Business Desk :
Zakat, a designed poverty eradication tool, clearly prescribed in the holy Quran and Sunnah, has been completely ignored in all poverty alleviation plans and programs in Bangladesh. Zakat, the lost treasure should be explored and revived and be included in the poverty eradication strategies of the country for greater benefit of the distressed people.
This has been disclosed at a roundtable conference on ‘Institutionalized Approach to Zakat Management for Poverty Alleviation’. The conference was arranged jointly by Center for Zakat Management and The Financial Express at a local hotel in Dhaka today.
“In Bangladesh, zakat funds could have contributed upto 40% of ADP (2004-2005) amounts Taka more than 30 thousand millions. If the zakat funds are properly mobilized, these fund could replace foreign aid for poverty alleviation and thus significantly reduce the debt burden” . The keynote speaker pointed out this in the conference.
The keynote paper was presented by Dr. Mohammad Ayub Miah, CEO, Center for Zakat Management (CZM) and Mr. M. Azizul Huq, Islamic Banking Consultant, AB Bank Ltd moderated the conference. The eminent personalities including economists, academicians and senior citizens of Bangladesh took part in the discussions.
The speakers stressed the need for introducing institutionalized approach to Zakat management for poverty alleviation and opined that Zakat could be supportive to government efforts and be a economic tool for social upliftment which could be becoming a mainstream approach to poverty reduction in Bangladesh.
