Rupees was donated by the Pakistani community in Britain

islamabad — The overseas Pakistanis have so far contributed around Rs1 billion to ‘The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund’, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data reveals.

According to the SBP, as at December 6, around Rs8.46 billion have so far been deposited by the local as well as expatriate Pakistanis to support the construction of dams since July 6. Of total donations, Rs0.99 billion was donated by the expatriates, while the local Pakistani individuals and institutions gave away Rs7.47 billion.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, who took the initiative of fund collection, launched the fund on July 6 which was later joined by Prime Minister Imran Khan, making it joint venture to overcome the country’s water scarcity.

The overseas Pakistanis were passionately contributing to the national cause after the prime minister appealed to the estimated nine million overseas Pakistanis, particularly those living in European countries and the United States, to contribute at least $1,000 per head to the cause.

The chief justice also visited the UK for fund raising. Around $14 billion is required for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam.

Within Pakistan, the contributions were made through cheques, cash and the mobile phone message service. An amount of Rs125 million was received through the SMS services of the four cellular companies operating in Pakistan.

The overseas Pakistanis transmitted their donations through debit and credit cards and in the SBP Nostro account and commercial banks overseas. Most of the foreign donations came from Pakistanis living in the United States which is around Rs362 million while those in Britain gave around Rs214 million. Pakistanis in Canada donated Rs107 million.

Other major donations were made by overseas Pakistanis residing in Saudi Arabia and Qatar (around Rs40 million each), Switzerland (Rs32 million), the UAE Rs65 million. — APP

65m Rupees has been contributed by expats in the UAE