Punjab govt criticised for sticking with 1998 census even though Christian population has more than doubled since then
With the Christmas inching closer, the Punjab government has sanctioned Rs 30 million through a supplementary grant to be disbursed to the Christian community, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to the notification, the disbursement will be made according to the census of 1998. A summary in this regard has been issued by the Finance Department.
According to the summary, Rs 5,000 each will be given to 6,000 Christian families in the whole province. A strong resentment among Christian community was witnessed over the meager amount and the fact that the disbursement will be made according to the census of 1998, as they believe that the Christian population has grown significantly since then.
Pakistan Christian Movement (PCM) Chairman Riaz Anjum told Pakistan Today that the amount of Rs 5,000 per family is insufficient keeping in view the inflation levels in the last few years.
He said that the disbursement of amount according to the census of 1998 is severe injustice to the Christian community and a violation of their rights. He further added that the government was deliberately not releasing the actual figures pertaining to Christian population in the province for fear that the community would start seeking its due rights.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Member of Punjab Assembly on the minority seat Shunila Ruth told Pakistan Today that the amount must be increased to at least Rs 10,000 per family.
She said that sometimes the amount meant for Christmas is disbursed around Easter and that 400 deserving families did not receive the amount last year in Lahore despite tall claims of the government. She said that she had raised this issue on the floor of assembly several times but the government did not pay any heed to the matter.
She criticised the disbursement according to the census of 1998 and questioned if the Christian mothers had not been giving birth to children since then.
The newly elected Chairman from Youhanabad Asif Sohail Khokhar said that the population of Youhanabad alone was more than 200,000. The government’s claim that there were only 350,000 Christians in the whole city is ridiculous, he said.
Asif, who was elected on the PTI’s ticket, said that there was no transparency in the distribution of the amount. “The government must ensure to disburse the amount before Christmas”, he said.
PML-N MPA Mary Gill told Pakistan Today that she would ensure to disburse the amount before Christmas. She said that the distribution may be delayed in Lahore for some days as it was an uphill task to distribute money among this many people.
She was of the view that the people of the Christian community were reluctant in getting themselves registered as many of them had no awareness in this regard. She said that there were only 1.2 million registered voters of the Christian community in the whole country which was a small portion of the actual population of Christians in Pakistan.
