Shazia Marri, the chairperson of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), stated on Sunday that transgender people will get a Rs7000 stipend under the Benazir Kafalat programme, which would be paid out every third month.
Shazia Marri, who is also the Minister for Poverty Alleviation, announced the stipend at a ceremony to mark the BISP’s admission of transgender people at Karachi’s Arts Council of Pakistan.
The minister asserted that up to 50,000 members of the nation’s transgender community had registered as Benazir Kafalat Program recipients, making them eligible for financial aid.
According to her, the transgender community shied away from approaching data managers because of how society treats them.
“This is a step forward in helping struggling transgender persons who not only face immense violence in their daily lives, but are also subjected to blatant discrimination,” she said.
“The decision to extend BISP cash handouts to the transgender community has been made at such a time when several incidents of discrimination and violence, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, have been reported,” she added.
“This is a step forward in helping struggling transgender persons who not only face immense violence in their daily lives, but are also subjected to blatant discrimination,” she said.
“The decision to extend BISP cash handouts to the transgender community has been made at such a time when several incidents of discrimination and violence, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, have been reported,” she added.
