Rawalpindi Zakat Cash Crunch Leaves 35,000 Families Waiting
More than 35,000 deserving families have waited 26 months for Rawalpindi Zakat assistance, as a severe shortage of funds has crippled the district’s Zakat Department.
Around 10,000 of these families are in Rawalpindi district, registered through local Zakat committees for monthly financial aid, while 25,000 more are in the division’s other districts, Murree, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum and Talagang. But the lack of funds has halted the payments, leaving widows and other eligible recipients without the monthly stipend and other support, such as marriage grants, scholarships and funds for free treatment.
What the cash crunch has stopped
Even on Eid, beneficiaries have been denied the Rs3,000 each that had been allocated to them on all four Eid occasions in 2025 and 2026.
Free treatment at government hospitals for deserving patients is also at a standstill because of the cash crunch. The most unfortunate of these are the leprosy patients, who have been denied medicines, monthly stipends and other assistance.
Assistance for visually impaired people has also been stopped, and scholarships for students have been discontinued. The marriage grant of Rs25,000 for deserving girls has also not been paid.
Families pushed further into poverty
As a result, affected families are barely able to make ends meet and have resorted to working as maids, washing dishes and cooking in other people’s homes.
Rising unemployment and a lack of financial resources have pushed such families further into poverty.
What Rawalpindi Zakat assistance covers
Zakat is the Islamic obligation to give a share of wealth to the poor, and district Zakat departments distribute it to registered families. In Rawalpindi, that support covers a monthly stipend for widows and the poor, marriage grants for deserving girls, scholarships for students and funds for free treatment at government hospitals.
When the funds stop, all of it stops at once. The 26-month wait means families have now missed two years of monthly aid, four Eid payments and two years of scholarships and treatment support.
The wider picture
The Rawalpindi case shows how a funding gap at one department reaches deep into daily life. The Punjab government runs the Maryam Ko Batayn programme, which offers Rs10,000 to eligible families, and Punjab offers free specialised treatment for patients who cannot pay. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has announced scholarships for 2026-27, the same kind of support Rawalpindi’s Zakat families have lost.
The committees are the backbone of the system. Local Zakat committees identify deserving families in their areas and register them for monthly aid, which is how around 10,000 of the waiting families came onto the department’s rolls. When the money stops, the committees have nothing to distribute, and the families they registered are left to wait. Free treatment is a lifeline for the poor, and new hospital capacity is opening, with Shaukat Khanum’s Karachi hospital due to open in December. But hospital beds do not help a family that cannot pay for medicines, and the Zakat funds that cover those medicines have stopped.
What happens next
The Tribune report carries no word from the department on when funds will arrive, and no timeline for resuming payments has been made public. Until the money comes, the 35,000 families wait, and the widows, leprosy patients, visually impaired people and students who depend on the department go without the help they were promised.
Frequently asked questions
How many families are waiting for Zakat aid in Rawalpindi?
More than 35,000 deserving families have awaited Zakat assistance for the last 26 months. Around 10,000 of them are registered through local Zakat committees for monthly financial aid.
How long have they waited?
The families have waited 26 months, which means they have missed two years of monthly aid and four Eid payments in 2025 and 2026.
What support has stopped?
The monthly stipend for widows and the poor, marriage grants, scholarships, funds for free treatment, the Rs3,000 Eid payment, and assistance for leprosy patients and visually impaired people.
What is the Rs25,000 marriage grant?
It is a grant paid to deserving girls for their marriage. It has also not been paid because of the cash crunch.
What happens next?
No timeline for resuming payments has been made public, and the report carries no word from the department on when funds will arrive.
