o facilitate easy donations at the shrines across the Punjab, the provincial government has recently launched a digital portal, called Nazrana Online. The portal comprises a website and a mobile phone application which the users can download on their smartphones and make donations to the shrines.

It is anticipated that the website as well as the mobile app will gain traction particularly among overseas Pakistanis who can’t personally reach out to the shrines from their countries of current residence.

Currently, the phone app is only accepting donations for Data Darbar, but the Zakat and Ushr Department of the Punjab will soon be adding other shrines to the menu from which the users can select the shrine they want to donate to.

“Donations are an important part of most religions of the world,” Syed Tahir Bukhari, the Auqaf Department secretary, tells TNS. “Islam teaches us to help the needy, and shrines are key spots where the poor and the needy expect to get free food.”

The secretary reveals that those interested can only donate money through the app as of now, but “soon more features such as food, floral wreaths etc will be introduced for the users to select from [for donations].”

According to Bukhari, donations can be used to support religious causes, such as education and social welfare, which can greatly help to spread the teachings of Islam.

Nazrana Online is also expected to end the different kinds of ‘mafias’ generally associated with the shrines. For instance, the food mafia which forces poor citizens to accept low-quality food in the name of langar. Similarly, the vendors of flowers, rose petals and sheets with ayats printed on those also exploit the situation and sell the items at exorbitant rates.

The phone app is likely to create a healthy competition among catering companies and vendors of ready-to-eat food, especially meethay chaawal.

“You can donate to any of the shrines listed on the website or in the app, and your donation will be made to that particular shrine only,” says Bukhari, adding that the donation money will be spent on the maintenance and renovation of the shrine the money was donated to.

He also says that the citizens can pay through mobile banking, credit/ debit cards and other online modes of payment.

Responding to a query about the security and privacy of the app users’ banking details, the secretary says the matter was discussed in detail in meetings with the Punjab Information Technology Board which has made sure that the app is as secure as it can be.

Encouraging the citizens to use the app for making donations, he says it will save them travel time and cost. Besides, they will be able to avoid the parking hazards and crowds.

The idea of donating via your mobile phone or laptop computer may not sit well with a lot of devotees, especially those who consider the ritual of giving away with their own hands as essential.

This scribe visited the shrine of Hazrat Data Ali Hajvery, Data Darbar, and got a mixed feedback on Nazrana Online. Waheed Qureshi, the owner of a printing press, said that he liked to visit the Darbar every Thursday and distribute free food. He feared that if he made donations online, it might not bear fruit for him or he might not feel spiritually gratified.

Jamal Din, another frequenter of Data Darbar, regarded the app/ website as “a good initiative”, but insisted that the government “would need to make it more transparent, so that we know where the money is going.”

Junaid Ali, who was there for a mannat (pledged offering), said that if he knew of an official mobile phone app like Nazrana Online, he’d have used it. In the end, he called on the authorities to promote the app so that more people were aware of it.

The writer is a senior reporter at The News