Authenticating voters' lists is necessary for a transparent election, Speaker of the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said on Wednesday. Talking to newsmen at the sixth Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) Corporate Philanthropy Award ceremony, he said that despite difficulties, a parliament is going to complete its tenure for the first time in Pakistan's history.
Answering a question regarding the voting lists, he said that unauthentic voters' list was also delaying the local bodies' election. "Local bodies' election is expected to be held after the general elections, as the Supreme Court has ordered the verification of all voters' lists and even holding of by-elections has been withheld," he said.
Earlier, he appreciated PCP's efforts and highlighted the government inability to reach all poor segments of the society, saying that the gap was being filled by the private sector in a proper manner. "A lot of things have been done at the government level during the past 65 years. However, a lot still needs to be done to end the poverty from the country," he said.
The Speaker of the Sindh Assembly said that tax evasion was also a major hurdle towards providing necessary facilities to the masses. A message of federal Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, who was unable to attend event due to a cabinet meeting in Islamabad, was also read out on the occassion.
The finance minister, it his message, appreciated PCP's contributions in promoting philanthropy for social development and building a partnership between the government, the private sector and civil society. Complimenting the business community for generously supporting social development, he said that officials figures showed that Rs 3.8 billion had been contributed in cash by Public Listed Companies (PLCs) for charitable work. Reiterating government support for philanthropists for social development, Dr Hafeez said that the government would work to build partnerships for promoting national brotherhood, peace and prosperity. Dr Shams Lakha, (H.I., S.I.), the Chairman of the PCP Board, address said that the Centre was proud of its quality research products.
He said that his organisation had so far completed 28 studies, adding that Corporate Philanthropy Survey was an annually recurring part of this effort. By fostering increased trust in the quality of work, PCP's certification programme had gained recognition among donors as an important requirement for funding, he said.
"In recent years, we have witnessed an appreciable increase in the number of CSOs applying for certification and to-date, PCP has conducted 556 CSO evaluations," he said. "This is PCP's contribution to the creating of an enabling environment embedded in knowledge and trust."
Awards are based on Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy's research based survey titled 'Corporate Phllanthropy in Pakistan: Survey of Public Listed Companies 2011'. The survey is part of PCP's ongoing effort to document and encourage corporate philanthropy, he informed the audience.
He said that the current PCP survey showed that the volume of corporate philanthropy had increased nearly seventeen-fold between the survey's base year (2000) and 2011. Total donations by PLCs increased to Rs 3.8 billion in 2011 from the base year figure of Rs 223 Million, he maintained. Chairman of the research committee Zafar A Khan and PCP's excutive director Tanwir A Agha also address the gathering.
The award distribution ceremony was organised by PCP in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The representative of the UNDP also made a presentation with an emphasis on recent efforts towards seeking strong and effective partnerships with the corporate sector.
Those who received awards for 2011 for the highest volume of donations are: (1) Pakistan Petroleum Limited (2) HBL (3) Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (4) Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited and (5) Engro Corporation Limited. Awardees ranked top 5 for the year 2011 by volume of donations as a percentage of PBT are (1) lGl Insurance Limited, (2) Leiner Pak Gelatine Limited (3) Fateh Textile Mills Limited (4) Descon Chemicals Limited and (5) Pak Datacom Limited, respectively. The awards were distributed by the Speaker of the Sindh Assembly.