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| Kathmandu, Monday March 17, 2003 Chaitra 03, 2059. |
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Check irregularities
The Federation of Non-governmental
Organisations (FNGO) has charged that some NGOs were indulging in irregularities, spending
more than three billion rupees that is received as assistance from donors. FNGO has
further charged that influential people were responsible for the misuse of funds. The
charges, if true, are serious enough to warrant interference from the government into the
affairs of the NGOs. There is no exact data as to how many NGOs, big and small, operate in
the country. Estimates range from a high of over 35,000 to around 20,000. Even the lower
end figure is by all considerations a high one for a country like Nepal with a population
of just over 23 million and land area of less than 150,000 square kilometres. There are an
estimated 14,000 NGOs, according to the report, registered with the Social Welfare
Council. While some NGOs raise funds domestically, they are quite negligible in numbers.
The vast majority of the NGOs reportedly receive funds from international NGOs, church
bodies, individuals and charities in overseas countries. The allegations of massive misuse
of funds by "influential people and their relatives" were made by outgoing
president of the FNGO Gauri Pradhan, who heads an NGO devoted to children. His NGO is
among the few that have been able to earn a name for itself. The allegation of misuse of
funds coming as it does from a person of Pradhan’s stature deserves to be taken
seriously.
Social service is among the most sacred and useful works
carried out by humans. But this is also an area where there is a lot of money for the
asking. The government has so far allowed free flow of money into Nepal for use of the
NGOs and there is hardly a proper mechanism to keep tab on the amount that the
country’s innumerable NGOs receive each year and how the money is spent. The
relatives of the influential personalities are among those who benefit the most from the
disarray in the monitoring of foreign funds. The government needs to act and act swiftly
to bring some kind of order in the NGO chaos. The government might well consider if it is
proper for relatives of prime ministers, past and present, ministers, and high ranking
government employees to be involved in running NGOs, especially if they are in executive
positions. A quick glance reveals that INGOs and even UN agencies tend to favour NGOs with
"connections". The central bank too would be doing this nation a valuable favour
if all the incoming foreign donations to NGOs are monitored and made public each year.
NGOs, like political parties, now do not have to show their audited accounts to anyone,
except to the district administrative office where they are registered. But many such
accounts are alleged to be manipulated. Maybe the time has now come for the government and
any other responsible authorities to check irregularities in NGOs some of which are doing
a yeoman’s services to this country. Checking irregularities will hurt none but
enhance prestige and credibility of the NGOs themselves. |
