Pakistanis are expected to donate Rs173bn in charities this Ramazan

KARACHI: People of Pakistan are being generous as per their affordability when it comes to donation and charity in the holy month of Ramadan. It is expected that this year the level of charitable giving will touch the heights of about Rs 173 billion. The main reason behind such great efforts is due to obligation of Zakat in Muslims.

The hike in the level of charity is of about 10% which is much more as compared to last year’s Rs 158 billion.

Giving has always brought out the best in people. Throughout the decades, people have sought different opportunities to give back to human kind specially in the month of Ramadan.

Since the elections 2018 are around the corner, Pakistanis are in the state of decision cycle and also fears for any disturbance pre- elections. Yet at the same time individuals are keenly involved into charity related activities and campaigns in order to stay focused on their religious and societal commitments in the sacred month.

Due to brutal weather this summer, it is observed that the aggression for charitable collections was not ample as compared to previous years. Although it affected the door to door collection, but the vital role here is played by the promotional campaigns on Television and social media. People started as an individual on social media forming a team and ended up collecting abundant donations.

Mostly emphasis was done on marketing approach, using networking platforms to spread the message in an aggressive and positive manner.

As per Islam, it commands a Muslim to pay Zakat on the value of accumulated wealth beyond a specified limit at the rate 2.5%. Therefore, it is easier for Pakistan to raise charity by 10% over 5% GDP growth.

As per study, ‘The state of individual philanthropy in Pakistan’ released in 2016 by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy discovered that the total estimated magnitude of annual household giving in Pakistan was Rs 239.7bn in 2014 a three-fold increase since 1998.

It is observed that majority people share in terms of monetary donations, but people do also help in terms of their services being a volunteer of any social service related network. For valuation purposes all kinds of giving was monetized.

It is also observed that the extent of donations has grown faster during the past four years of economic revival. The donations volume is getting doubled every five years, keeping in mind the GDP growth rate was lower than it is today in a period of 16 years ending 2014, posting a 20% increase per annum.

The Stanford Social Innovation Review in March 2018 commented on the trend of philanthropy in Pakistan, which stated that charitable giving in the country is over one per cent of GDP. In this respect the country is said to be in the league of far wealthier nations such as United Kingdom (1.3%) and Canada (1.2%) and stands about twice at what India spends on giving in terms of percentage.

A practical approach is mostly quoted, “Pakistanis in general may be extremely rich but are worse than their equals elsewhere.”

The above statement can be justifying as ‘People who spend hundreds of thousands on an evening, count hundred rupee notes several times over when they make donations’.

Philanthropy in Pakistan is not limited to the institutes such as Shaukat Khanum Hopital, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Indus Hospital, Edhi, Chipa and Citizen Foundation.

Mostly people reach out to the needy themselves. A lot of communities comprises of Memons, Agha Khanis, Bohris, Dehli Saudagaran, etc organize their own philanthropic projects for their community members.

If Middle East and Indonesia is concerned, mosques serve as the main collection areas for donations and charitable items. Their main emphasis is on collection at mosques and nowhere else.

As far as the Government is concerned, it keep a safe distance when it comes to charity and related matters. However, public involvement is observed on higher scale at individual level and affordability. Government has interfered in this matter some years ago in order to reduce the criminal activity and to reduce fraudulent acts from the society.