THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly has ordered blacklisting of eight non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for failing to provide auditrecords,invoices and expenditure details. People in the development sector have aired serious reservations about the move. There is something that all concerned have to be very clear about; the NGOs are not formed and run by angels, and, that being so, there is always a chance of irregularities.
However, civil society organisations (CSOs) have strong internal and external audit and accountability systems that detect cases of financial and professional backtracking. Non-profit entities that do not perform properly go into oblivion as the donorsarenotinterestedinfundingsuch entities.
NGOs have changed the attitudes of a significant segment of population and provided desperately needed support during natural calamities. They have also contributed to other critical social domains.
However, despite utmost efforts of the non-profit sector in Sindh to coordinate and collaborate with government, media and religious leaders, there has remained a high level of distrust between these powerful stakeholders, which is such a pity.
