‘Digitalisation of donations first step towards transparency’

Panel discussion calls for donating money to charities which take up worthy
causes as well as for ensuring money is utilised to strengthen Pakistan

Bringing transparency to charity collection and making sure that it goes to the deserving and not to radical organizations is a must.  

This observation was shared at a session entitled ‘Safe charity’, which was co-organised by the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, and the Bargad Organisation for Youth Development at the G&T Auditorium, IBA’s main campus on Wednesday. 

An IBA official said the session was an initiative of the IBA Community Welfare Society and had representatives from Bargad, Alamgir Welfare Trust and Alfajr Academy.

The seminar provided a thought-provoking forum on the merits of safe charity and a stimulating interaction between IBA students and the abovementioned charity organisations.

The host emphasised the importance and impact of charity on Pakistan and the whole community. In view of the approaching month of Ramazan, everyone was urged to not only donate to charities which took up worthy causes but also to ensure that the money was utilised to strengthen and not make Pakistan worse.

Moderating the session, an associate professor of the IBA, Dr Huma Baqai, spoke about the scholarship opportunities offered by the organisation to individuals who planned to pursue their studies abroad and then return to Pakistan to serve the nation.

She then introduced the panel members: Dr Najam Anjum, assistant professor at the IBA; Rehan Yaseen of the Alamgir Trust; Asim Ismail of Alfajar Academy; and Sabiha Shaheen, executive director of Bargad.

The panel discussion was based on the ground reality that “Pakistan has an annual charity contribution of around 650 billion, which is not properly utilised” and the biggest contributor was Karachi.

An informative discussion ensued on how this significant amount could be efficiently utilised to benefit the underprivileged and to contribute towards strengthening Pakistan. 

Initiating the panel discussion, Dr Najam Anjum talked about the grey areas in the structure of collecting, distributing and utilising charity.

He mentioned about people charting for the various causes, which were then used by officials for personal uses and benefits in the form of building businesses, buying properties, etc.

A representative of the Bargad Organisation, Sabiha Shaheen, gave a brief introduction to the organisation. She said the vision of the organisation was to ensure politically aware, democratic, responsible and gender sensitive youth communities, which respected freedom and equality. 

She said the mission of the organisation was “to promote peace, justice and cooperation among the youth in Pakistan”. She also mentioned that Pakistan had an enormous charity collection of 650 billion rupees, but that money was not utilised properly and that was why they came up with the idea of safe charity.

“By starting this initiative, they plan to streamline the charity distribution channels in a period of four months. The organisation plans to start the project from Karachi, operating in the most revenue generating areas of the city like Gulshan-e-Iqbal, DHA, Koranagi, SITE, Saddar.”

She also encouraged students to volunteer at Bargad so that its efforts could help them achieve the goal at the earliest.

Rehan Yaseen briefed the audience about the operations of Alamgir Welfare Trust and its transparent methods, which include computerised documentation of the donations that they receive.

He mentioned that to make the structure more transparent and flawless, Alamgir Trust had encouraged over 1,500 Pakistanis to get their national identity cards.

Salma from Bargad said: “It’s important for charity organisations to work collectively and in cohesion with each other to ensure that the money pouring in the form of
donations is utilised properly and not falling into the hands of radical organisations, which will be detriment to both the citizens and the country.”

Taking the discussion a step forward, Dr Huma Baqai asked Sabiha about the charity given by USAID to organisations and how it was used, to which she answered:

“The charity given by USAID is documented and the government is completely liable for its distribution to registered organisations. So they have a defined procedure for spending it.”

In the question and answer session, a question was raised whether money earned illegally should be utilised for charity purposes or not. Rehan of Alamgir Trust said that their organisation kept a thorough check and did not accept such money, while Dr Baqai opined that if such money could help feed hungry mouths and was not utilised to raise terrorists, it was perhaps still somewhat acceptable.

Dr Najam Anjum closed the session on the note that it was a religious duty to not only give generously in charity but also to ensure that it reached the deserving and not fell into radical hands.