How many govt employees, pensioners received BISP quarterly amount illegally?

ISLAMABAD – An audit of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for fiscal year 2024-25 has revealed that thousands of government employees, pensioners and their spouses received financial assistance despite being ineligible. According to the audit report for 2025-26, weaknesses in profiling, data management and regulatory controls within the BISP Management Information System (MIS) resulted in irregular payments to more than 600,000 ineligible beneficiaries, involving financial issues exceeding Rs25 billion. The audit identified 601,850 cases linked to shortcomings in the profiling of spouses’ data in the BISP MIS. These weaknesses allowed individuals who did not meet eligibility criteria to remain enrolled in the programme. The report stated that during fiscal year 2024-25, BISP paid Rs515.712 million under its Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) programme to 12,078 government employees, pensioners and their spouses. A federal cabinet decision issued on December 24, 2019, had explicitly excluded government employees and their spouses from receiving benefits under the programme. According to the audit findings, Rs25.20 million was paid to 673 serving government employees in grades 1 to 16, while eight beneficiaries in grade 17 received Rs0.09 million. The audit further found that spouses of serving government employees received the largest share of irregular payments. A total of 9,124 beneficiaries linked to employees in grades 1 to 16 received Rs402.80 million, while spouses of employees in grades 17 to 20 received Rs2.54 million. Among pensioners, 218 beneficiaries in grades 1 to 16 received Rs7.41 million, while 22 pensioners in grades 17 and 18 received Rs0.70 million. The report also showed that spouses of pensioners received substantial payments. A total of 1,847 beneficiaries linked to pensioners in grades 1 to 16 received Rs74.16 million, while spouses of pensioners in grades 17 to 20 received Rs2.81 million. Following the audit observations, the De