NGOs abusing poverty relief funds to face severe penalties

A senior official in charge of poverty relief on Friday warned of dire consequences for nongovernmental groups if they abuse poverty relief programs for financial gains.

The admonition followed allegations that some NGOs have used such programs to enrich themselves with money, according to Qu Tianjun, who oversees nongovernmental participation in poverty relief at the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

Qu urged relevant departments to ramp up oversight for organizations running such programs, and thoroughly investigate suspicious players.

Illegal NGOs should be banned, and those engaging in criminal activities should be handed over to public security authorities, he said.

Qu's remarks came on the heels of a circular jointly released by the office and the Ministry of Civil Affairs to bolster discipline in NGO poverty relief endeavors.

The nongovernmental sector has long been regarded as a strong force to help the government fulfill its promise to make China free of absolute poverty by the end of 2020.

In 2017, the central government released a circular encouraging NGOs to play a bigger role to combat poverty, and promised necessary financial aid for undertakings on that front.

Huang Ru, deputy director of the social groups administration bureau with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said the call has begun to reap benefits, with at least 686 national-level social organizations injecting 32.3 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) into relief projects last year, benefiting 5.81 million impoverished farmers.

Huang said they will continue to guide NGOs and their programs to the poorest regions, and in the meantime strengthen efforts to contain misconduct.