By: Zulfiqar Ali (Kashmir Investigation Team)
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Kashmir government’s much-touted Social Protection Program is unlikely to start this year despite a profit of Rs 1.7 billion last financial year, a Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (BAJK) official told Kashmir Digital.
The delay is attributed to the high number of beneficiaries and the need for the Social Protection Board to decide on distributing relief money.
As per details, the AJK government set up a Social Protection Fund account in the Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in July 2024 with an initial deposit of Rs 10 billion. The fund earned a profit of Rs 1.07 billion, but the program’s commencement is uncertain due to the large number of eligible beneficiaries.
It should be noted that in March 2024, the government issued the “Social Protection of Vulnerable Population Ordinance” to protect the financially weak sections, which was also approved by the Legislative Assembly on May 31, 2024.
Under the law, widows, orphans, divorced women, the disabled, elderly people, and transgender individuals have been declared eligible for financial assistance.
On July 11, 2024, an advertisement was issued by the Bank of AJK, stating that the government had deposited Rs 9 billion in the Social Protection Fund. Later, Rs 1 billion was deposited from the Zakat Profit Fund.
In the past, this fund was misused, such as buying expensive vehicles for bureaucrats, repairing vehicles, or spending on the treatment of politicians.
After depositing the money, the Azad Kashmir government invited applications from deserving persons from August 12 to August 31, 2024. During this period, 118,825 individuals or families registered.
On December 20, 2024, the government declared 18,161 families or individuals eligible for financial assistance under the program.
But there are very few chances that the program will be able to start this year. One of the main reasons is that the decision on the distribution of assistance money has to be made by the Social Protection Board.
The law requires the board to approve the annual budget before June 30 every year, but so far, no meeting of the board has been held, and no budget has been approved. Due to this, there is a fear that the program will not be able to start in the current financial year either.
The Social Protection Board, chaired by the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, consists of the Finance Minister, Social Welfare Minister, the Chief Secretary, the Law Secretary, the Finance Secretary, the Ushr and Zakat Secretary, the Women Development Secretary, the Accountant General, and two elected members of the assembly.
The same board also decides the amount of money that will be given to a needy family or individual per month, which has also not been decided yet. However, the Prime Minister Haq has announced that Rs 20,000 will be given per month to each family.
Considering that the Fund has made a profit of Rs 1.7 billion this year, if Rs 20,000 is given to a family per month, then only 8,500 families or individuals can benefit from this amount annually.
The official further said that this delay will continue until the government is either able to assist all 18,161 eligible people, or the number of beneficiaries or the amount of assistance gets reduced.
However, he said that continuing the program permanently after its launch will be a big challenge, because it is not possible to get enough profit every year to provide continuous assistance to all the beneficiaries.
He suggested that if the government wants to continue this program, it must significantly increase the Social Protection Fund; otherwise, it will be difficult to continue the program.
