KARACHI, Sept 15 Barring a few, most of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the community based organisations (CBOs) in Lyari Town — which used to play an active role in community services at the time of peace or a nature calamity — have become ineffective.

No major activity on their part has been witnessed for flood-victims' help.

Only a few social welfare organisation are credited with launching successive campaigns for collection of relief goods for flood-affected people.

However, among the government organisations, the Lyari Town municipal administration and the Lyari General Hospital have played an effective role to some extant for providing essential commodities to flood-affected people at a relief camp set up by them in the locality.

Some religious political parties have also been seen collecting relief goods by organising relief camps in their respective areas.

A shortage of funds and lack of effective community leadership have been cited as the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the NGOs and the CBOs.

But most importantly, the Lyari gang-warfare has totally changed the social fabric of the locality as no political or major social campaign has been witnessed in the locality for the past many years because of its fears.

Even a major popular party has not been seen playing any active role in the area in connection with welfare work as its leaders have stopped visiting their constituencies.

There was a time when Lyari town used to be a hub of social welfare activities launched by these non-governmental organisations in social sector in their respective communities. The activity ranges from arrangements for marriage ceremonies to funeral services and a host of sports activities as well.

Later, with the passage of time, the social welfare services were extended to educational and healthcare activities. Free coaching and healthcare centres were set up in the locality while free reading rooms were also set up in some areas.

Most of the organisations meet their financial needs either by donations or through the financial assistance from some philanthropists.

Assistance from provincial social welfare department was also a support.

Now, barring a few organisations which include the Lyari Community Development Project, Anjuman Azad Muslim, Anjuman Raza-i-Mustafa and and a few community based organisations whose role is restricted to their local areas, a large number of organisations have become ineffective because of financial constraints.

When contacted, a senior community leader said that there were a host of reasons which forced these organisations to withdraw from the scene. He told Dawn on condition of anonymity that financial constraints were the main factor adding that “there are also many other reasons”.

He said that the gang-warfare totally changed social culture of the locality, adding that in some of the localities “they had taken over the charge of social welfare activities”. He said “Now social welfare activity is no longer an activity of a social or community worker.”

At the same time the government agencies had also stopped funding of local CBOs, he added.

More importantly, a social welfare activity could only flourish in a political environment which presently did not exist in the locality, he said.

It is pertinent to note that a new trend of revival of political activities was witnessed in the country in 1970s when NGOs and CBOs performed social welfare activities with the support of government agencies and donor agencies.

In 1980s, some of these NGOs while presenting themselves as developmental agencies assumed a new role and launched a few public welfare projects in education and healthcare sectors with the financial and technical support of city-based NGOs who had built a strong collaboration with internationally reputed NGOs. But these NGOs could not survive for long because of their internal differences and lack of leadership.

However, the development oriented NGOs had played an active role in highlighting problems of the Karachi's oldest settlement.

A survey shows that more than 500 community-based organisations and NGOs were once active in every locality of Lyari, but hardly a few of them are now currently active.

These organisations played an important role in solving local problems either on self-help basis or by mobilising community resources or through support of government agencies.

The most commonly delivered services these CBOs performed included informal education, funeral and marriage services and sports activities.

Besides that, they were also instrumental in resolving family disputes.

Most CBOs were mainly interested in solving problems relating to their own constituencies. A few community and social workers believe that the current situation calls for a strong coordination link and effective working relations among NGOs and CBOs.However, at present, the picture is quite gloomy as there seems to be no effective link between the people and the NGOs.

A social worker said that shortage of funds and infighting among community organisations and leaders were the main reason of the ineffectiveness of these organisations.