PESHAWAR, Aug 23: The Provincial Council for Social Welfare (PCSW), which looks after ‘Sarkari Sarai’, an inn set up at a major public hospital in the city to provide shelter at night to needy people and labourers, is facing financial constraints, Dawn has learnt.

The NWFP government set up the facility at the Khyber Teaching Hospital some two years ago to provide free shelter to the daily-wagers and attendants of patients who used to sleep on green-belt near the hospital.

Officials told Dawn on Thursday that such facilities would also be established at the Hayatabad Medical Complex and the Lady Reading Hospital.

The provincial government has approved seven Sarkari Sarais in the defunct divisional headquarters and allocated Rs17.500 million in the Annual Development Programme 2007-08.

The PCSW has been given additional assignment of supporting the KTH and other inns to be set up at hospitals in the province, but sources at the council said that the shortage of funds was one of the main problems at the moment.

“The council did not receive any allocation for this additional responsibility and we need funds to run these shelters smoothly,” they said. “The funds the PCSW is receiving from the National Council for Social Welfare (NCSW) and the provincial government are peanuts.”

The council receives Rs1.5 million from the provincial government and Rs1.2 million from the NCSW.

“The PCSW provides funds for various social and welfare projects and the additional responsibility of supporting the inns has rendered the council with financial constraints,” the sources said.

PCSW director Fakrul Islam admitted that the council was faced with financial problems after getting the additional assignment. However, he said the provincial government had assured the council of providing additional funds.