SOCIAL WELFARE
Social welfare is a wide term, but we pursue it along a fraction of its sense: distribution of commodities and articles and cash payments. These services are effected in the following four manners:
- Such articles as blankets, coats, jackets, sweaters, mufflers, socks, shoes, worth quarter million rupees are distributed every year. This is a very expensive task requiring funds and articles; but we are always short of both. Given this situation, we decided upon a device and now the villages alternately get such distributions every third year. It is then a pathetic scene to witness; the recipients of the last distributions have only rags on their persons. This is because the articles they get are old enough to wear out soon, or they are worn out by all time use due to inclement weather.
- Edibles for Iftar: Distribution of Iftar (Month of Ramadan) is a new measure. In the holy month of Ramadan, one packet weighing at least 11 kgs (Kilograms), and containing rice, tea, sugar etc. was given to each of 520 poor families. They got at least some relief for Ramadan.
- Sacrificial Program: This too, is a new program. Cows worth Rs. 6,93,000 were slaughtered for sacrifice at 63 places and the meat was distributed among 2,520 families, each getting 4 kgs of beef. The design behind these programs was to wake in them as sense of participation in the happiness of the festival as well a sense of religious bonds.
- Help with cash: In human society, emergencies keep occurring and those affected need immediate attention and relief from their fellow beings, which they do not get. Karsaz Trust extends within its means, cooperation to tackle such situations. The problems posed by almost every day emergencies and dealt with are, besides others the treatment of the victims of the road accidents, burial of those dead among them, arrangements of medicines and medical check-ups and pathological and clinical tests of persons in need. Also the widows, the orphans and the destitute are given stipends by the Trust under a policy.
In the year 2000, 19,619 men, women and children benefited from this service. The boys and girls of the mosque-schools get preference regardless of their sects and creed; this helps promote the education drive.
