Religious Seminaries and Social Welfare in Pakistan: Strategic Management of Informal Social Protection Provision

Abstract

Religious seminaries (madāris) in Pakistan are often criticized for being too disconnected from social welfare and development. This paper reframes that debate in management terms. As madāris are informal social protection providers for the poor (providing free education, boarding, food and basic care), this is as much an organizational and strategic-management issue as it is a social-welfare one. In light of a secondary study methodology that draws on peer-reviewed literature and national-level statistics for resource mobilization and resource dependency and nonprofit management studies, we examine how madāris manage and structure welfare delivery in a way that is not necessarily well-designed in practice, and there is no formal process or monitoring. It compares and contrasts this informally run model with the formal management of Pakistan’s social safety net programmes (Benazir Income Support Programme, Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal and statutory Zakāt system) with the following management characteristics restricting the sector: limited formal planning, ad hoc resource allocation, weak reporting and monitoring, and funding volatility. The paper proposes a management framework in terms of formalised planning, diverse resourcing, light-touch reporting and policy recognition through which the informal welfare capacity can be better organised and coordinated with the formal provision of welfare. No single institution is considered in the study, and the evidence is gathered from a variety of independent, published sources. It adds to nonprofit and strategic management scholarship of the informal welfare sector in Pakistan, which is a large but under-studied community.