Thousands wait for Zakat and Baitul Mal funds

Over 10,000 deserving families waiting for funds since April

RAWALPINDI:

The outgoing year has been very disappointing for the beneficiaries of the Zakat and Baitul Mal funds of the Rawalpindi district as deserving people across the district have not received a single penny of financial assistance for the last eight months.

Due to a severe lack of funds, financial assistance could not be provided to the beneficiaries of Zakat this year till now with over 10,000 deserving families suffering since April. The beneficiaries could not get dowry funds for the marriage of their daughters and educational scholarships for talented students.

Due to non-availability of the financial assistance, the government-funded technical institutes including the sewing and embroidery centres have also started closing down. Even the teachers of these institutions could not get their salaries to date.

Due to the non-availability of funds, the free medical treatment and provision of free medicines to deserving patients from the Zakat Fund in 10 major hospitals of Rawalpindi including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital, Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital, Leprosy Hospital, all Tehsil Headquarters Hospitals and the Cardiology Hospital have also been terminated.

The chairman of the district Zakat council has also retired after the completion of his term and despite the passage of a month after his retirement, the new chairman could not be appointed, due
to which the administrative affairs of the district
Zakat council have also been badly affected.

Meanwhile, the district Baitul Mal faces a similar situation as due to the shortage of funds, thousands of victims could not be financially supported.

Sources in the Zakat Department say that from the beginning of the new financial year on July 1 till date, the district Zakat council has not been given a single penny in respect of funds to help its beneficiaries.

There are 106 local Zakat committees in the union councils in the Rawalpindi district. None of these local Zakat committees could be financially supported.

Due to the non-availability of funds to the Zakat councils, mass marriages of the girls of poor families from Baitul Mal, the release of dowry funds, provision of funds to sewing and embroidery centres in each union council for self-employment, provision of funds for unemployed youth from families living below the poverty line and the project of providing free rickshaws has also been terminated.

Anisa Bibi, a widowed Zakat beneficiary, said that the last financial assistance was given to her on Eidul Fitr, after which the assistance to the beneficiaries has been stopped. “If you go to the Zakat office, you get the same answer that the government has not yet provided the funds,” she lamented.

Another beneficiary, Sughra Begum, said that her daughter's application for a dowry fund has been pending for the past 10 months and no help is being provided to her due to a lack of funds.

Ahmad Deen said: “Until Eidul Fitr, we used to get regular monthly financial assistance through Easy Paisa while sitting at home, but now we are not getting anything, due to which, we are starving and are forced to live by begging.”

On the other hand, Nayab Akhtar, who receives assistance from the District Baitul Mal, said it has been a long time since they received the financial assistance. She said that she had applied for a wheelchair for her disabled son six months ago but she has not been provided with the wheelchair yet. “We are now being forced to go to the homes of the wealthy families and beg for financial assistance,” she said.

The Zakat council and District Baitul Mal sources say that funds will be distributed among the beneficiaries as soon as they are available. “We have computerised data of all the beneficiaries and there will be no delay in funds distribution among the beneficiaries as soon as the government provides us with the funds, they said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2022.