ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: The ministry of women development, social welfare and special education has decided to have a strict check on the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), official sources told Dawn.

They said with the ever-increasing number of NGOs in the country, the government had decided to put in place a strict mechanism so that their activities could be streamlined.

At present, more than 70,000 NGOs are working both at national and provincial levels and their number is continuously on the increase.

Under the proposed paradigm, a report would be sought from an NGO before its registration, including what would be its working area, potential donors, etc., said the sources.

At present the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies Ordinance 1961, the Societies’ Registration Act 1860, the Trust Act 1882, the Charitable Endowment Act 1890 and the Companies Ordinance Act 1984 are the laws under which an NGO is registered, the sources added.

According to rules, an NGO after getting registered is supposed to get the economic affairs division’s permission for seeking financial assistance from donor agencies.

However, due to the absence of NGOs-specific government department to regularize their activities, an unprecedented multiplication in their number has been witnessed during the last one decade.

The sources at the ministry also told Dawn that by and large these civil society organizations were doing a good job. However, due to the lack of a monitoring infrastructure on part of the government, there was a significant number of such organizations whose only objective has been to earn money.

Therefore, the ministry has decided to permanently monitor their activities at every level, so that black sheep, who have been misusing government’s free hand which it has given in regard to run an NGO, could be held responsible.

A senior official at the ministry said the ministry had constituted a special advisory board which would make recommendations in this regard.

It may be added that the Non-Profit Organizations Ordinance 2002 was proposed for regularization of this sector, but due to serious differences between the representatives of NGOs and the federal government it is still in the consultation process.

In reply to another question, the official said at present NGOs could get themselves registered through a number of laws which had been added to the original Societies Act 1860 over the years. Whereas there is no channel in place at government level through which it can inquire about the functioning and funding of NGOs, he added.

He said the federal government under the present setup neither had the infrastructure nor the capacity to effectively control the NGOs.

Technically, every NGO is supposed to get permission from the economic affairs division for receiving donations but the system is so centralized and complicated that neither donors nor civil society organizations are willing to abide by it.