ISLAMABAD, Nov 18: People in Pakistan donate Rs70 billion to charities annually, 70 per cent of which ends up in funding various religious activities.

Speaking at a seminar on “Poverty Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation “, Dr Arshad Zaman informed that 85 per cent of the people voluntarily give money for activities that do not benefit them directly.

Commenting on the religious charities, he said, it can be in the name of construction of mosques and armed struggle (Jihad), carried out all over the world by different Muslim Jihadi outfits.

People in the higher income groups are more active in charitable activities. “ Almost 93 per cent of the rich are more active as compared to the 88 per cent, who belong to low income groups” he remarked.

In terms of allocation between sparing money and time, 91 per cent of the rich give money as compared to 88 per cent of the economically depressed class, and 21 per cent volunteer their time compared to 17 per cent of rich.

The main motives for given charity are moral and religious, followed by civic duty. Only two per cent of those who indulge in charitable activities are aware of tax exemptions owing to their generous exercise but none of them have benefited from any such exemptions, he added.

In his concluding remarks, he said, given the generosity of Pakistani people, if government works in cooperation with the civil society, it can go a long way in eradicating poverty from the country.

Dr Khairat said national income accounts data may be used to study intra-sector income inequalities. He added that there are various measures of inequality and each takes into account different facts.

It is difficult to see each measure in isolation while devising policies.