Charitable cause: Sindh govt to distribute Zakat among families

KARACHI:

The Sindh government will distribute Rs6,000 each to 82,000 families during the holy month of Ramazan.

Zakat and Ushr department secretary Muhammad Ramzan Awan said that the Zakat money will be distributed among the needy families registered by 7,000 local zakat committees across the province. The department has devised a new mechanism which would incorporate the distribution of the funds through ATM cards, with the help of the Sindh Bank.  Awan revealed that 60 per cent of the Zakat funds will be distributed among the needy families under the Guzara allowance, while the rest of the funds will be given to hospitals to provide free treatment. "We have already given Rs400 million to various hospitals," he said.

The secretary said that the Zakat department had limited funds and could not provide assistance to all the needy families. He revealed that the main source of funding was the Zakat deductions from banks. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2014.