khyber staff, community development employees, cost center staff, district education office Khyber employees, district office agriculture staff, finance and planning, counter Terrorism(CTD) Khyber employees, sub-divisional education office Landikotal employees, session courts, district and treasury establishment.
A senior BSIP official, on the condition of anonymity, said that on the directives of the provincial government, they rechecked the eligibility criteria with the collaboration of other state agencies. He said that misusing the criteria set for Zakat beneficiaries, the government servants recorded their false family data in the BISP survey form and received a handsome amount through their female family member for years. The official said authorities were committed to ensuring transparency.
“Public assistance must reach only genuine beneficiaries, and misuse of welfare resources will not be tolerated,” he said.
The official said the Benazir Income Support Programme(BSIP) is designed to provide financial support to impoverished households, with funds partly sourced from public welfare allocations and zakat meant for deserving and economically disadvantaged families. He said payments to government employees and pension beneficiaries violate programme eligibility criteria, with the maximum official negligence of the BSIP employees and sister departments. He said they also conduct a departmental inquiry into the gross misconduct.
The Khyber education office is at the top of the list for the largest number of beneficiaries, including teachers, headmasters and school principals, while the district police office also represents a significant portion of the list. Smaller numbers appeared from departments such as Levies, civil defence, administrative offices and other district departments.
Officials across a wide range of grades appear in the data, including grade 17 and lower-grade support staff, clerical and technical employees, teaching staff and officers serving in higher administrative and technical positions.
Some of the highest-ranking officials appearing in the list include executive engineers, medical superintendents and senior education administrators, typically falling in BPS-18 or BPS-19 categories.
The records further indicate that payments were mostly uniform, with many beneficiaries receiving amounts between Rs.150,000 and Rs.190,000, while some cases show higher payments.
Several entries also suggest payments made to family members or dependents, though retirement status was not always clearly marked in the data.
Officials familiar with the review process stated that recovery proceedings were expected to follow from next month, with authorities planning to reclaim the amounts received by ineligible individuals.
The process may include deductions, voluntary refunds or departmental action where required.
Officials said the disclosure raises serious concerns regarding verification and monitoring mechanisms used in welfare disbursement programmes, particularly when funds meant for vulnerable populations were diverted to influential individuals already receiving government salaries or pensions.
Authorities have yet to release a comprehensive public statement detailing the recovery plan or disciplinary measures, but officials indicate that scrutiny of beneficiary databases was ongoing to prevent similar occurrences in future assistance programmes.
When contacted, District Police Officer(DPO) Khyber Waqar Ahmad, he told Fata Voice News Agency that as he received the directive,s he would start the recovery process from the police department employees. He said his office would coordinate with BSIP and other relevant departments for recovery.
Assistant Sub-Divisional Education Officer (ASDEO) Wajid Khan Afridi said they would soon send the list to the account office Khyber to deduct the amount from each employee with effect from February salaries.
