PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has failed to distribute Ramazan Support Package funds to deserving families even after 15th of Ramazan.
Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had announced that 1,034,000 individuals across the province would receive Rs12,500 each. However, despite the release of funds by the Finance Department, the amount has yet to reach a large number of beneficiaries.
The opposition has alleged that public funds are being distributed among workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. According to opposition leaders, beneficiary lists are being prepared by selected lawmakers and office bearers of the ruling party, while opposition MNAs and MPAs have been ignored in the process.
Official documents show that the provincial cabinet, in its meeting held on February 11, 2026, approved the “Ramazan Support for Low Income Households, KP Perspective, 2026” initiative, under which approximately Rs12.83 billion was sanctioned. The Finance Department approved Rs10 billion as grant in aid and Rs2.8 billion as supplementary grant for the scheme.
Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance Muzammil Aslam rejected the allegations, stating that funds were released on time and that the delay in payments was solely due to slow administrative data entry. He said that on the direction of chief minister, the payment process has been expedited and the funds will be released to beneficiaries today.
Deputy Administrator Zakat and Ushr Mubashir Raza told this correspondent that under the government announcement, 1,034,000 families were to be paid Rs12,500 a family. However, data of only about 710,000 families has so far been collected. He said district scrutiny committees are verifying data on a daily basis and forwarding it to the department. He further stated that the absence of a comprehensive Social Economic Registry in the province forces authorities to collect fresh data for every new scheme, which results in delays and at times controversy.
Meanwhile, opposition parties maintain that there was a lack of transparency in the preparation of beneficiary lists and that lawmakers belonging to the opposition were sidelined. They argue that if the government had relied on verified data from the Benazir Income Support Programme, the process would have been more transparent and efficient.
