KP Govt to Pay Monthly Stipends Worth Billions to Imams at Major Mosques

Starting from February 2018, prayer leaders of main mosques will be paid Rs 10,000 a month by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government .

Annually, the cumulative stipends will cost the KPK government a hefty Rs 3.25 billion.

Cabinet Meeting

The decision was approved during the KPK cabinet meeting which was attended by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak himself. Several other ministers, administrative secretaries and chief secretary were among the attendees of this cabinet meeting.

Qualification Needed to Earn the Stipend

There are several conditions that need to be fulfilled before an Imam can earn money through KPK government’s program.

These requirements are:

• The prayer leader must hold a degree from any of 5 recognized Boards of seminaries.
• The person needs to be a permanent citizen of KPK to be eligible for the stipend.
• A district level committee will decide which mosques qualify as the main mosques and which prayer leaders are eligible for the stipend.

According to the approved bill, the stipend will be transferred directly to a prayer leader’s bank account.

A Mosque committee will also be established that will oversee the daily routine of activities in their premises. In case the leader gets changed, the mosque committee will nominate a new leader in their place whose appointment will be subject to the final approval of head of district committee.

The cabinet also approved a new cultural policy that will aim to promote regional art, languages, literature, sports, culture, lok virsa. The new cultural policy also aims to promote regional activities through cultural delegates exchange at both the national and international level.