ISLAMABAD, June 29: The federal government has allocated an amount of Rs2.892 billion for Pakistan Baitul Mal (PMB) for the financial year 2003-04.

Managing Director PBM Mohammad Sarfaraz said this while speaking at a press conference here on Saturday.

Mr Sarfaraz said the government would provide Rs2.892 billion to the PMB for its ongoing projects. He said Rs2.5 billion of this amount would be given to Food Support Programme (FSP) according to which Rs2,000 were provided to the needy people on biannual instalments.

Being appreciative of the FSP, he said under this programme, which extended to 1.2 million poorest households, Rs2 billion were spent during the financial year 2003-03 that had been increased this year.

The PMB managing director said this was an effective social safety-net for the poorest of the poor and a positive step towards poverty alleviation of 36 per cent of the total population of the country that fell below the poverty line.

He said under the Individual Financial Assistance programme, the PBM would provide Rs80 million. The programme has been started to mitigate the financial sufferings of indigent poor, widows, orphans and disabled persons.

He said an amount of Rs30,000 was provided for subsistence and rehabilitation of poor people, and similarly if an individual can’t afford medical treatment for major ailments, he was provided financial assistance up to Rs300,000 for treatment but only in government-run hospitals.

He said since the PBM had a countrywide infrastructure, therefore to meet its administrative expenditures an amount of Rs118.2 million had been reserved in the budget. The PBM managing director also told the mediapersons that under the estimated expenditure, Rs 150 million had been earmarked for natural calamities and displaced people of Bugti tribe.

He maintained that displaced population of Bugti tribe was a permanent liability on PBM, however, this year the PBM had told the government that it would not provide financial assistance to these displaced people from next year until the government provided a separate amount in this regard.

Mr Sarfaraz said under the Tawana Pakistan Programme, 530,000 schoolgoing girls of 29 high poverty districts were being provided freshly prepared daily meal besides vitamins to meet their nutritional needs.