Saylani Welfare Trust
 | |
| Founded | May 1999 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Maulana Bashir Farooq Qadri |
| Focus | Emergency services, food to homeless, education, healthcare, ambulance services |
| Location | |
Area served | Social Welfare, Humanitarianism |
| Method | Donations and grants |
| Employees | 20,000 |
| Website | saylaniwelfare.com |
Saylani Welfare International Trust is a non-government organization (NGO) focusing primarily on feeding the poor and homeless. It was established in May 1999 and is headquartered at Bahdurabad, Karachi, Pakistan.[1][2]
It was founded and headed by spiritual and religious scholar Maulana Bashir Farooqi Qadri.[3] With an estimated monthly expenditure of Pakistani Rupees above 30 million, Saylani Trust provides food twice a day to more than 63,000 poor people through its 100 centers (generally known as Dastar-Khawan), most of them are serving in Karachi.[4][5]
The organization distributed CNG rickshaws among the jobless citizens of Karachi in April 2011 with the help of members of the Karachi business community.[6][7]
Services provided
[edit]Medical institutions of Saylani
[edit]With its offices in Nottingham, UK, Saylani Welfare raises funds, as well as raising awareness of a range of charity projects. Services by Saylani (NGO) are provided free of cost. It offers the following medical services at the following facilities:[2]
- (i) Saylani Chest Care Center, provides services to patients suffering from Tuberculosis
- (ii) Saylani Diabetic Center, giving services to diabetic patients with facilities for the treatment of Hepatitis "C"
Charitable initiatives
[edit]Saylani, since its inception, has worked on both providing needed economic and nutritional help to the needy in distress as well as providing means for able-bodied persons to earn a living through innovative solutions to "tackle the root causes and effects of poverty of Pakistani citizens." This ranges anywhere from programs similar to those provided by Social Security in Western nations to doing area to area and neighborhood to neighborhood searches of the needy and providing relief. Notable among these programs are:
Roti Bank
[edit]The Roti Bank provides free meals to needy families in a simple walk-up kiosk along a main thoroughfare in Karachi. After providing their identification, details of family size (via birth certificates) and getting the Saylani "Free Food Card", the families can get 2 meals per day for a month.[8] The initiative was launched on 14 August 2018.[9]
Economic empowerment
[edit]In 2013, in an effort to create economic empowerment via training in Technology, especially Web and Mobile App development, Saylani Welfare International Trust began its Saylani Mass IT Training (SMIT) Program under the guidance of Zia Ullah Khan,[10] who have previously run successful mass IT programs like “Operation Badar”.[11] The goal of SMIT was to create 10,000 well-trained Web and Mobile App developers in emerging programming languages like React, Node JS, and Angular JS.[12] The program thus far has trained 4,000 developers successfully in fields as varied as Cisco’s CCNA certification, Graphic Design, and Startup Entrepreneurship along with the Web and Mobile App development skills to spur economic empowerment and allow its graduates to quickly become economically independent.[13]
Aid to Syrian and Rohingya refugees
[edit]In 2017, Saylani Welfare Trust confirmed that they were providing food aid to Syrian refugees on Turkey's border with Syria. The Chief Operating Officer of Saylani, Muhammad Ghazal, said that they are working in partnership with the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) to provide aid to Syrian living in refugee camps near the border.[1]
Saylani Welfare Trust also provides aid to Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh.[7]
COVID-19 crisis
[edit]During the COVID-19 crisis, Saylani Welfare Trust provided free oxygen, food, rescue equipment and other supplies to hospitals and Covid-19 wards in the country.[14] It also introduced mobile phone application and telephone service, where needy families can register themselves to get ration and other essential items.[15]
On 13 April 2020, reports emerged that rations were being denied to minority Hindus and Christians in the coastal areas of Karachi by Saylani Welfare workers.[16] On 14 April 2020, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed concern regarding the reports about discrimination against the minorities in Karachi. Following the reports about Hindus and Christians in some parts of Karachi being denied food aid. However, other organizations such as the Edhi Foundation, JDC Welfare Organization and Jamaat-e-Islami stepped forward to provide food rations to the minorities in those areas.[16]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Hufsa Chaudhry (8 February 2017). "Saylani Welfare Trust serves Syrian refugees at Turkish border". Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ^ a b "Saylani Welfare International Trust". PakistanHerald.com website. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ "For clean drinking water: Saylani Welfare plans to install 63 RO plants in the city". The Express Tribune newspaper. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ Shahab Nafees and Ali Haider (22 July 2014). "Quantum jump in donations to charities". Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 23 July 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ "Visiting the Saylani Welfare Trust in Karachi". Dawn newspaper. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ Abdul Ahad (24 April 2011). "Saylani distributes CNG rickshaws among jobless". Business Recorder newspaper. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
- ^ a b Miftah Ismail (19 December 2018). "A people's resilience". The News International newspaper. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
- ^ Mudaser Kazi (20 November 2017). "Roti Bank: Taking from the rich and giving to the poor". The Express Tribune newspaper. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ^ Aiman Bilal (20 November 2017). "The Roti Bank — Karachi". ResearchSnipers,com website. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ^ "University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF)". University of Agriculture, Faisalabad website. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ "About". Operation Badar. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "IT training: 6,500 candidates appear in entrance exam". Business Recorder newspaper. 20 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
- ^ Najam Soharwardi (12 June 2015). "'No solution to child labour possible without appreciating ground realities'". The News International newspaper. Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ^ Aamir Khan (27 December 2020). "Welfare organisations redirect Covid efforts". The Express Tribune newspaper. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
- ^ Aamir Latif (26 March 2020). "Pakistan's charities assist in fight against coronavirus". Anadolu Agency website. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ a b USCIRF says ‘troubled’ by denial of food to Pakistani Hindus, Christians amid Covid-19 crisis Hindustan Times. 14 April 2020. archived from 14 April 2020.