ISLAMABAD: The federal government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that it had asked the provincial governments as well as the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration to strictly monitor the functioning of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), scrutinise their sources of funding and seek audit reports from them.

The information was provided in a report submitted by the interior ministry in compliance with earlier court orders.

On July 1 and 3, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja had asked Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt to come up with information about the steps the government had taken after Dec 24, 2014 – the day the National Action Plan (NAP) was prepared in consultations with all political parties against the backdrop of the Dec 16, 2014 massacre of children in Peshawar’s Army Public School – to curb extremism and militancy in the country.

The matter relating to NGOs’ activities cropped up during the June 23 hearing of a bail application of Haroonur Rashid who had been booked for alleged fraud in a business transaction.

It was revealed during the hearing that the parties involved in the matter had invested in “Baraan”, a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-based NGO, which was registered in Peshawar but carried out its activities in Tank, Bannu and D.I. Khan.

The non-availability of relevant figures was termed by the court alarming, especially when the 20-point NAP included a stipulation that “all funding sources of terrorists and terrorist outfits will be frozen”.

Later Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said in a statement that his ministry would submit a detailed report on NAP’s implementation to the Supreme Court to prove, with statistics, that the plan was not an eyewash.

On Thursday, the interior ministry said in the report that a uniform template had been formulated and circulated to the provinces as well as the ICT for collecting information about NGOs working in their jurisdictions.

The report said a comprehensive database of local and international NGOs was being developed and it would be placed on the ministry’s website for transparency and public information.

At the same time, the government admitted that most of the NGOs and INGOs working in the country were doing a commendable job and providing a variety of services to citizens in areas where the state had not been able to deliver.

But because of apprehensions about involvement of any NGP/INGO in illegal and anti-state activities, a system of strict monitoring and evaluation was required because there could be no compromise on the national security, the report said.

The ICT, it said, had taken a number of steps to regulate the working of NGOs in its jurisdiction and also digitised data of more than 1,400 NGOs.

Similarly, audit reports received from 35 NGOs have been handed over to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for scrutiny. Notices have been issued to all 1,427 NGOs and religious seminaries for providing requisite details such as annual audit accounts, annual reports and details of the projects they are undertaking.

According to the report, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has constituted a high-level committee to review law and regulations on registration and activities of INGOs. On the recommendations of the committee, the interior ministry will be coordinating the matter relating to the registration of INGOs and they will apply afresh through online registration form. A deadline had been given to all INGOs to get themselves registered with the interior ministry, the report said.

Previously, the registration of INGOs was done by the Economic Affairs Division under the Registration Policy 2013 through a memorandum of understanding which was valid for five years.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2015

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