YOGYAKARTA – The National Board of Zakat (BAZNAS) Yogyakarta City held a zakat award. The event was held to give reward to the muzakki or zakat payers who are excellent in Yogyakarta City. The zakat award this year was given to three institutions which 100 percent of their employees pay zakat diligently.

Deputy Chairman of BAZNAS Yogyakarta City, Adi Suprapto, said that the three institutions are MTs Negeri I Yogyakarta, MIN I Yogyakarta and SMPN 10 Yogyakarta. "In these institutions, all employees pay zakat diligently. So, we give the award this year (to these institutions)," he said on Wednesday (8/3).

Through the award, the BAZNAS Yogyakarta City wants to inspire other institutions to be obedient in paying zakat because, Adi said, the potential of zakat employees in the city of Yogyakarta is quite high, that is IDR 6 billion per year.

Of the potential, he said, BAZNAS Yogyakarta City expects to collect zakat as much as IDR 5.1 billion this year. This number is up 25 percent compared to 2016 zakat collection amounting to IDR 4.3 billion.

From the zakat collection, he said, BAZNAS Yogyakarta City focused on the zakat distribution in four programs. The programs are Jogja Taqwa, Jogja Cerdas (Smart), Jogja Sejahtera (Prosperous) and Jogja Sehat (Healthy). Especially for Jogja Taqwa, BAZNAS Yogyakarta City will also partner with Bank of Jogja in channeling jariyah to the underprivileged students. "Each of these underprivileged students will receive aid amounting to IDR 500 thousand. The aids are given through each educational institution that receive the funds that is disbursed through the Bank of Jogja," he said.

The Jogja Taqwa program covers 14,212 students with a total nominal value reached IDR 2.89 billion. Jogja Cerdas program encompasses 1,005 students with total funds of IDR 440.6 million, Jogja Sejahtera to 125 recipients with a total of IDR 399.9 million and Jogja Peduli (Care) for the 303 recipients of IDR 255.7 million.

(Source: http://khazanah.republika.co.id | Transl: amelya/puskasbaznas.com)