Punjab Bait-ul-Maal Minister Muhammad Ejaz Shafi has said that the government has enhanced the fund of for extending maximum financial assistance to the deserving persons in the province.
Addressing a cheque-distribution ceremony at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Thursday he said that arrangements had been made for weeding out corruption and other malpractices from the department for ensuring transparency and proper utilisation of the zakat funds in the province.
He said that all Bait-ul-Maal offices had been computerised for ensuring checks and balances and to assess the functioning of District Bait-ul-Maal Committees functioning in the province.
The Minister said that Punjab Bait-ul-Maal was extending financial assistance not only to the deserving persons but was also providing financial aid to the students of professional colleges. He said that the grant for students of MBBS had been increased to Rs 42,000 from Rs 18,000.
Ejaz said that Punjab Chief Minister had released additional funds amounting to Rs 50 million for Bait-ul-Maal which would soon be distributed among the entire Bait-ul-Maal Committees of Punjab. The present government had ensured the utilisation of Bait-ul-Maal funds for the first time whereas previously the bait-ul-Maal funds were used for political activities and personal use, he said.
The Minister said that Pakistan Muslim League-Q government was attaching top priority to the welfare of people and using available resources for extending quality healthcare, education and other basic facilities in the Punjab. He said that due effective and far-reaching economic policies of the government, foreign and internal investors were continuously showing their willingness for investing in various trade fields in Punjab.
The government, he said, has focused its attention on purging terrorism, extremism and social evils from the grassroots. Sialkot district Bait-ul-Maal Committee Chairman Saeed Ahmad Shah highlighted the functioning of Bait-ul-Maal and distribution of financial assistance to the deserving persons in the district. Later, the Minister distributed cheques among the deserving persons of Sialkot district.