KARACHI, Oct 16: Although the city government had decided to hand over the management of Darul Aman to an NGO, Panah, under an agreement signed a couple of months back, a formal transfer of the institution is yet to take place. The decision was taken after the government had realised it could not handle the affairs of this institution, handed over to it by the provincial government about a year back, efficiently and smoothly.

Built in 1961, Darul Aman has experienced a number of controversies over the period of time. Initially it was being run by the Sindh government’s Social Welfare Department but after widespread complaints of mismanagement and irregularities, it was handed over to the city government’s Community Development Department last year. The most serious complaint, though not confirmed in most cases, was that some girls taking shelter at Darul Aman were forced into prostitution.

The city government took many measures, including transfer of almost entire staff of Darul Aman, but without any desired results. Justice Majida Rizvi, a member of the board of trustees of Panah, says: “Keeping in view the state of affairs of affairs at the institution, we approached the government about a year ago with the intention to manage it.” Ms Nadira Panjwani, Justice Shaiq Usman and Justice Majida Rizvi met Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan to discuss the idea, which was later accepted. The Panah already runs one women shelter home located near the Quaid’s mausoleum.

According to the agreement signed between the two sides, the building of Darul Aman will remain the property of the government but the Panah will manage the institution’s affairs and have its own infrastructure, reveals Ms Rizvi, who hopes the building will be handed over to her organisation shortly.

In reply to a question about whether the Darul Aman will accept only those women who will be sent to it by some court, she said: “We will prefer to have courts’ consent in this regard.”

She said that it would take her organisation a lot of time to put things in order. “The building is in shambles,” she said, adding that Panah would get it reconstructed and furnish it anew.

Commenting on the transfer of the institution to an NGO, Minister for Culture and Tourism Rauf Siddiqui said: “The moment I came to know about an NGO being interested in the project, I was all in favour of it.”

He said the institution was poorly managed and it was in its own interest that some NGO took responsibility of its management. “The institutions like orphanages and shelter homes should better be managed by NGOs as the government already has too much on its plate,” Mr Siddiqui said, claiming that he had taken many measures to contain the mismanagement but in vain.

“The only thing that remained was to conduct a raid at the place and catch people red-handed,” he said. Had this been done, the minister said, the girls would not have been accepted by the society whenever they left Darul Aman.”

When asked whether the government would keep a check on the NGO’s performance, he said: “No we will not keep a check, but we will support them fully. I have seen their other shelter home and found the NGO efficient.”