Financial empowerment of poor to strengthen economy: Musharraf

SADIQABAD-President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here Monday that government has started a number of projects for financial empowerment of the poor and destitute which would ultimately lead to prosperity and strengthening of the country's economy.

He was addressing a gathering at chak 173-P near here to distribute ownership documents to landless peasant farmers with less than 4-acre holdings, and cheques of Rs 10,000 to 50,000 among orphans, widows and disabled persons under the reformed Zakat system on August 21, 2001.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Mehmood Ghazi, Governor Punjab Lt Gen (rtd) Muhammad Safdar, Corps Commander Bahawalpur Lt Gen Munir Hafiez besides other civil and military officials also attended the ceremony.

Cultivation on their own land will not only benefit the poor but will also help improve the country's economic conditions by enhancing agricultural production, the President observed.

Besides, distribution of Zakat funds under the new system to enable the poor to start their own small businesses and achieve self-reliance will also generate economic activity and contribute to the overall national prosperity, he added.

He said small farmers will be extended financial help through Zakat fund, Baitul Maal and loans on easy instalments for five-year terms, to help them cultivate their land.

Gen Pervez Musharraf specifically mentioned Khushali Bank and said that poor people were being given loans upto Rs 30,000 to start their own small-scale businesses.

Some 10,000 to 15,000 people have been extended the loan by Khushali Bank and unlike the rich and the elite, the recovery rate is 100 per cent from poor, remarked the President.

He said, the bank network was expanding gradually with the number of beneficiaries to increase by 100,000 each year. He said major reforms had been carried out in the Zakat distribution system, which would pay dividends in future.

Earlier, needy persons were given Rs 350 per family only, which was quite insufficient. But, this government has increased the amount with an aim to give the poor a chance to start a small business and stand on their own feet.

Musharraf said there was dire need of building new dams and reserviors to improve the country's water storage cabability and ensure improvement in agriculture sector.

He said most of the recently announced projects relate to augment country's water storage capacity, which will benefit 70 per cent of our people who live in rural areas, and which is a prerequisite for our agro-based economy.

The government will take all such decisions which are in best national interest, he maintained, adding that he has also directed all the governors to grant ownership rights to slum-dwellers in the four provinces.