According to the data provided by Social Welfare Council (SWC), as many as 500 projects of 277 NGOs were approved from July to December, 2011. [break]
Out of this, only 82 focused on infrastructure or relief work. Similarly, only 285 among the 936 projects were for sustainable physical development in the previous year.
For the approved projects, Rs 3.062 billion and Rs 5.21 billion were provided in 2011 and the previous year, respectively. Out of the donations, the organizations used only Rs 582 million and Rs 1.1 billion for physical developments in 2011 and the previous year respectively.
Interestingly, the record shows that most of the programs organized by the NGOs were related to awareness regarding federalism, constitution and constitutional process, promoting justice and peace, among others. The interest of the donors and the receivers gradually shifted from physical to ´soft´ works in the last 10 years, say SWC officials.
Requesting anonymity, a top-ranking official with SWC said even though it is expected that INGOs and NGOs should focus more on infrastructure and relief related programs, they have been prioritizing ´easy programs´.
"The lists of approved projects in the records show NGOs and INGOs have gradually taken more interest in hitting the psyche of the public rather than building infrastructures such as hospitals, bridges, schools or toilets as in the past." He added SWC guidelines for NGOs suggest that their work profile should at least have 60 percent physical development work. But at present, this does not add up to even 30 percent of their overall work profile."
Assistant Director at SWC Shia Kumar Basnet remarked it is failure of the government that has not been able to play a key role in making the donations utilized for the nation´s best interests. "Even the INGOs that used to build necessary infrastructures in villages have shifted to rights-based programs. It is not that such programs are not important but the nation equally needs physical infrastructure."
Commenting on the issue, Uma Poudyal, Acting Deputy Director of SWC, "We wish the funds be utilized for the best results. However, even though we are an autonomous body, we are not in the position to work independently due to lack of resources," she said.
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