KASUR, Oct 9: The poor and elderly people seeking Zakat are facing a great deal of inconvenience and being humiliated by officials of the Pakistan Baitul Maal and General Post Office.

When the needy from tehsils of Kasur, Chunian, Pattoki and other far-off areas reach the office of district Baitul Maal, they are told to contact the post office.

One can see hundreds of people waiting in queues outside the GPO and the Baitul Maal. Some elements are reportedly working as middle men in connivance with the officials of these departments.

Scores of people standing in queues told Dawn that receiving a meagre financial assistance had become an uphill task for them.

Previously, the department issued payment books to the deserving after completing formalities and they received the amount from the post office, but this year, the department has changed the procedure.

Now the department asks the copy holders of food stamp programme to first come to the district office of Baitul Maal and then to the post office for verification. After completion of the formality, they get the amount under the food stamp programme.

The new procedure has put a large number of destitute into great discomfort. Sardaran of Pattoki, Khurshid Bibi of Chunian, Gulzari Bibi of Wan Radha Ram and many others alleged that they were being humiliated by the GPO and Baitul Maal staff. Both the offices have middlemen who can be seen outside the premises. They used to receive Rs200 from the innocent people to save them from the inordinate delay in payments.

Some recipients said when they had reached the window of GPO after standing in a long queue for hours, they were told to bring a new verification letter from the Baitul Maal. No one could get the verification letter without paying Rs200 to agents, they alleged.

The people said they had to spend more than Rs400 to get Rs1,200. They alleged that only political and influential people benefited from the scheme and not the poor.

When contacted GPO Acting Postmaster Abdul Majeed, denying bribery allegations by agents at the office, put all the blame on the Baitul Maal staff and said he had only one clerk for Zakat distribution. However, Baitul Maal official Zulfiqar told this correspondent that he was working under the law and had no agent of receiving bribe.