LAHORE, June 22: The Central Zakat Council has decided to pay marriage grant to the brides after their marriage instead of their parents and turned down the objections against it.

A grant of Rs10,000 is paid from Zakat Fund for meeting marriage expenses of the girls belonging to the poor families. The grant used to be paid to the poor parents who were unable to meet marriage expenses of their daughters. They were required to furnish the marriage certificates for availing the grant facility from the Zakat Fund.

The Zakat council decided to give the grant to the brides instead of their parents last year to rule out the possibility of its misuse. It decided that the applications for the grant would be submitted by the brides along with their marriage certificates, and the cheques would be issued in the names of the girls instead of their parents.

The Punjab government called for the review of the decision on the grounds that submission of an application for marriage grant by the bride along with the marriage certificate was against the local traditions as the marriages were generally arranged by the parents and thus deserved to be provided with the marriage grant.

The government also objected to the disbursement of the grant among the brides on the grounds that marriage expenses were borne by their parents or families. Moreover, there was a possibility of humiliation and even divorcing of the girls by some of the in-laws taking exception to their having been married from the Zakat assistance. There was also a possibility of some of the in-laws taking away the grant from the brides.

The Zakat council has declined the Punjab government request to review the procedure on the grounds that the other three provinces had accepted it.