PPP protests govt’s move to rename Benazir Income Support Programme

SUKKUR: The Pakistan Peoples Party has recorded strong protest over reports that the federal government is considering removing the name of former prime minister, the late Benazir Bhutto, from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Prime Minister Imran Khan, during a meeting with members of the Grand Democratic Alliance in Ghotki on Saturday, was quoted as suggesting that the name of BISP, the country’s largest social safety net programme of its kind, would be amended.

Slamming PM Imran’s suggestion, PPP veteran Khursheed Shah said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto made sacrifices not just for the party but for the entire country.

“Imran Khan wants to remove the former premier’s name from BISP, which is shameful,” Shah told media in Sukkur on Sunday.

“There is fear that what if these ‘Naya Pakistan’ people [also] remove Quaid-e-Azam’s image from the currency [notes],” the PPP leader remarked.

BISP was launched in 2008 by then-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani on the advice of former president Asif Ali Zardari. The programme’s name is a tribute to former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.

Several other PPP leaders also vowed to resist any move to rename the programme. 

Adviser to Sindh chief minister, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, said the BISP cannot be renamed unless the law is changed. "Kaptaan ur the PM not the King plz try to understand law before making commitments," he tweeted. 

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari responded to Wahab's tweet saying, "What else does one expect from Puppet khan and his grand alliance of delusion?"

"It would save a lot of time & resources if Puppet governments didn’t attempt to re label & really badly recycle the Benazir Income Support Programme & instead just accepted its glory (credit @AAliZardari) & continue to fund it. #HealthCardsAlreadyExist #GoatToBeKiddingMe #PTI," she wrote in a tweet earlier.