Officials banned from NGO jobs

Civil servants working at non-governmental charitable organizations will be removed from their posts in the organizations so that charities can retrieve their voluntary and social characteristics, according to the bureau, the Beijing Times reported on Monday.

"There are some civil servants who also work at charitable organizations, which is like being an athlete and the referee at the same time. How can the government cooperate with NGOs like this?" an official with the bureau's charity work section told the paper.

The duty of the government and charitable organizations should be differentiated, the official said, for example, civil servants used to do administrative work at the Beijing Charity Association, but this is no longer the case.

The Capital Philanthropy Federation, a non-profit organization administered by the bureau, currently has 52 members, all of which are NGO charities in Beijing.

Its members, which are registered with the bureau, are where the bureau policy applies, and the policy will help to mark the divide between the government and social groupings, said Wang Zhenyao, dean of Beijing Normal University's One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute and a former official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Some organizations found an official registration difficult so they brought in government officials to help the process, Wang said. Some other groups have civil servants as management for better supervision of their work, and some are initiated by the government, which is why many of their staff are civil servants, he said. This policy, however, does not apply to charitable organizations not officially registered at the civil affairs authorities, such as the Beijing Red Cross Society.

"An organization can't have dual identities, both governmental and non-governmental," Wang said.

If civil servants work in social organizations, it may limit their efficiency to both parties, since civil servants may bring their work codes and styles into the social groups, and spending too much time at NGOs may affect their work as a government official, he noted.

Many NGOs hire former civil servants since these ex-government employees have better connections within the government, so that they are more resourceful and powerful when calling for charitable events, said Shi Changkui, a researcher with the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

"Government offers social aid with tax payer's money. Charitable organizations offer help to the disadvantaged minority, some with government financial support while being supervised by the government," Shi said, explaining there is a difference.

Having civil servants in social groups does not necessarily mean there will be corruption like some may think, Wang said, and many civil servants work for the NGOs without being paid, plus public oversight is quite strong, he remarked.

When Wang worked at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he also volunteered at the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children.

"I worked there for free. So there's no reason to suspect that civil servants work for NGOs just to earn more money, or, as some Web users allege, that it will result in corruption," Wang said.