LAHORE, Feb 22: The Punjab Zakat Council has launched a programme for rehabilitating the deserving people of Bhalwal in Sargodha district and checking the kidney trade.

The council has already sanctioned Rs2.3 million for the rehabilitation of 64 deserving people on the recommendations of the local Zakat committees. Cases of more deserving people are being processed for their permanent rehabilitation.

Punjab Zakat Administrator Jarullah Rizvi told Dawn that the Zakat council had decided to provide financial assistance ranging from Rs5,000 to Rs50,000 to deserving persons to enable them to start small-scale businesses so that they were not compelled to sell their kidneys for marriage of their daughters or treatment of their elders.

He said that agents were active in the area for the purchase of kidneys of the poor for rich local and foreign buyers. Those agents were taking advantage of the helplessness of the poor by receiving up to one million rupees for a kidney from foreign buyers but paying only Rs20,000 to 25,000 to the poor donors.

He said that Punjab Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbul (retired) had emphasized the need for steps to curb the inhuman organs trade when his attention was drawn towards it during his visit to the area before the general election.