Kathmandu, January 24:

The number of Non-Government Organisations receiving approval for foreign assistance has gone up by 30 per cent following the implementation of the ‘’NGO Code of Conduct’’ brought out recently by the Social Welfare Council (SWC) aiming at “establishing uniformity among the social organisations and making them more disciplined.”

Of the NGOs that have been registered at the SWC, 319 have been running different programmes across the country after receiving foreign assistance totaling at Rs 1.1852 billion during the first six months since the implementation of the Code of Conduct, the Council has said.

The number of NGOs coming for registration at the Council has increased by 20 per cent, and the number of International Non-government Organisations providing financial and other sort of assistance by 50 per cent.

Nineteen INGOs have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on different topics with the Council and 28 INGOs have started different new projects in the country during the period, according the Council. Some 85 NGOs have been alerted for running different programmes without receiving approval from the SWC, and action has been forwarded against six NGOs and four INGOs on the accusation that they were involved in irregularities, it is said. Improvement in transparency has been achieved following the implementation of the new code, Member Secretary of the Council Sharad Sharma said.