The Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust (HZCT) recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of philanthropy. The HZCT is one of the largest Muslim charitable organizations in Telangana. At the annual Iftar meet held on Sunday, Mr. Ravi Gupta, Principal Secretary Home Department and Director General of Anti-Corruption Bureau in Telangana State, congratulated the trustees and paid rich tributes to founder-Chairman Ghiasuddin Babukhan for his 30 years of service to the poor.
Babukhan could not attend the trust’s annual meeting due to his ill health. Gupta praised the charitable initiatives taken by the trust, particularly in the field of education. He appreciated the contributions of the trust in promoting education among the deserving lot. The former beneficiaries of the trust have made their lives beneficial to others with the help of the trust’s scholarships and educational programmes.
Many of the philanthropic initiatives of the HZCT have inspired the government to model its schemes around them. For example, the Shaadi Mubarak scheme of the Government of Telangana is inspired by the orphan and widow remarriage scheme of the Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust. The minority schools project is also reportedly inspired by the charitable project of the HZCT which set up schools to provide education to orphans and the underprivileged.
The Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust founded in 1993, is observing 30th anniversary this Ramadan. During three decades of its service, the trust spent nearly Rs 155 crore in charitable initiatives, of which over Rs 105 crore were spent on providing education to the poor and the deserving. A K Khan, Advisor to the government of Telangana on Minority Affairs, who has been a regular speaker at the trust’s annual meetings, has joined the trust as its Chief Patron.
Presenting the annual report, HZCT Trustee Shaik Khalil Ahmed said the trust has disbursed scholarships worth Rs 1.7 crore to 4259 school students, and an additional Rs 27 lakh were spent on funding 267 students including 46 medical and 10 nursing students besides post-matriculation scholarships. Additionally, the trust spent Rs 1.37 crore to distribute 16,569 food packs and 1449 clothes packs to orphans and deserving students of government schools in the State.
It’s sister organization FEED (Foundation for Education and Economic Development), spent Rs 1.37 crore rupees in scholarships to 4695 orphans, and about Rs 22 lakh to support post-matric education of 226 beneficiaries, of which 30 are pursuing medical courses. Additionally, FEED supports 91 Urdu and three English medium schools in Telangana and Rayalseema with a combined strength of 22,500 of which 72% are girl students.
Both HZCT and FEED together spent nearly Rs 11 crore in a year on different charitable and educational initiatives. From a meagre Rs 11 lakhs spent towards charity in its founding year to Rs 11 crore in three decades, the trust has indeed come a long way in empowering the underprivileged.
