Mukhtar Ahmad Email and Phone Number

Developing a Strategic Business Plan for BISP

Exploring options for making Pakistan's main social safety net shock responsive

NIPS is a research organization responsible to carry out substantive and methodological research in the field of population and development, impact evaluation surveys, evaluation of projects and programs and provide policy guidelines/ input to policy makers. Executive Director is the head of organization responsible for achieving the Institute objectives, provide guidance in research, evaluation and other academic activities. As Executive Director spearheaded an exercise in In-depth analysis of PDHS 2012-13 data and production of 16 quality research papers. Also supervising the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18 activities including finalizing the questionnaire, heading Technical Advisory Committee and managing all the project activities.

I worked twice in the Benazir Income Support Programme. BISP is a social safety net authority established in 2008 with an immediate objective to cushion the negative effects of slow economic growth and food inflation on the poor, through the provision of monthly cash grants to eligible families. The Program has paid over Rs.220 billion to five million poor families. I started the Program, as head of the Operations team and performed following tasks:• Designed and implemented a targeting mechanism resulting in creation of a National Poverty Registry containing data of 27 million households. The Registry is unique in its size, data quality and the speed with which it can address the issue of Targeting for dispensation of Targeted interventions.• As part of Monitoring and Evaluation activity, deployed Process Evaluation and Spot Check to ensure the quality and continuous monitoring and course correction.• Launched an Impact Evaluation study (baseline)for the Program.• As a Targeting Grievance Redressal mechanism, developed a digital Case Management System (CMS) for technology-based registration and resolution of appeals against Targeting and also correction of mistakes of data collection/entry.• Developed and implemented a technology-based Payment Mechanism which defines protocols for cash and beneficiary data transfer to the Banks, handling of both the cash and data in the Bank's Core Banking System and further transfer of cash benefits to the poor beneficiary's virtual bank accounts, reporting and recording of cash withdrawals by the beneficiaries and real time data transfer and reconciliation with BISP payment MIS.• Revised the Conditional Cash Transfer design and rolled it out in the extended phase.• Spearheaded the design and implementation of the different phases and mechanisms of the Programme. Provided leadership in finalizing operational and procedural manuals and design documents.