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ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) is running short of financial resources to meet the challenge of poverty reduction and reaching out to the most vulnerable sections of the rural society.
Most daunting task before the PBM is to identify the exact number of people living below the poverty line.
The Baitul Mal, which receives as many as 150,000 applications from deserving people for monetary help in education and health sectors, on average requires at least Rs2 billion. But currently it is able to cater to the needs of only 25,000 people with a budget of Rs80 million only.
PBM Managing Director Brig (retired) Mohammad Sarfaraz hoped that the amount for disbursement under these two heads would be raised to Rs800 million with the approval a summary pending with the Prime Minister’s office.
Talking to Dawn Mr Sarfaraz said the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, had decided to head the Social Sector Coordination Committee himself in order to oversee the activities aimed at mitigating sufferings of the poorest of the poor.
The total PBM budget that was Rs300-400 million before 1999 had been increased to Rs3 billion.
However, this is still insufficient to meet the challenge of poverty and lack of health and education facilities, he added.
The managing director said the coverage of poverty-stricken population had also been increased to 1.5 million individuals, while their total number stood at six million.
He said under the Food Support Programme, Rs3,000 per annum was the scale for 1.25 million households. In education sector, PBM extends financial support of Rs200 and Rs350 to one and two students in five of the over 100 districts in the country.
APP ADDS: The Pakistan Baitul Mal has established 137 vocational training centres across the country including Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas to empower women economically.
The main objective behind the initiative is to create a formidable workforce of women and reduce unemployment among them, the PBM managing director told this agency here on Tuesday.
Mr Sarfaraz said these centres were providing free training to destitute widows, orphans and deserving women in their different field.
“We are offering various courses including cutting, drafting, tailoring, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, hand knitting, beautician, fabric painting, block printing and glass work,” he added.
The PBM, he said, was also providing raw material free of cost to facilitate the students. Over 22,200 students are getting training at these centres.
Mr Sarfaraz said each trainee was paid a stipend at Rs10 daily on attendance basis to meet travelling expenses.
