Political favouritism and social conflict: a case study of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Pakistan
Résumé
Although the efficiency of social-protection programmes depends on their coverage and the accurate targeting of those in need, the identification of beneficiaries can result from interpersonal relationships and political favouritism. This paper explores the impact of political favouritism on the identification of beneficiaries of Pakistan’s Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Sargodha district of Punjab in Pakistan. A comparison of beneficiaries identified by parliamentary representatives with those identified by a Poverty Score Card survey method reveals that the former were not the poorest and did not satisfy the stated selection criteria, while the existence of these two methods was a cause of conflict whose probability increased with the degree of political favouritism, lack of education and rural–urban disparities, but decreased with increases in the level of income.