New laws for NGOs on the cards | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

New laws for NGOs on the cards

27 September, 2020

It has been reported that of Rs. 50,000 million received by local NGOs, a large amount has been spent on anti-national activities and disseminating extremism in the country. The largest slice of foreign largesse has been channelled into the country via 280 NGOs. Of over 1,644 NGOs, only 669 are functioning, while the rest remain defunct. The CID has discovered that an illegal body operating in Qatar had remitted Rs.13 million to lawyer Hijas Hisbulla’s ‘Save the Pearl’ NGO.

NGO National Secretariat Director Raja Gunaratne when contacted said there are 38,019 locally registered NGOs in the country. Of the 1,649 NGOs receiving foreign aid, 980 are defunct at present.

Gunaratne said there is no proper mechanism to deal with defunct NGOs and there is a lack of laws to supervise the activities of NGOs.

Of the funds received only 20 percent is spent on projects leaving the remaining 80 percent for their personal budgets, he said.

Although some NGOs contribute to national development, other NGOs pose a serious threat to national security, spreading extremist ideologies.

Discussions are underway to draft a new Act to overcome these drawbacks.

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