September 06, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 05, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Sept 5: Applications for obtaining financial support from annual Zakat and Baitul Mal funds are piling up as the Punjab government has imposed ban on the release of money from these funds some three months ago, Dawn has learnt.

The PML-N-led provincial government after coming into power stopped the district Zakat and Bailtul Mal committees from releasing funds. The situation came to light when a poor man wanted to get dowry funds for the marriage of his daughter. When Zakat office was contacted they said they had been barred from releasing any money by the provincial government.

Kaleem the poor man is a heart patient and could not carry out hard work he used to do to earn livings any more and the earning of his only son is too little to save for the marriage of his daughter.

According to information gleaned by Dawn, thousands of applications are pending with 1,166 Zakat committees in the district. Each committee consists of nine members chosen from a population of 3,000 and there are seven men and two women in the committee including a chairperson to select the needy applicant. These committees are headed by a district chairman and the provincial government gives Rs284,000 for distribution of Zakat twice in a year.

The area committee gives the funds to needy people under three heads -- dowry, livelihood and rehabilitation allowances -- after scrutiny. Widows and old people are given Rs500 as guzara (livelihood) allowance every month and Rs10,000 for the dowry of one girl. Poor people who want to start their own business get Rs5000.

The district government had finalised some 41,000 applications for the financial support from Baitul Mal funds but could not process due to provincial government ban on the disbursement of the money.

Criterion for the distribution of funds by Baitul Mal is not much different from that of Zakat Committees. There is one district Baitul Mal committee headed by a chairman and is consisted of two members from every town. The committee is annually allocated funds in accordance with the available resources by the provincial government.

District Baitul Mal Committee gives away funds for dowry, financial support, medical allowance and education allowance. Rs10,000 are given for dowry and that after the 90 days of wedlock, Rs10,000 are provided to a poor patient through social welfare hospital and scholarships are provided to brilliant but poor students from matriculation level to post graduate level.

For the last three months after the ban by Punjab government, the applications are piling up with the offices of Zakat and Baitul Mal committees and no funds are being released to the poor, said District Nazim when contacted by Dawn.

He said the district government had so far finalized some 41,000 applications for the help from Baitul Mal but the ban by the provincial government did not allow the distribution of the money.

Besides banning the Zakat and Baitul Mal funds, Punjab government had stopped the local governments from passing their development budgets for the purpose of audit but the local governments passed their annual budgets after getting permission through Lahore High Court.