Daily Times

I think out government and law enforcing agencies are equally to blame when it comes to international nongovernmental organisations, which are implicated either directly or indirectly in anti-state activities through getting funds and assistance from foreign elements and agencies or use their ill-gotten money for destabilising the country. The government has been unable to make the nongovernmental organisations to exercise openly, lawfully and convincingly.

Unfortunately, our government has become the first government in the world to cast suspicion on the performance of nongovernment organisations. At the same time, it is inexplicable for the intellectuals to understand the logic of the governmental agencies on taking charge against NGOs abruptly. Were our think-tanks goofing off earlier at the time when these NGOs were being registered?

NGOs had emerged as an alternative ofgovernment entities. These welfare agencies have
made their reach possible to the most vulnerableand catastrophic regions of the country

In Pakistan, the influence of nongovernmental agencies has always remained in murky waters even after playing a reliable and fascinating role in building the capacity as well as reforming society through the introduction of various human and environmental approaches.

Unquestionably, the NGOs have been introduced as the alternate of the government entities, as these welfare agencies have made their reach possible to the most vulnerable and catastrophic regions of the country like drought affected Thar, climatically affected coastal belts of Sindh and war effected tribal areas in KP.

Banning INGOs or local NGOs should never be a solution to the common menace of ‘terrorism’, which has infected more than 10 billion souls directly and indirectly and also tried to sabotage peace in the country.

Proper monitoring of the work and activities, inflexible audit of financial records and the fitting implementation of internal policies are called the three prime pillars of almost every NGO, working in the country with the slogan, defeating poverty and empowering people.

According to a survey report of a local NGO published in 2012, 82 percent of Pakistani rural inhabitants believe that NGOs are the only entities which can be called the sole alternate to the government and they are satisfied with the works and projects being implemented by the NGOs in their areas.

Now the question arises is “what types of frightening consequences can Pakistan face through indulging itself into another rat race parallel to the grand operation Zarb-e-Azab against culprits of the most consecrated sector of the world, social work?

Action has begun against some well-known aid agencies by the government. Last year, the UN and America warned Pakistan about the consequences of sealing INGO offices countrywide.

A decisive battle must be kicked off by exploring all avenues against the veiled faces of this sector, which surely wants to disassociate the sector completely, as the underprivileged people of the country are still expecting much more from them to develop themselves.

There should be a common ground for both government and NGOs to work on and this would be only possible if both the entities follow some common suggestions for the sake of their sustainability as well as credibility. This can be done by making the network of functioning nongovernmental organisations more lucrative and transparent.

1. The Government should sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the concerned NGOs before initialising of any project in the country.
2. The Government should monitor the activities, assets, human resources and project planning methodology of every functional NGO after every 2 months.
3. Nongovernmental organisations should be answerable for the recruitment of staff in their workforce as per their policy and criteria.
4. A monthly consultative meeting must be placed at the higher level between heads of NGOs and Deputy Commissioners of the concerned district.
5. Involvement of stakeholders in the activities of the NGOs must be ensured.
6. Security clearance mechanism must be introduced for the staffers of NGOs by the government at the district level.
7. Financial transactions, records and budget must be shared with the government.
8. Any amendment in themes of the projects and areas of the practices can’t be done without informing the government officials.
9. Government must need to initially ban all the unregistered nongovernmental organisations, functioning in the country.

The writer is a freelance writer from Badin and can be reached at abbaskhaskheli@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, November 15^th 2017.