Zakat beneficiaries will not receive cash on Eidul Azha

Former PTI government gave Rs12,000 on Eidul Azha, Eidul Fitr

RAWALPINDI:

Around 10,000 Zakat beneficiaries in the Rawalpindi district would not receive presents on Eidul Azha this time around.

Sources said that it has been decided not to offer gifts to Zakat beneficiaries on Eidul Adha this year due to the financial crisis.

The former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government gave Rs12,000 on Eidul Azha last year and on Eidul Fitr this year.

The sources said that no gifts will be given to orphans, widows, low-income families, people with disabilities or leprosy-affected families on this Eid.

Eid gifts of Rs9,000 used to be given to persons with disabilities, Rs12,000 to widows, orphans and low-income families and Rs6,000 to leprosy-affected families on Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha.

According to sources in the Zakat department, neither money nor instructions had been given to them regarding the Eid gifts this year by the Punjab government. However, more deserving beneficiaries will receive cash donated by philanthropists to the zakat department. Many deserving families visit the Zakat department's office seeking gifts for Eid, but they were sent back empty-handed.

The sources said that if the Punjab government decides to provide funds at the last minute, they will distribute the cash among the beneficiaries as they have electronic records of them.

Tens of thousands of deserving families around the district are in a state of despair after they heard the news about the non-payment of the cash amount.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2022.