Six districts left without usual help; beneficiaries struggle amid soaring inflation
RAWALPINDI:
Thousands of zakat recipients across Rawalpindi Division have been deprived of the customary “special Eid gift” this year, leaving nearly 37,000 underprivileged families struggling to celebrate Eidul Fitr amid rising inflation.
The affected families belong to six districts – Rawalpindi, Murree, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal and Talagang – where the annual cash assistance of Rs12,000, typically paid between the 20th and 25th of Ramazan through digital payment services, has not been issued this year.
According to reports, many women from registered beneficiary families have visited the zakat council offices daily hoping to receive funds, only to return home disappointed.
The delay comes on the back of administrative challenges within the zakat system. The legal structure of zakat committees at both district and local levels has not yet been fully constituted.
In Rawalpindi district alone, there are 1,166 local zakat committees along with a district level council, yet no regular chairman has been appointed to the district body for the past two and a half years.
At present, the Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi oversees the council in an interim capacity with no formally appointed committee members. Meanwhile, the tenure of local zakat committees expired about 18 months ago and teachers have been temporarily appointed as administrators in their place.
Officials say long-standing ad hoc arrangements have disrupted the functioning of the zakat system, rendering it largely ineffective.
Across all six districts of the division, both district and local zakat committees currently lack regularly elected chairmen and members.
Officials at the District Zakat Council Rawalpindi have stated that the Rs12,000 Eid relief will still be provided, attributing the delay to technical reasons.
They confirmed that funds have been allocated and are expected to be transferred to the beneficiaries’ accounts later this week or shortly after Eid.
The council added that payments will be made through Easypaisa, with notices to be issued to registered beneficiaries when the funds are released. The distribution is expected to be completed in the last week of March, after the Eid holiday.
The authorities further indicated that the zakat rate for the last quarter of the current financial year (April to June) is also to be released. This tranche will include financial assistance for medical treatment and operations in public hospitals.
