After every national tragedy, the government announces its sorrow and some kind of compensation for the dead and wounded. In the past these were mere promises never kept but everyone hopes that the PML-N government will be the first to keep its promise to these people in distress. The twin blasts in Peshawar Church which killed almost 80 people was a sad incident. It was however laudable that, apart from other immediate measures to provide succor the community, Rs 5 hundred thousand were offered for loss of life while two hundred thousand for the wounded have been announced both by the governments of KPK as well as Sindh. That will come to Rs 10 lacs for each dead and Rs. 4 lacs for the wounded and for the reported number of 81 dead 150 wounded; the whole total amount will come up to 141 millions.
The average person would not know how to handle a million or so of rupees and may squander it as soon as they get it and remain in a state of poverty forever. I would like to suggest that instead of paying the individual affected families this amount can be utilized to set up a small industry or business, say a floor mill, a small scale housing project that could provide them with regular income as well as employee them.
Till the industry/project starts generating revenue, the affected families could be compensated by offering them some employment or some financial assistance from our Zakat funds or from the Benazir Income Support program etc. It is better to teach them how to catch a fish than give them a fish to eat. Let us not make our nation dependent upon handouts and begging bowls!
COL. RIAZ JAFRI (RETD),
Rawalpindi, September 23.