Punjab MPAs go against NGOs

The majority in the Punjab Assembly on Thursday alleged that most of the NGOs were functioning contrary to the interest of Pakistan under the garb of public welfare and demanded that the provincial government should closely watch their activities and audit their finances. 

The debate on the role of the NGOs in Pakistan started on the call attention notice of PML-Q Like-Minded parliamentarian Shaikh Allaudin. Majority of the parliamentarians were of the opinion that though the role of some NGOs was quite conspicuous but there were many, which were engaged in anti-state activities without facing accountability. They demanded of the provincial government to regulate the functioning of these NGOs through a proper system. 

Allaudin claimed that there were thousands of NGOs functioning only in the Punjab and engaged in doubtful and anti-state activities in the absence of any proper vigilance upon them. He was of the view that apparently these NGOs were established for social services in the health and education sectors but were receiving direct foreign assistance, which was in millions without the knowledge of the government.  

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan objected to the speech of Allaudin and requested him to avoid giving generalised statements and if he had any concrete evidence against any NGO, he should bring it to the notice of the government. He said everyone in the media and politics was not a saint but there was a majority among them who were doing their jobs honestly. He claimed that the government had recently suffered only because the parliamentarians had given generalised kind of statements against the media. He said the media and NGOs supported them in difficult hours.  

Fouzia Behram, a female parliamentarian from the PPP, defended the viewpoint of Allaudin and said there were NGOs that were patronised by the enemy countries but these were being made payments indirectly through friendly countries. She urged the law minister to check the role of such NGOs.

Nighat Nasir Shaikh from the PML-N said she had watched a programme on a TV channel quite recently in which two leading singers, who had their NGOs, started accusing each other of corruption and nepotism. Mian Rafiq from the Treasury also criticised the role of the NGOs and claimed that he was against all the NGOs, no matter they were doing public service or not. 

Source:  

The NEWs 

Friday, July 16, 2010
By Babar Dogar