LAHORE: The Punjab government has banned proscribed organizations from collecting donations for the flood affectees, according to a notification on Saturday.

A list of 48 defunct organizations was sent to the relevant police officials. The SP security issued a notification to the superintendents of police of all divisions directing them to take an action if an outlawed group established a camp to collect donations for the flood affectees.

The ban has been imposed under Schedule XI-B and Anti-Terrorism Act. The Foreign Office on Friday rejected a report carried by an Indian news agency alleging that a banned organisation was undertaking relief work during devastating floods in the country.

“Pakistan categorically rejects the contents of the story. It only betrays India’s bias and prejudice towards Pakistan, and is part of India’s regular and continuing attempts to mislead the international audience,” the FO said in a statement.

The FO said it was not the first time that the Indian media had shown “their proclivity to carry baseless and motivated stories to further a political agenda”.

The spokesperson said it was also unfortunate that while the international community was “single-mindedly focused on helping Pakistan in the wake of an unprecedented natural calamity”, but some elements in the Indian media were attempting to cast doubts on the relief efforts.

The FO said that Pakistan had put in place strong and robust regulatory and oversight mechanisms to monitor flood relief activity by non-profit and non-governmental organisations.

“All relevant agencies are vigilant in ensuring that no illicit activity is carried out under the garb of relief efforts,” it added.