Twenty-seven organisations had applied to the city government for permission to set up camps. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVED/FILE
LAHORE:
The provincial and city governments gave out conflicting messages on Monday about whether charities would be allowed to set up camps for the collection of animal hides after the Eidul Azha sacrifice, which is just a day away.
Twenty-seven organisations had applied to the city government for permission to set up camps. All of them were verbally told on Monday that they were not being granted permission, DCO Naseem Sadiq and representatives of the organisations told The Express Tribune.
But Home Secretary Major (r) Azam Suleman said that he had instructed all DCOs on Monday to approve all applications, provided they were not from banned organisations.
The district administrations are required to make sure that the camps do not hamper traffic and that they are not being run by banned groups, he said, not to hamper the work of established charities.
Sources in the Civil Secretariat said that the home secretary had sent a summary to the chief minister four days ago calling for a blanket ban on hide collection camps. He had said that banned groups tended to change their names and set up charities to continue with hide collection. The chief minister did not approve the summary.
But DCO Naseem Sadiq said that the provincial government had decided not to allow hide collection camps, in view of fears that the proceeds from the hides would be channelled towards acts of terrorism. He said that all the applicants had been told that they did not have permission to set up camps. However, he added that a meeting with provincial government officials was planned for Monday night where the matter would be brought up again and approval could be granted.
Staff Officer to the DCO Tariq Zaman said that action would be taken against any trust or charity that tried to set up a camp in the city.
Meanwhile, the applicants told on Monday that they could not set up camps considered alternativee collection methods. They include the Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital, Jamia Naeemia, the Sahara For Life Trust, the Edhi Foundation, the Minhaj Welfare Foundation and Dr AQ Khan Hospital.
The Edhi Foundation had planned to set up 40 camps, the Minhaj Welfare Foundation 300, and Shaukat Khanum Memorial planned to set up 200 camps in Lahore.
Edhi Foundation official Muhammad Faisal said that the decision “makes no sense”. The foundation was globally recognised as a charity whose funds were used for good, not for terrorist activities. He said that the foundation depended on donations for its operations and the Eid camps were a part of this. They collected hides worth Rs3.5 million at 40 camps last year, he added.
The organisation is now considering sending its vehicles door-to-door to collect hides on Eid day. “This kind of collection is much harder and more expensive in terms of fuel and manpower cost,” he said, adding that those wishing to make a donation should call 115, the Edhi helpline.
Khawaja Nazeer, media manager for Shaukat Khanum Memorial, said that the hospital was an established charity and it should be allowed to set up camps to collect hides. He said that they could not afford to run a mobile collection service on Eid day. They also stood to lose the money they had spent on making arrangements for 200 camps. The hospital collected hides worth a total of Rs40 million in 2012.
Minhaj Welfare Foundation Welfare Director Syed Amjad Shah said that they were not sure why they had been denied permission. He said that they would run vehicles around the city to collect hides on Eid day. The organisation had aimed to collect 200,000 hides.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2013.
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