DESIGN: NABEEL ABDUSAMAD.
The legislation would help tighten vigilance on donors and receivers of funds for charitable institutions in the country.
The new law would help in combating the misuse of charity funds by any person, group or political party, terror financing and other criminal activities.
In this regard, a bill was submitted during the provincial assembly session on Friday proposing that Sindh should be the first among the provinces to formulate legislation against terror financing in line with the FATF recommendations.
As per the Charity Act 2019, all charitable institutions, their donors and promoters as well as fund raisers must undergo registration while those providing charities must declare their source of income. A charitable institution must also present an outline of its objectives.
As per the bill, the government would establish a Sindh Charity Commission and a Charity Registration Authority.
The bill also makes it mandatory for charitable institutions to maintain a detailed record of their financial accounts while funds or charities received by them could not be used for personal concerns, businesses or political activities.
The charity organisation would not be allowed to use its funds for purposes not approved by the regulatory authorities.
Those collecting charities and alms would also undergo a registration process. As per the bill, all financial and social activities of charitable organisations would be monitored.
The Sindh Charity Organisation would be empowered to cancel the registration of charitable institutions if they violated the law.
As per the proposal, any charity in excess of Rs50,000 would be deposited in bank accounts. Furthermore, penalties amounting to Rs1 million would be imposed on institutions and trusts which violated the law.
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