ABBOTTABAD, Nov 18: Non-governmental organizations should make a collective effort to encourage cottage-based industry especially to benefit women and to change the life of common man.

Local Zakat committee will provide financial assistance to the women who want to start small-scale business.  

This was said by Wajid Rizvi, Chairman of the local Zakat committee, while speaking as a chief guest at the certificate distribution ceremony of the carpet weaving and textile designing course jointly organised by the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) and the Society for Public Awareness and Development, on Monday.

Mr Rizvi said that a lot of money was being wasted in the name of women’s development and if the money was used to create small business opportunities for the women their lives could be changed.

Syed Kosar Naqvi, the president of SPAD, said that with the collaboration of the SRSP, the skill of weaving carpets was imparted   to at least 60 women who had become capable of weaving high-quality carpets.

He said that after successfully running the carpet and textile designing centre, efforts were being made for the establishment of a wool spinning unit at Abbottabad which would be a great source of income for the local women.

Syed Jaffar Shah, the chief of the local chapter of the SRSP, said that the programme had provided training to more than 6,400 persons and more than 65 per cent of them were women.

The course coordinator, Kosar, giving the details said that the three month course was attended by 16 women while 36 women took part in the textile designing course.