Provincial right: Sindh opposes Zakat collection by Centre

To approach CCI for implementation of 18th amendment

ISLAMABAD: While reiterating its previous stance on Zakat collection and distribution on its own, the government of Sindh has decided to approach the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to attain its constitutional right that has so far been denied by the federal government, an official of the provincial government said.

Sindh took that decision soon after a high level inter-provincial meeting at the ministry of religious affairs on Wednesday decided to continue dialogue with the federal government till June, 2018, the official told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.

The meeting was convened by the minister of religious affairs and Hajj, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, to decide about the Zakat distribution formula under the next National Finance Commission (NFC) award.



‘The meeting decided to keep the zakat collection and its distribution with the federal government for another three years. However, the Sindh representative while registering its protest placed a dissenting note on record and announced its government’s resolve to take up the issue at the CCI ’.

In accordance with the 18th constitutional amendment Zakat has become a provincial subject, therefore the provinces’ right of Zakat collection and distribution should be recognized, said the Sindh government reiterating its previous stance on the issue at the meeting.

However, the government of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan supported federal government’s stand.

The Secretary Zakat department of Balochistan , Abdul Manan Agha while sharing details of the decision, told The Express Tribune that the previous formula of zakat distribution among the four provinces and special regions  of Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, FATA and the federal capital health institutions will remain intact under the 8th NFC award .

In accordance with the 18th constitutional amendment the Zakat ministry was devolved to the provinces, however the provinces still have no right to collect and distribute Zakat on their own.

At a high level meeting in July 2012, all the three provinces, except Sindh, had decided to hand over zakat collection powers to the federal government till June 2015. According to an official of Sindh, Tuesday’s decision was unfair as a major amount of Zakat is being collected from Sindh every year but it gets less than its contribution due to the federal government’s formula – Zakat funds are distributed on the basis of population of each province and special regions.

Under this formula Balochistan and K-P receive bigger share out of zakat resources despite their lower contribution in the overall collection. Punjab is the main beneficiary of Zakat funds from the federal government due to the advantage of being the most highly populated province.

A senior official of the government of K-P admitted that Sindh has been contributing a large portion in Zakat funds. He added however that it was not due to its extra efforts but it is due to the fact that all the headquarters of the major financial institutions are located in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2015.