Cheques worth Rs156.5m distributed

BAHALWALPUR:

Minister for Zakat and Ashur Malik Nadeem Kamran and Minister for Cooperatives Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar distributed cheques of more than Rs156.5 million, among patients and students of vocational trainings institutions, from the Zakat Fund on Sunday. The recipients were from Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions. A ceremony in this regard was held at the Vocational Training Institute in Bahawalpur. Several lawmakers and senior officials of various departments from the three divisions participated in the event.

Kamran said the government wanted to launch a project to provide auto-rickshaws to unemployed persons under the Self Employment Scheme in nine divisional headquarters of the province in the first phase. By next year, this project will be extended to the entire province. He said the project was meant to enable those receiving zakat funds to provide for themselves. The plan was to enable them to pay zakat in coming years, he said.  The government will also distribute sewing machines to financially-distressed women looking to earn a living as tailors, he said. “The manner of distribution will be entirely transparent…we will make sure only those who deserve financial assistance get it.”

He said the process of distributing zakat fund had been made convenient. “Instead of distributing cheques or going through banks, the government disburses the fund through the easy paisa service. The minister said the Punjab Zakat Fund was disbursed among more than 600,000 people each year. “More than Rs1.5 billion is distributed as zakat each year.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2016.