Beggary to be abolished: Azam

DACCA: The Provincial Development Advisory Council agreed yesterday that beggary should be completely stopped and measures taken for providing training and work to the beggars.

The East Pakistan Governor, Lt-General Mohammad Azam Khan, who presided over the meeting, declared that the dignity and honour of every man must be maintained. Those who would be affected by such a ban would be trained for various works or be put in homes. Gen Azam emphasised that training institutes should be started for the beggars who are physically fit for work. Those who were disabled could be put up in homes.

The council also decided that Zakat money should be collected on a voluntary basis from the public by the union councils and a common pool made with the collected fund. The governor made it clear that Zakat was not a government tax and there would be no element of compulsion in its collection from the public.

A good number of members discussed the matter at great length. An official member was of the view that the best way to raise Zakat money was to let the union councils compete with other Zakat-collecting bodies so that the former could prove its efficiency in this field. Another member, while agreeing that the union councils should be entrusted with the responsibilities of Zakat, said that religious scholars should be associated with this work and their views should be sought.

Members were of the view that it would not be proper and practical to pass a law making payment of Zakat money compulsory. Strong public opinion should be created, they thought, to persuade people to pay it through the union councils.

Ornaments for development

MANSHERA: Gold ornaments of the women of village Jiyal Mera, which falls under the Mansehra development area, are to help implement the local development programme. The women offered their ornaments voluntarily when the Village Development Committee was still in session. The committee had been deliberating ! on how t o raise funds, but could not think of any source from where to get the money. When the ladies came to know of the difficulty, they decided to come to the rescue of the committee.