The Punjab government has slashed zakat funds by 50 per cent. After the provincial government carried out the reduction in zakat funds, chairmen of zakat councils of all 36 districts have threatened to resign in protest.
The provincial government has also done away with the dowry fund of Rs25,000 given to deserving girls of families mostly living below the poverty.
Around 50,000 applications seeking dowry fund across Punjab had been rejected, terming the fund gratuitous, sources said.
The number of beneficiaries in all local zakat committees had also been reduced to five from eight, while their funds have also been slashed.
Financial assistance for visually-impaired people across the province and the quota for wheelchairs for differently-abled people had also been reduced to half.
There has been a 50 per cent cut in funds for scholarships for deserving students as well.
District headquarters and allied hospitals were earlier given a fund of Rs12 million annually, which was reduced to Rs8 million during the coronavirus pandemic.
It has further been slashed to Rs4 million only, which will take a toll on around 75 per cent of poor patients for medication. Each hospital will now carry out 10 surgeries annually on zakat funds.
The annual zakat fund of the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) has also been slashed to only Rs4 million and only 10 free operations will be possible with this amount.
Funds for tehsil headquarters hospitals across Punjab were also reduced to Rs 0.4 million, depriving 95 per cent of poor patients of free treatment.
There were 400 visually-impaired people registered in Rawalpindi district; however, the government will only provide financial assistance to 200 now. District Zakat Council Chairman Ghulam Hassan Khan confirmed the reduction in funds while talking to The Express Tribune.
He said that the cuts were made during the ongoing week, terming it a cruel decision. He said that instead of cutting it, there should have been an increase in the funds owing to the skyrocketing inflation.
He said that the chairmen of district Zakat committees will demand the reversal of the decision. He said that if their demand was not met, they will opt for mass resignations.
Ghulam Hassan said that the Zakat department should be abolished if funds could not be restored.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2021.
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