ISLAMABAD The National Assembly`s Standing Committee on Social Welfare and Special Education asked the Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) on Thursday to enhance the dowry package for orphan girls from Rs25000 to Rs50,000 to enable them to buy items of basic need.

The managing director of Pakistan Baitul Mal, Mr Zamarud Khan, briefed the committee on the performance of his institution and plans to help the poor in a better way.

The committee asked the institution to use the electronic media to inform the poor and deserving people about the help it is providing and the process to apply for assistance.

The committee, which met under Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani, observed that most of the poor and deserving people in far-flung areas did not know about the Baitul Mal, Zakat fund and Benazir Income Support Programme and did not derive any benefit. Besides asking Baitul Mal high-ups to launch a public awareness campaign through electronic media, the committee called for making the process of distribution of funds by the institutions more transparent and taking effective steps to stop any misappropriation and misuse.

The committee also asked the PBM to set up burns and reconstructive surgery centres in more hospitals across the country on the pattern of the Burns and Reconstructive Surgery Centre it had set up and funded in Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.