KP govt releases Zakat fund

MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday released the Zakat fund, which was withheld for the last two consecutive years.

“The government has released an amount of Rs50 million for the districts across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in order to provide financial assistance to deserving people enlisted with Zakat committees,” Jabran Malik, the chairman district Zakat committee, told reporters.

He said that he was expecting the government would release more funds shortly as deserving people enlisted with Zakat committees had been deprived of financial assistance over the last two consecutive years.

“This money would be distributed among widows, orphans and deserving students,” said Jabran Malik. He said that money would also be used to arrange the dowries for orphan girls in each union council in accordance with the set criteria. The district Zakat committee chairman said that that funds would soon be paid to deserving people following completion of legal formalities.

Meanwhile, the district administration has asked committees, constituted to submit names of daily wages employees for financial assistance under Prime Minister’s relief programme, to complete their task within the next three days.

“We have to disburse financial assistance package among daily wages employees and you have to accomplish your task within the stipulated period of three days,” Maqbool Hussain, the additional deputy commissioner, told committees’ members here on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended among others by district social welfare officer Abdul Rasheed and District Zakat Committee Chairman Jabran Malik.