THE credible charitable outfits are expected to get a major boost this Ramazan as the social welfare wings of political and religious parties have been sidelined because of a closer monitoring of their fund flows and the government’s directives that refrain political parties from fund-collection campaigns.

On the strength of their performance records and aggressive marketing, the country’s major welfare organisations are projected to attract significantly more funds during the holy month.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that donations during Ramazan spike, with the total collection in the month surpassing what the nation doles out during the rest of the year. The culture of giving in Pakistan is rooted in the citizens’ belief system, as Islam ordains Muslims to spend at least 2.5pc of their accumulated wealth on the needy.

There is no systematic data collection to quantify the value of philanthropy, but the activity is massive in terms of reach and impact, says economist Zafarul Hasan

If one accepts the projection that the total cash and in-kind donations by companies and individuals amount to Rs240bn annually, and that as much as 60pc of it is disbursed in Ramazan, thus about Rs146bn will be disbursed as Zakat, khairat and fitra in Ramazan 2015.

Most Muslim families prefer to disburse their donations quietly and privately among the poor they know. However, the upper middle class and expats have started supporting social welfare organisations they trust.

Experts believe that about 30pc of the total Rs146bn in donations in Ramazan, or Rs44bn, will go to institutions involved in running soup kitchens or offering services in healthcare, education and housing etc. for the vulnerable segments.

Among the expected beneficiaries, the more prominent ones are household names such as Edhi Foundation, SIUT, Shaukat Khanum Foundation, The Citizen Foundation, Aman Foundation and Saylani Welfare Trust. They offer a variety of basic services to the less fortunate.

Several attempts to get a view from the representatives of these organisations on the expected total collection, its comparison with last year, the profile of donors etc proved futile.

“We can detail the nature of our work and peoples’ response towards our activities, but we are not authorised to pass on the details of fund collection to anyone. Besides, it is hard to project the volume of collection at the end of the second week of Ramazan,” Anis AK Lodhi of the Saylani Welfare Trust articulated the response of the charities.

“The apathy of the government is exemplary. For all practical purposes, it has abdicated its responsibly to provide the people with basic social and physical amenities. The welfare organisations have moved in to provide some relief, and those that are delivering command respect and support,” commented Shabir Ahmed, a business leader.

The total annual pro-poor private spending is projected to be almost equal to what the state sets aside for the underprivileged. According to a senior economist at the Planning Commission, the cumulative government spending (both federal and provincial) on the poor will not be more than Rs250bn in the year ahead.

This includes both direct transfers under schemes such as the BISP, and indirect transfers through targeted subsidies on social and physical amenities. The PML-N government allocated Rs102bn for the BISP in the 2015-16 budget.

Though an efficient social security net is lacking, all the provinces have launched schemes such as the Watan Card project in Sindh, or the laptop distribution and low-cost housing schemes in Punjab, to ease the stress on the poor. The total cost of these measures to the national exchequer are clubbed together to arrive at the final number.

Zafarul Hasan, a senior economist at the Planning Commission, concurred with the perception. “Unfortunately, there is no systematic data collection to quantify the value of philanthropy, but the activity is massive in terms of reach and impact in the society. I think private pro-poor spending is more than what the cash-starved governments have set aside for the purpose,” he said over phone from Islamabad.

Making a vain effort to defend the government for its neglect on the subject, he said an exercise of mapping the beneficiaries of the multiple pro-poor schemes by different tiers of the government is currently in progress. Its aim is to improve efficiency and widen the cover. He added that the data collected would better equip the government to gauge the problem and assess the impact of public and private interventions.

Commenting on the rising investment on advertising by charities, Syed Haider Ali, a media expert, was insightful. He said there is a growing awareness within corporate corridors on the value of the image as a marketing chip.

“The charities need not pay for their promotion. There are many leading companies willing to sponsor campaigns in return for visible association with a popular, charitable brand to lift their own image in public perception.” He attributed the increasing visibility of better known organisations to the exit of political parties’ wings.

Some professional fund collection companies have also entered the lucrative field. “The target is that one such organisation would conduct a promotional campaign and raise funds on the charity’s behalf in return for a 15pc share of the funds raised,” a doctor running free clinics in Karachi told Dawn.

Market watchers believe that Karachi is comparatively most generous. Majyd Aziz, former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, considers the concentration of several socially aware communities like the Memon Jamaat, Bohris, Ismailis etc in the city as a possible reason.

“Unfortunately, Karachi gets less government attention and more adverse projection. Karachiites are not just more advanced, but also socially more responsible. They are ahead of others in both generating and distributing wealth,” he said, hinting at the city’s share in taxes and Zakat collection.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, July 6th, 2015

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