Eligible households to get aid after year-long delay
PHOTO: FILE
The Zakat and Ushr Department of Rawalpindi district has approved the distribution of financial aid from its Zakat fund to eligible families for the previous year.
The widows of deserving families will receive Rs18,000, while families whose breadwinners are visually impaired will be granted Rs24,000.
In this regard, a substantial fund amounting to over Rs156.745 million has been disbursed for zakat distribution among deserving individuals. Moreover, an additional fund exceeding Rs9.974 million has been allocated specifically for extending financial assistance to families with visually-impaired members.
The caretaker government has dissolved all 1,166 local Zakat committees in Rawalpindi district, subsequently appointing grade-16 officers as administrators to assume their responsibilities. These administrators are entrusted with the task of promptly updating and submitting a comprehensive list of all beneficiaries throughout the district within a week's time.
Based on these compiled lists, financial assistance will be disbursed to deserving families via SMS service on their registered mobile phones.
According to sources within the department, the District Zakat Committee will also pay the service charges of the financial assistance sent to the beneficiaries on mobile phones. Beneficiaries will receive a lump sum amount amount without any deduction.
The announcement comes after a period during which the beneficiaries didn’t receive any payments for 12 months. They were denied the provision of gifts on significant occasions such as Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha, as well as Eid this year.
Typically, deserving individuals receive a monthly living allowance of Rs1,500 from the allocated Zakat fund. However, they weren’t paid any amount last year, with the decision to provide a lump sum payment Rs18,000 for the entirety of the year.
The provincial zakat council has authorised the release of this fund to the Rawalpindi District Zakat Committee. In turn, the District Zakat Committee will proceed to disburse the financial assistance to the designated mobile phones of the newly appointed administrators of the local 1,166 Zakat committees.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2023.