MANSEHRA: The District Zakat Committee has blacklisted a medicine supply company after uncovering financial irregularities in funds meant for medicines for deserving patients at King Abdullah Teaching Hospital.
“We want to ensure corruption-free spending of Zakat funds on medicines for hospitalised and out-patients. We established a counter after detecting discrepancies at King Abdullah Teaching Hospital to facilitate and ensure supply of quality medicines,” District Zakat Committee chairman Zulfiqar Khan Swati told reporters here.
He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Zakat Department released over Rs4.5 million for medicines at King Abdullah Teaching Hospital (KATH), Mansehra, and established a counter to facilitate deserving patients and ensure the provision of medicines manufactured by multinational companies.
“We are also going to initiate a bidding process for awarding a contract for the supply of medicines to patients under Zakat funds, as the company that was previously awarded the contract has been blacklisted,” Swati said.
He said the counter established by his department first checked the quantity and quality of medicines supplied to each out-patient, who was entitled to medicines worth Rs5,000, and each hospitalised patient, who was entitled to medicines worth Rs10,000 per month.
“We have approached the KP Zakat Department seeking an increase in funds from Rs4.5 million to Rs10 million. Mansehra is the third-largest district in KP after Peshawar and Mardan, and we are optimistic that the request will soon be approved,” Swati said.
The District Zakat Committee chairman said he wanted at least one deserving bride in each of the district’s 194 village and neighbourhood councils to be provided with dowry (Jahaz) worth Rs200,000.
He said the provincial minister for social welfare and Zakat had recently visited Mansehra and announced an increase in funds being provided to deserving families and individuals under different heads.
