As poor Christians are not eligible for Baitul-Maal or Zakat funds, they’ve had a dedicated fund, for the last 30 years, which the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government has now suspended.

Previously, the Punjab government had granted five-thousand-rupees per family to underprivileged widows, orphans and the disabled. The reasons for stopping this aid remain unclear.

According to a widowed domestic worker from Lahore, the little relief provided has also been taken back. She says that life has been difficult for her with paying rent, buying warm clothes, food and other essentials for her four children. Her children are enrolled in a minimum fee local school and she is determined to keep them in school. The grant was usually distributed before or right after Christmas, she recounts. Her hopes to celebrate Christmas with her children have been dampened.

Rebecca, another recipient of the in from Lahore, says that the grant was awaited for celebrating Christmas each year, “I lost my parents thirty years ago, and have no one to help me out”. “We Christians are not considered eligible for Zakat or other welfare funds, so this Christmas grant was our only hope”, she lamented.

“Though the grant is minimal, its suspension and merging with the education scholarship by the PTI government, using the corruption allegation is unfortunate. There are already several educational scholarships available. The discontinuation of the Chirstmas grant is not a good gesture by the government” — Khalil Tahir Sandhu.

Minority Teachers’ Association chairman, Anjum James Paul says that all marginalized children living below the poverty line should be eligible. “It is impossible for anyone earning a meager income to feed and educate their children, yet the government views it differently.” He adds that a support program me for minority citizens should also include a 5 percent quota for educational scholarships. “Without the education stipend, children requiring tuition assistance will be unable to compete”. He urges the government to direct funds towards Christians and other minority education programmes. However, he says, this should not come from the Christmas grant, which for thirty years no government has stopped and which has brought joy to poor Christians on Christmas. Paul considers the decision an injustice against Christians in Pakistan.

Arya Inderias Patras, the Women Desk secretary at Church of Pakistan Lahore Diocese says that the Christmas grant “should be distributed before Christmas by the Minority Affairs Department, and a monitoring mechanism should be set-up to ensure that only the poorest members of the community receive these funds”. Moreover, she says the eligibility criteria for minority scholarships are ridiculous as “maximum income of Rs 23,000/- is too low, as even those who earn a little more than the threshold cannot feed and educate their children on their incomes.”

Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs, Ejaz Alam Augstine states, that education is essential for the Christian community to move forward. He says that a provision of Rs 5,000 for 5,000 families does not meet the needs of the 7 million Christian families in need, he refuses to condemn his government’s decision to abolish the grant.

He says that the grant is distributed through cross-cheques and as many beneficiaries do not have bank accounts, they were never distributed. “When the grant was processed through deputy commissioner and district management it was not given to deserving beneficiaries but frequently to Muslims and people of their choosing”.

According to him the grant was never enough, distributed on time or used properly. That was why it was merged with the education scholarship fund.

Standing Committee on Human Rights chairperson in Punjab Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) member, Khalil Tahir Sandhu says that the grant was established by Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in 1988 to help widows, orphans, disabled persons and needy families. It was distributed as token of love for the Christian community. Initially, the grant was small but the amount had been raised over the years and was distributed across all districts in the Punjab, in accordance with the Christian population. “If anyone thinks there was corruption, than an inquiry must be initiated and the process of distribution should be made more beneficiary-friendly”.

“Though the grant is minimal, its suspension and merging with the education scholarship by the PTI government, using the corruption allegation is unfortunate. There are already several educational scholarships available. The discontinuation of the Chirstmas grant is not a good gesture by the government”.