March 29, 2003	Saturday	Muharram 25, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 28: The Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) has recommended setting up of autonomous commissions both at national and provincial levels for regularization of civil society organizations.

According to its recently taken “Enabling Environment Initiative (EEI)”, which is also included in the proposed new Non-Profit Organizations law, the PCP is of the view that responsibility for regulation of NGOs should be shifted from the diverse parts of the government to the autonomous commissions.

Such commissions — one each at federal and provincial levels — should be governed by the representatives from government, citizen organizations, businessmen, professionals and eminent citizens.

The functions of these “commissions for public benefit organizations” should be defined according to current understanding of new roles for government and citizen organizations in the new social development governance paradigm.

Essentially, this posits an assurance and support orientation for the commissions. The objective is to provide assurance to government officials and society at large that public benefit organizations are operating with integrity and effectiveness.

The EEI is conceived in the recognition that the law is the primary expression of and for public policy. Law reflects attitudes and behaviours, but it also shapes them. Therefore, the PCP recommends a fundamental reformation of laws regulating civil society organizations for public benefit to overcome fatal philosophical and technical flaws in current laws.

Specifically, it recommends that the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies Ordinance-1961 and Societies Registration Act- 1860 should be consolidated, rationalized, and modernized into one public benefit organizations law — the “Nonprofit Public Benefit Organizations (Governance and Support) Act 2003”.

The EEI proposes this new law as a rallying point for a thorough public policy debate that could, in itself, do much to overcome mistrust and misunderstanding among the key stakeholders.

The PCP also proposes tax incentives for certain public benefit organizations in three ways. Firstly, the definition of organizations qualifying for various tax benefits should be broadened to include a wider set of purposes.

Secondly, further additions to the menu of fiscal supports available to citizen organizations are advisable. Thirdly, access to existing benefits needs to be simplified and administered more effectively.

With regard to the third point, the government recognized that relatively a few organizations availed themselves of tax benefits, and had started taking important steps forward.

Specifically, and in line with the Finance Ordinance-2002, the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has, through negotiations with the EEI, agreed to modify its rules.

The NPOs seeking preferential tax treatment status will not have to go through the cumbersome, restrictive and repetitive procedure of approval by the CBR. It is now imperative that interested stakeholders, especially citizen organizations and philanthropists, engage with the CBR to put in place an effective and efficient certification system.

The proposed new law and its public benefit organization commissions proposed enhancements to the fiscal support regime, and offered an important focal point for confidence-building policy dialogue among key stakeholders, particularly citizen organizations and government.

No one who attended any of the consultations of the Enabling Environment Initiative could fail to draw the conclusion that more purposeful dialogue between government and citizen organizations was needed.

It is an unequivocal conviction of the EEI that in the absence of such dialogue very little improvements in the operations of non-profit public benefit organizations will occur.