Pakistan floods: NGOs barred from fund collection

ISLAMABAD - The provincial government in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has banned collection of funds for flood victims by people other than the government, after reports claimed that militant outfits were trying to reach out to the affected.

The government received complaints that militant outfits were using the opportunity to collect funds and reach out to the general public, despite the fact that they have been barred from indulging in any such activity, sources told IANS.

The militant outfits were trying to gain mileage among the people displaced in the floods. However, the provincial government this time was in no mood to go soft on these banned outfits, the sources said.

Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, later confirmed receiving such complaints, and stressed that the government will show zero tolerance for such activities and the miscreants will be dealt according to law.

All funds for the flood-affected people will be channelised only through the government and no individual or non-governmental organisation would be allowed to collect funds, he said.

Similar reports that banned outfits were taking part in relief efforts had emerged in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan in 2005.

The federal government at that time launched a crackdown to clamp down such elements.