Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instructed the relevant officials on Thursday to ensure immediate distribution of funds among the deserving people registered under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in the holy month of Ramazan.

Charing a high-level review meeting on the Prime Minister’s Ramazan Relief Package and the BISP, Shehbaz directed the officials to run a nationwide awareness campaign so that the this package could reach more and more eligible people.

The meeting, attended by Senator Ishaq Dar, Ahad Cheema, Shaza Fatima, Rumina Khurshid and relevant senior officials, was informed that the quarterly payment from the BISP had been increased to Rs10,500.

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Shehbaz instructed the officials to ensure payment to the deserving people in the holy month of Ramazan. He specifically ordered that the recipient families from Balochistan must be paid an additional amount of Rs2,000 each.

The meeting was also informed that more than 39.6 million families would benefit from the Ramazan Relief Package for the lower and middle income groups. Officials said that package involved a subsidy of Rs7.5 billion, which was higher than the inflation rate in the country.

The officials added that 19 food items, including flour, pulses, ghee, edible oil, sugar, beverages were being provided at a price lower than the market rate. Besides, those facing registration problems were being facilitated, while an integrated system for the redressal of complaints had been put in place.