Two year on: Zakat committee not helping the deserving

Saddar Cantt area residents say they have not been paid a penny despite appearing on committee list

RAWALPINDI:

The Zakat and Ushr Committee (ZUC) for Saddar Cantt have made no payments to deserving people in the area for the past two years.

Sources said that wrangling between two local leaders of the ruling party over the appointment of chairpersons for 10 local Zakat committees has further compounded the issue.

The ZUC appoints local chairmen in every locality to finalise lists of needy people including widows and orphans. Payments are made on the basis of these lists.

A total of 530 chairmen are currently working under the ZUC in different areas of the city.

Unpaid people said Eid will be “dull and bland” due to the issue.

Fatima Bibi, a resident of the area, told The Express Tribune that her husband died eight years back and she had been getting payments from the ZAU under the “guzara and dowry allowance”.

“They stopped giving us money two years back and it is increasingly becoming difficult for me to manage my expenses without a breadwinner,” she said.

Malik Riasat, a resident of Saddar Cannt, said that the ZUC has stopped payments to the needy from the “guzara and dowry allowance” for the last two years.

Under the “guzara allowance”, Rs1,200 is paid to needy persons after every three months, and under the dowry allowance, a payment of Rs50,000 is made to the daughters of widows in two installments. The scheme also offers orphans fee concessions in schools.

“The main reason behind this delay is a war of words between two groups within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz — one backed by Shakil Awan and the other by Sheharyar Riaz — on the issue of appointment of chairmen for 10 local Zakaat committees,” Riasat claimed, adding that both the leaders want “their people” to get the jobs.

“People go to the offices of the local committees on a daily basis and return empty-handed,” he said.

A local Zakaat committee in charge, who requested not to be named, confirmed that they have not been given funds by the ZUC in the last two years.

“The authorities are not appointing local chairman due to a political infighting,” he said.

Conversely, a ZUC official claimed that they were allocating funds and making payments to the needy.

“We have to identify the poorest of the poor and payment is made to only those in are extremely poor,” he said, adding that the ZUC could not provide funds to every needy person.

“Some of them end up getting no help, which is not our fault,” he said.  He also denied that a rivalry between the local political leaders was obstructing the disbursal of money.

ZUC Chairman Chaudhry Ajab Hussain could not be approached for comment despite multiple calls and a text message on his cell phone.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2014.