The genesis of Rashid Memorial Welfare Trust (RMWT) can be traced to the passion of a small group of PAF officers who retired from active service around 1997. This group of likeminded officers, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in the 1960’s and 70’s had also participated in both 1965 and 71 wars. They were fired with the spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice, coupled with the inspiration to give back in ample measure to the nation.
This dedicated group, led by Air Commodore Shabbir a Khan, a recognized hero of 1971 war, decided to buy a piece of land and build a small town for the poor and underprivileged. They all pooled in their commuted pensions and bought a piece of land located on the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas road near Tando Allahyar in Sindh. Subsequently they registered a welfare organization in Sindh and named it as Rashid Memorial Welfare Organization (RMWO) to honor Flt Lt Rashid Ahmed Khan (the only son of Air Cdre Shabbir) who embraced Martyrdom on 13th December, 1997. Rashid’s aircraft caught fire above a densely populated area. In his struggle to save thousands of lives on the ground, he maneuvered his Mirage aircraft away from the thickly populated area, and in doing so, sacrificed his own life.
In the same spirit RMWO team, all of whom are friends and old PAF colleagues, dedicated themselves to develop a model welfare town. The journey to achieve the vision of RMWO, which was started in 1998, continued to be fueled by a group of likeminded people, comprising retired PAF officers, businessmen and people from other walks of life, who only wanted to help the marginalized segment of our society. The journey was slow but the faith in Providence helped the team to tread the path and achieve the envisioned goals.
It took almost 20 years to complete the first town of Rashidabad with donations from retired/serving PAF officers, in-country and expat Pakistanis (businessmen and philanthropists), but no direct financial assistance from GOP/ NGOs etc. for the construction of the facilities at Rashidabad Welfare Town. But today Rashidabad is a reality which has 14 Welfare/Charitable organizations functioning in beautifully constructed buildings spanning almost 2,000,000 Sq Ft and is today offering education, healthcare and social welfare services to approximately 250,000 persons annually. It has thus impacted the lives of 2.5 million people since its inception.
Air Cdre Shabbir, Chairman RMWO, had often dreamt about creating many welfare towns while flying over the length and breadth of Pakistan. Providence helped the events turn the dream to reality by steering two passionate individuals Mr. Asad Qaiser (current Speaker National Assembly) and the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, towards helping the RMWO team to replicate additional projects in the other three provinces. Thereafter, three new projects namely Alamabad in KPK, Yunusabad in Baluchistan and Fort Munro in South Punjab were initiated. Efforts are in hand to also acquire government in Burewala, for the same purpose.
