ISLAMABAD, June 13: The women parliamentarians have criticised Pakistan Baitul Mal for what they call adopting a complicated procedure for disbursement of financial assistance to the deserving people.

Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) organised a special briefing for women parliamentarians on the National Assembly premises here on Friday. Advisor to the prime minister on Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education Ms Nilofar Bakhtiar presided over the briefing.

Around 50 to 60 women members of the National Assembly and the Senate representing major political parties attended the briefing.

During the question-answer session most of the participants raised questions about the PBM’s procedures that an applicant has to follow to be able to get financial assistance. They also expressed their unawareness about the PBM-run projects in their respective areas for the welfare of the general masses, especially for women and asked its management to provide them with necessary data of its operations in their respective districts.

Ms Aysha, an MNA from Balochistan, said the verification procedure of the PBM to determine whether or not an applicant was a deserving case lacked justification. She said most of the applicants looking for financial assistance from such organizations were illiterate, hence they couldn’t fill up a form by themselves.

Robina Wattoo, MNA from Okara, contended that she had not come across even a single PBM-financed project in her constituency. “Everyday, I receive a number of applications from people needing financial assistance but have nothing to refer to,” she said. In response to her query, the PBM officials told her that in 2003 around Rs0.8 million were distributed among needy people in Okara district.

Ms Riffat, MNA from Narowal, said she didn’t know whether the PBM was doing some welfare projects in her district. She said, unlike women MNAs on reserved seats, the elected women parliamentarians have to face people of their constituencies on regular basis, therefore, they should be involved in social welfare projects being run by Baitul Mal or some other public sector organization. It was decided during the meeting that elected women MNAs would have a special meeting on June 16.

Earlier, in his brief presentation on administrative infrastructure of the PBM, its Managing Director Mohammad Sarfaraz asked the women legislators to join hands with the PBM for women emancipation especially poorest of the poor.

In her welcome address, Secretary for Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education Ms Parveen Qadir Agha gave a brief introduction of the PBM, its history and its future plans.

Ms Nilofar Bakhtiar urged the women legislators to actively participate in the women, social welfare and special education development projects in collaboration with the federal ministry of women development.

She also called upon the women parliamentarians to encourage women of low income groups in their respective areas to take maximum benefit from the rehabilitation schemes of the PBM.