Rawalpindi Launches Free Burial and Food Service

Rawalpindi has launched the “Syeda Fatima Zahra (RA) Free Burial Service and Charity Food Center” near Liaquat Bagh to support deserving families with free graves, ambulances, burial arrangements, and meals.

Rawalpindi Commissioner Abdul Aamer Khattak inaugurated the welfare center. Pakistan Sweet Home Chairman Zamrud Khan, PML-N MNA Tahira Aurangzeb, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Usman Shaukat, High Court Bar President Saeed Yousaf, and representatives of civil society attended the ceremony.

Speaking at the event, Tahira Aurangzeb said the initiative would ease the financial burden on families who cannot afford burial expenses. She said graves, ambulances, and other burial arrangements would be provided free of charge.

She called the project an important step toward public service and social welfare, adding that helping vulnerable and underprivileged people is a collective responsibility.

Commissioner Khattak said the center had been established under Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s vision for public welfare. He said cemetery land in Rawalpindi was shrinking rapidly, and a special committee had been formed to find a permanent solution to the issue.

The committee will work under the supervision of the assistant commissioner (City).

Khattak praised the establishment of the modern welfare center in a short time and said the model would be expanded to other districts and cities so more citizens could benefit from the facility.

Pakistan Sweet Home Chairman Zamrud Khan said the project was part of a broader mission to serve humanity. He said 550 graves had been arranged in Rakh Dhamial over the last three years, while the Dastarkhwan service launched from Chakri was providing free meals to 700 to 800 people daily.