ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) will launch one of its largest relief campaigns in Ramadan through which it would provide over five million iftar meals across the country to the underprivileged, state-run media reported recently.
The PBM is an autonomous body which undertakes charitable ventures aimed at alleviating poverty through various services and provides assistance to widows, orphans and other deserving individuals.
Senator Shaheen Khalid Butt, the PBM’s managing director, told state broadcaster Radio Pakistan that the campaign will target “the most deserving and underprivileged segments of society.”
Volunteers arrange plates of iftar meals prepared for Muslims waiting to break their fast on the first day of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan at Memon mosque in Karachi on March 2, 2025. (AFP)
“Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal is set to launch one of its largest relief campaigns during the holy month of Ramzan, aiming to distribute over five million iftar meal boxes across the country under the Prime Minister’s Special Initiative,” Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
Butt said the initiative would provide ready-to-eat meals through the PBM’s existing district-level infrastructure spread countrywide. He said mosques, orphan centers, women empowerment centers, schools and other designated locations will be targeted for distribution of meals.
“He said thirty-three mobile trucks will also operate on different routes to reach the most remote areas,” Radio Pakistan stated.
Muslim devotees break their fast with an iftar meal on the first day of Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi on March 2, 2025 (AFP)
On Saturday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched a Rs20 billion ($71.4 million) relief package a day before Ramadan 2025 began, saying it aimed to benefit four million families across the country.
As per the package, the Pakistani government will provide Rs5,000 ($17.87) each to around four million families across the country to support them during the month of Ramadan, officials said.
Sharif had said the amount would be distributed to people across all four Pakistani provinces, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir areas, through the digital wallet system.
While consumer inflation in Pakistan declined to 2.4 percent in January compared to 24 percent in the same period last year, many Pakistanis say they are still feeling the pinch as the country navigates a tricky path to economic recovery from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.
