CEO of Punjab Charities Commission appointed

LAHORE: The Punjab cabinet has approved Colonel (Rtd) Shahzad Amir as the CEO of the Punjab Charities Commission, formed on the demand of FATF.

According to documents received by “Jang”, the Punjab home secretary told the 32nd meeting of the caretaker cabinet that on the demand of FATF, more than 7,000 NGOs working in the province had been registered and regulated. 

The Punjab Charities Act came into effect in 2018, aimed at online registration of NGOs and their monitoring on the web portal. There was a need to appoint a chief executive officer to run the affairs of the commission. After publication of advertisement for the CEO, nine applications were received in which seven candidates were shortlisted for interview in which Colonel (Rtd) Shahzad Aamir was selected.

According to the documents, the appointment of the CEO has been made for three years which is extendable while he will be given the salary, privileges and allowances of grade 20, as prescribed by the Punjab Finance Department. The CEO will report directly to the home secretary. According to the documents, the contract can be terminated on one month’s notice.

Currently, 7,223 NGOs are registered with the Charities Commission in Punjab. The security clearance of the NGOs was given by the Special Branch and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). The Punjab Charities Commission has blocked the bank accounts of several unregistered NGOs and trusts through the State Bank of Pakistan.