Labor Ministry working on new bill regulating NGO financial compliance

The Labor ministry is currently working on a new bill introducing more stringent requirements for non-government organizations' (NGOs) finance regulation. Under the draft provisions, the finance statements of NGOs applying for state subsidies will have to be made public. The organizations will have no right to carry out any business in breach of their by-laws. In addition, all NGO income will have to be spent on statutory purposes. To make certain that NGOs stick to the planned regulations, the Ministry will establish "a new army of bureaucrats" to work in commissions auditing NGOs. The draft is the ministry's response to the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) report asserting that NGOs do not manage their finances properly. "We hope the new bill will not introduce new bureaucratic obstacles, but make life easier for those who do not want to make profit out of people's poverty," said Marek Kotanski, the head of Monar and Markot, non-government organizations helping people with drug addiction and HIV infection. (ZLycie, p.3) J.K.