Bogus charities

Authorities in the province of Sindh have decided to issue a final warning to some 4,500 non-governmental organisations that have neither renewed their registration nor performed an audit of their finances. This is a fair call since only a quarter of the total 6,000 NGOs registered in the province renewed their registration during the period stipulated by the government — fuelling fresh doubts about the current status of 4,500 charities. However, this should not be misinterpreted as proof that all these charities are dummies — at least not just yet. Such a move would indeed be premature. If anything the social welfare department has a lot of explaining to do about its own role in the saga. It would seem that the department relied a bit too much on the registered addresses shared by the entities. What about the individuals and board members of these organisations? Surely the social welfare department ought to have their contacts as well. At this stage they should be able to tell if the records suggest whether some entities were deadbeat or not or whether there were tell-tale indications of some of them siphoning off funds to influential people in parliament and society. The fact of the matter is that the social welfare department has to expand its role further if the government has to check against bogus NGOs.

While the government is quick to criticise NGOs and charities for working beyond their scope and carrying out surveys without authorisation, they must honestly evaluate their own lacklustre performance and uninspired work in the towns and villages of Sindh. One of the reasons that NGOs exist is because governments have neglected their responsibilities and reneged on their commitments.

One hopes that the government will frame a vastly improved policy for the registration of NGOs, one that involves closer interaction between charities and the provincial authorities and a regular inspection of funds and activities.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2017.

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