The Pakistani federal budget for 2024–2025 includes no funding for programs that support minorities. The budget records that WION studied show that there is no funding allocated to the “welfare of minorities initiatives/schemes” heading. This is in sharp contrast to the previous fiscal year (2023–24), when 100 million Pakistani Rupees were set aside for the welfare of minorities; the amended budget kept this amount the same.
The exclusion occurs at a time when Pakistan’s religious minorities—Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and others—continue to confront many difficulties. These include the effects of strict blasphemy laws, violence, and institutional prejudice. The alarmingly high frequency of reports of forced conversions, kidnappings, and attacks on houses of worship has increased these communities’ vulnerabilities.
In the meanwhile, there has been an increase in the budget for religious matters. The budget for 2024–2025 includes an increase of Pakistan Rs 1,861 million for religious matters over the previous year’s allocation of Rs 1,780 million. The management of religious matters, including the well-being of Haj pilgrims, falls under the purview of Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious matters and Interfaith Harmony.
Additionally, the human rights division’s funding has been drastically reduced. The division has been given just 104 million Pakistani rupees for the fiscal year 2024–25, a significant decrease from the 814 million Pakistani rupees given to it the year before. Interestingly, out of the 814 million rupees allotted, the amended budget for 2023–24 showed that only 130 million rupees were actually spent, raising concerns about how the money was used.
Pakistan has also proposed a considerable budget for its military forces, which is another noteworthy expenditure. The planned Rs 2.12 trillion defense budget for 2024–25 is a 17.6% increase over the previous year. This demonstrates the government’s prioritization of military spending since it represents 1.7% of the nation’s GDP.
