Over 20,000 Bangladesh NGOs to lose registration

DHAKA - The registration of more than 20,000 non government organisations (NGOs) that have been inactive for years will be cancelled, a Bangladeshi minister has said.

Social Welfare Minister Enamul Haque Mostafa Shahid told The Daily Star Monday: “We shall cancel the registration of those organisations immediately.”

“Since we are committed to citizen’s welfare, we can’t allow any organisation to make people suffer in the name of volunteering.”

Secretary of social welfare ministry Quomaran Nessa Khanam said the government will cancel registration of over 20,000 non-government organisations that remain inactive for several years.

Social welfare officers visited the offices of those NGOs and found them inactive, said Khanam.

“After identifying inactive NGOs registered under the department of social welfare, we shall give them time to defend themselves and finally cancel the registration of the ’signboard NGOs’,” the official said.

“We shall cancel the registration of the NGOs that are running micro-credit scheme illegally despite submission of written commitment of not doing so.”