As much as 15 percent of the International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGO)s working in Nepal are engaged in preaching their religion in various ways, Rastriya Samachar Samiti reported quoting Social Welfare Council officials.

Social Welfare Council has said, it has received information that some INGOs, which took permission from the SWC to carry out various developmental projects in Nepal, preach their religion in various ways like forcing them to convert religion to secure a job, conducting prayers during office hours and providing information about the religion during official trainings.

According to the existing constitutional provisions, an individual is free to practice (or not practice) any religion by his/her choice, but is not allowed to ‘influence’ another person to convert religion.

Article 23 of the Interim Constitution 2063 mentions, no one can make another person convert his/her religion and do anything that affects another person’s religion.

The practice of preaching religion in the name of conducting developmental activities has increased further, after Nepal got transformed to a secular state from a Hindu state.

SWC does not give permission to an INGO to operate if preaching religion is mentioned as one of the objectives of the organisation.

According to SWC treasurer Ratna Bahadur Gahamagar, although unofficial complaints about religious preaching is rising, SWC has not taken action against any INGOs as no one has filed an official complaint.

Gahamagar also said, Nepal receives about Rs 17 billion every year through such INGOs. But, source and expenditure of the amount is not properly audited due to lack of proper regulations.

There are 246 INGOs registered with SWC, out of which 46 are inactive. nepalnews.com