Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) has clarified a news item captioned "Fraud stops Bait-ul-Mal Cheques Encashment" published by a daily and said that it was incorrect and not based on the facts. As per policy of PBM, one beneficiary from one family is allowed for one-time rehabilitation package but some individual tried to violate this policy, an official told APP Sunday.
He said that PBM instituted a programme to provide rehabilitation package for students who have completed their courses at Vocational Training Institutes (VTIs) so that they could start their business.
Under this programme, a ceremony was held on September 16, at Fortress Stadium, Lahore and rehabilitation aid of Rs 20,000 each was provided to 3000 students of eight VTIs based at Lahore.
The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Governor Punjab Lieutenant-General Khalid Maqbool (retd), Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Federal Minister for Social Welfare & Special Education Zobaida Jalal. The official said one individual from a family is allowed for one-time rehabilitation package, whereas some of the students applied for extra packages which was not in line with Bait-ul-Mal policy.
Besides, he said some students had already received rehabilitation package from PBM and they again applied for assistance by violating the policy. The official said these students had not only deprived other eligible students of their right but also became cause of inconvenience. A total of 244 such cases out of 3000 were detected, who received cheques under discrepancies, he added.
Official said that there is no mis-coordination between PBM and the banks. The cheques presented to banks are being encashed. He said 244 students tried to deceive by applying from more than one centre but the payment was stopped. As soon as these problem cases were ascertained, the payment to all students was started, he added.
The official said that cheques of the students are being encashed and till October 02, a total of 1282 cheques were presented at the bank and all have been encashed, which is evident from the bank record. As far as position of funds in the bank is concerned, PBM does not issue a single cheque without having sufficient balance.
Cheques which were distributed amongst the trainees by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, started encashment from next day, he said and added that the same is also evident from the bank record. It is also clarified that no student had to come from distant areas and students were not required to stay in hotels or bear travel expenditures.