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Business Recorder
01-08-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Rechanneling BISP for greater impact
How do economies grow? By putting their productive resources to the most efficient use. Yet in Pakistan, nearly half of this potential remains underutilized. Women make up 49 percent of the population, but only 21.4 percent of working-age women participate in the labour force. This is among the lowest rates in the world and the region (global average: 52.6 percent; South Asia: 25.2 percent). In stark contrast, nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's female population is enrolled in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the country's flagship cash transfer scheme for vulnerable, women-headed households. While BISP provides vital short-term relief, mounting evidence suggests an unintended consequence: declining female labour force participation (FLFP) over time. According to the neoclassical household labour supply model, unconditional non-labour income such as cash transfers can reduce labour supply, particularly in the absence of active labour market policies. Over time, such dependency becomes entrenched and increasingly difficult to reverse. With limited fiscal space, governments tend to prioritize short-term relief measures, particularly when it is politically expedient, often at the expense of long-term investment in human capital. This trade-off is reflected in Pakistan's federal budgets. Since BISP has evolved into a robust, data-driven platform, it should be used for more strategic resource allocation by shifting the focus from broad coverage to meaningful impact. To achieve this, two shifts are essential. First, BISP support should be linked to formal, women-friendly employment to break the cycle of reliance and promote women's economic mobility. This requires revising eligibility so that employed women who meet vulnerability criteria still qualify. Support can include disability aid, daycare, transport subsidies, school stipends for children of widowed or divorced women, micro-loans, and one-time grants for major life events like a daughter's marriage. These measures would reduce reliance on handouts and boost FLFP. Second, BISP should help offset cost-of-living pressures that weigh heavily on low-income households. Utility bills constitute recurring burden that often push vulnerable families into debt. Targeted subsidies for gas and electricity, routed through BISP for lifeline consumers, could reduce household stress while focusing fiscal resources on clearly defined eligible groups. However, if the current structure of BISP continues, Pakistan risks pushing its female population into a vicious cycle of dependency, which we must avoid. And here is why. The hidden cost of dependency: The Economic Survey 2025 describes social protection as a 'strategic investment in the nation's future'. Yet without women's participation in formal economic activity, that claim remains open to question. Heavy reliance on social protection affects resource allocation in two ways: it increases the population's dependency on non-labour income and shifts government spending from long-term productivity to short-term relief. The concern is particularly relevant in Pakistan, where 55 percent of BISP's allocation goes to unconditional transfers with limited linkages to employment or skills training. As of 2025, 71.7 million women, or nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's female population, are listed in the National Socioeconomic Registry (NSER), according to BISP's data portal. Of these, 9.87 million are already receiving cash transfers. This means that if BISP were to extend support to all registered women, its budget would need to be more than double, increasing by 2.6 times. At the same time, government spending priorities have shifted. Prior to BISP's launch in 2008, federal allocations for education were higher than those for social protection. Since then, BISP's budget share has steadily increased, eventually surpassing education, which has seen a consistent decline (Figure 1). This shift has long-term consequences. Female literacy, still below 50 percent, limits access to formal employment and creates a cycle: undereducated women struggle to secure jobs, rely on handouts, female labour force participation (FLFP) drops, incomes fall, and poverty deepens. Evidence of a trade-off: Empirical research supports this trend. Majid and Riaz (2022) found that women receiving BISP were more likely to remain out of the workforce or in vulnerable jobs. Sarfraz et al. (2022) observed that early gains in reducing vulnerable employment vanished within five years, with no sustained improvements in work outcomes. An IMF study (Ivanova et al., 2019) found that in societies with strong gender norms, cash transfers can reduce women's willingness to work unless paired with incentives like better pay or job access. This pattern is not unique to Pakistan; cross-country data show that greater reliance on social protection is often associated with persistently low FLFP, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Figure 2 illustrates that Afghanistan and Iraq, with above-average social protection spending (as percent of GDP), report some of the lowest FLFP rates, primarily due to cultural barriers followed by other contributing factors. In contrast, Bangladesh appears in the top-left quadrant, with relatively high FLFP despite lower welfare spending. Pakistan currently performs below the global average on both metrics, but with BISP spending on the rise (Figure 1), it risks shifting into the bottom right quadrant, where dependence on social protection coincides with low female labour force participation (FLFP). The moderately negative correlation (r = 0.5549) between the two indicators suggests that without a focus on building long-term human capital, social protection systems may inadvertently deter women from joining the workforce. The rarity of countries in the top right quadrant, which achieve both high FLFP and high social protection spending, highlights how rare this balance is in practice. Political will for development outcomes: Social protection is often tied to the broader goal of human development. However, Pakistan's HDI ranking has dropped from 161 to 168 out of 191 countries between 2022 and 2025, with a noticeable decline in women's empowerment indicators. If BISP were meaningfully advancing human development, these indicators would reflect that progress, especially given the programme's rising coverage and increasing share in the federal budget. Instead, the government continues to expand BISP coverage without creating sustainable economic linkages. This has made the trade-off between education, FLFP, and welfare dependency more visible. While the cash transfer of Rs 13,500 per quarter offers psychological comfort, it delivers little meaningful relief. To be effective, BISP must either support sustainable income generation through increased FLFP or ease living costs through targeted energy subsidies. With 60 percent of Pakistani women already registered in BISP's database, the platform could be used to identify vulnerable women-headed households with electricity usage under 200 units per month and offer targeted relief. Such reforms demand political will but would reposition BISP as a genuine tool for long-term development. Returning to the central premise: economies thrive when resources are used efficiently. If BISP is not rechanneled now, Pakistan will face a defining question in the years ahead: Is BISP a 'strategic investment in the country's future' or another misallocation of public resources? Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Time of India
24-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Governor Abdul Nazeer highlights AP's robust 8.8% agriculture growth amid rising food demand
Vijayawada: Mentioning that Andhra Pradesh was a leading performer with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.8% in the agriculture and allied sectors during the year 2024-25, Andhra Pradesh governor S Abdul Nazeer noted that it is essential to take care of nutritional security and food safety while producing more food for our growing population. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The AP governor, who is also the chancellor of Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), took part in the 57th university convocation ceremony held at Swarna Bharath Trust at Atkur in Krishna district on Thursday. Addressing the students at the convocation, Abdul Nazeer said that in 2024, India achieved a record food grain production of 353.95 million tonnes, which is a 6.5% increase compared to the previous year. This surge in agricultural production was driven by bumper harvests of key crops like wheat, rice, and maize. Supportive government policies and agricultural schemes were also cited as contributing factors for this achievement. "Our country's population is likely to cross 1.6 billion, and food demand is expected to rise to approximately 400 million tonnes by the year 2050, necessitating the need to produce even more to meet this demand," the Governor noted. Stating that the agricultural sector also provides livelihood support to about 46.1% of the country's population, Abdul Nazeer said that according to the Economic Survey 2025, the agricultural sector is seeing a growth rate of about 3.8% in the financial year 2025. However, an agricultural growth rate of 4% per annum is necessary not only to meet the demand for food, feed, and fodder but also to sustain a GDP growth rate of 8-9%, reduce poverty, and support the overall economic growth of the country. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On the occasion, the university presented the Dr M V Reddy National Award 2024 to ICAR (New Delhi) Commercial Crops ADG Dr Prashant K Dash and the V Ramachandra Rao National Award 2024 to ANGRAU research director Dr P V Satyanarayana for their best research works in the agriculture field. A total of 46 PhDs, 196 postgraduates, and 1,420 graduate degrees were awarded to the students at the convocation.
Mint
27-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Next-gen telecom tech to get ₹1,000 crore yearly R&D boost
Research and development (R&D) on new telecom technologies will be a key focus area in the draft five-year National Telecom Policy 2025-2030, according to policy draft seen by Mint. The Centre government is targeting spends of ₹1,000 crore per year–compared to just ₹400 crore in FY26–to support research in new technologies like 5G/6G, quantum communications, blockchain, and satellite communication, as part of the upcoming policy. The policy, currently in draft stage, will be notified soon by the department of telecommunications (DoT), an official said on the condition of anonymity. An improvement in R&D spends will help the country reduce its dependence on telecom equipment imports. However, going by previous years, the annual budget allocation for R&D has been unutilised, as per the Union budget documents. Overall, India's current R&D spending is low compared to other countries. Compared to the the global average of 2.6%, the Economic Survey 2025 pointed out that India spends just 0.64% of its GDP on R&D. In a bid to push startups and industries towards new technologies, two funds–Telecom Software Development Fund and Sovereign Patent Fund–would be established to create a patent pool for widely used telecom technologies and promote India's telecom and networking software, according to the draft of the upcoming policy. The new policy would come at a time when satellite communications is emerging as a new technology area in the country with firms such as Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, Amazon's Kuiper, among others. Further, quantum communications, which offer high-security communication channels, is also getting traction in the country. Further, the government has a target to lead in 6G and get 10% global share in 6G-related patents. 'With the advent of transformative technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and quantum computing, the world is witnessing unprecedented shifts in how economies function, and societies interact. These advancements present India with an unparalleled opportunity to bridge the digital divide, empower underserved populations, and drive equitable growth," DoT said in the policy draft, which is currently undergoing industry consultations. Queries emailed to DoT did not elicit any response till press time. Also read | How Samsung and 20 others missed out on an ambitious incentives scheme 'We are among the top six countries today that are filing for 6G patents. We have built one of the most robust telecommunication networks and systems across the world which is cutting edge, customer-oriented and service-oriented," communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday at the theme launch event of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025. 'While we talk about opportunities such as this, innovation has to be at the core of our existence." The government will meet its R&D investments from the ₹86,356-crore Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) Fund, the official cited above said. Besides, the focus will also be to ask the private sector to boost R&D investments. 'India's gross expenditure on R&D is significantly lower than the global average. This is a long-standing bottleneck in achieving leadership in sectors like telecom…The focus on innovation will encourage and enable startups, academia, and industry to develop indigenous solutions and next-gen telecom technologies," said Harsh Walia, partner at Khaitan & Co. 'Through better connectivity, citizens will gain access to digital education, telehealth, digital payments, and other online services that improve quality of life. Affordable and high-speed internet in remote and underserved regions will reduce digital divide," Walia said, adding that the government may also introduce 'R&D-linked Production-Linked Incentive' schemes to incentivize firms undertaking domestic innovation alongside manufacturing. The upcoming telecom policy Under the policy, the government is targeting to promote 1,000 tech startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the telecom sector in emerging technologies. The plan is to also establish 10 centres of excellence for R&D and commercialization of emerging telecom technologies. Besides, a new experimental authorisation for the spectrum in the 95 GHz to 3 THz range will be issued. 'Authorisation and assignment-exempt operations to be permitted in the 116-123 GHz, 174.8-182 GHz, 185-190 GHz, and 244-246 GHz frequency bands or parts thereof in India. 77-81 GHz frequency range to be opened for authorisation and assignment-exempt operations of automotive radar systems in India," the draft policy said. Besides focusing on R&D and innovation, the upcoming telecom policy will focus on five other strategic missions - universal and meaningful connectivity, domestic manufacturing, secure and trusted telecom network, ease of living and ease of doing business, and sustainable telecom, as per the draft policy. With regard to domestic manufacturing, the government aims to increase domestic manufacturing output in the telecom sector by 100% with significant increase in localization across products. In addition, the target is to double India's export contribution towards the global telecom and network product market and reduce import of telecommunication equipment by 50%. Also read | Brookfield got ATC India. Now, its rivals are eyeing Ascend Telecom The telecom equipment sales under the production linked incentive stood at ₹80,927 crore. Out of this, the exports were at ₹14,838 crore. According to a 2024 report by NITI Aayog, more than 40% of the telecom equipment such as 4G/5G signal processing units and antenna, are imported from China. 'There needs to be an import substitution of telecommunication equipment by 100% during 2025-2030 period with products which are designed, developed and manufactured in India," said Rakesh Bhatnagar, director general of VoICE (Voice of Indian Commtech Enterprises), which represents local telecom solution providers. According to Bhatnagar, there is a need for updating the draft version of National Telecom Policy 2025 after Operation Sindoor to reduce dependence on other countries for chips, operating systems and software. The policy has proposed incentivising telecom operators using indigenously designed and manufactured equipment, to ensure self-reliance and promoting domestic R&D. 'Local R&D builds strategic autonomy, reduces import reliance, and enhances national security. It delivers India-specific, cost-effective solutions suited to rural gaps and diversity. It drives deep-tech jobs, fuels startups, and boosts economic growth," said Vinish Bawa, partner and telecom sector leader at PwC India. To succeed, the government must promote public-private R&D partnerships, incentivize private investment through tax breaks and co-funding, and enable faster approvals, he said. Periodic audits For safe and trusted networks, the government will conduct periodic cybersecurity audits of telecom networks to assess resilience to threats to telecom cyber security. A National Telecom SafeNet will be established to protect the national telecom network, the draft policy said. To enhance security measures, the government will roll out secured unified communication and quantum secure video phones for the government and states. It will promote end-point security for telecom network devices (except mobile, laptop, desktop etc.) by deployment of indigenous endpoint detection & response solutions, according to the draft policy. Earlier, the government had come out with a digital communications policy for the period 2018-22. The 2018-22 policy replaced the National Telecom Policy announced in 2012. Also read | Trai, telecom companies spar over data demand The 2018 policy had set targets to provide universal broadband connectivity, increase the digital communications sector's contribution to GDP to 8% from 6% in 2017, create 4 million jobs, and fiberization of at least 60% of towers, among other areas, by 2022. According to industry executives, in some of the areas such as public Wi-Fi hotspots, tower fiberization, targets for BharatNet connectivity, and home broadband penetration, the progress has been slow. In the new draft policy, the government aims to achieve fiberization of towers from 43% to 80%. The government had set a target to achieve 70% tower fiberization by FY25. Tower fiberization refers to the process of connecting mobile towers to high-speed fiber-optic networks. Over the next five years, the government plans to enable provision of fixed line broadband network from 45 million to 100 million households in the country, deploy 1 million public Wi-Fi hotspots, and use community Wi-Fi networks as an alternative for last mile connectivity. The government is targeting to create 1 million new jobs (direct and indirect) in the telecom products and services sector.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Closure report mandatory upon licence expiry: FSSAI
The food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) has mandated food business operators (FBO) to submit closure reports upon expiry of their licence, according to a notice issued by the national food safety regulator. The notice, titled 'Mandatory submission of Closure Report on expiry of FSSAI licence/registration', said, 'All Food Business Operators (FBOs), whose FSSAI licence/registration has been expired during FY 2024-25 are hereby directed to mandatorily submit a closure report.' In the detailed closure report, FBOs need to confirm that no business activity is conducted at the premises and that they must provide reasons for non-renewal of their licence. The notice, issued on May 16, also directed FBOs to apply for renewal of licence or registration well before the expiration date. 'This report must confirm that no business activity is being conducted at the respective premises on the expired FSSAI licence/ registration number or else, food business shall confirm whether new licence / registration has been obtained. FBOs are also required to further provide specific reasons for non-renewal of the FSSAI licence,' the notice read. Also Read: Economic Survey 2025 calls for 'health tax' on ultra-processed foods The reasons for closure of business or non-renewal of licence should be submitted in FSSAI's Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) portal, the food regulator said. If an FBO continues to operate after the licence's expiry, a hefty fine will be levied. 'It shall be noted that operating a food business on expired FSSAI licence/ registration shall be treated as violation of section 31 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and may attract a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh under section 63,' the notice said FSSAI said this step has been taken for maintaining transparency and traceability in the overall licensing framework created for food businesses operating in the country. 'FSSAI has mandated the submission of a closure report upon the expiry of licence/registration. This is crucial for maintaining transparency and accountability in the licensing framework,' the food regulator said in a statement issued on Thursday. The food regulator has taken the measure amid reports of food business operating on expired licences. A senior official aware of the matter, requesting anonymity, said, 'There were reports of food businesses continuing to function even on expired licence till they applied or got their renewed licence. That is not acceptable and needed to stop. This move is an attempt to ensure there is absolute transparency in their functioning.'
United News of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- United News of India
Mumbai is the hub of the country's most funded startups: Deputy CM Shinde
Mumbai, May 21 ( UNI) Maharashtra is the first state to formulate a fintech policy to provide financial support to startups and industries and Mumbai has become the hub of the country's most funded startups, said Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday. Shinde said 24 per cent of the country's total startups are in Maharashtra. The Deputy CM was speaking at the Startup Conclave 2025 jointly organized by CSIR and three major scientific institutions at NESCO Center in Goregaon. Shinde said Maharashtra is number one in the country in terms of startups and according to the Economic Survey 2025, there are 26,686 startups in Maharashtra, which is 24 per cent of the total startups in the country. He also said that Mumbai is becoming the most suitable place for startups due to the availability of investors and venture capital funds. UNI SP PRS
