Tuesday, August 14, 2007

State Government Plot to ban NGOs in the Conflict Zone fails......



No ban on MSF, says Chhattisgarh Government
SpecialCorrespondent
NEW DELHI: The Chhattisgarh Government has clarified that there is noban on the representatives of the Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF), aglobal non-governmental organisation, from functioning in thenaxalite-affected areas of Bastar.
A statement by an official spokesperson said on Saturday that theadministration in Bastar had only issued an advisory to the local MSFrepresentatives asking them to avoid travelling to sensitive interiorareas. This was issued out of concern for their security.
The NGO was free to carry out its humanitarian activities according tothe norms of Medical Council of India, the spokesperson said.
Describing as "factually incorrect" the news items that suggested thatthe MSF had been banned, he said the Government had not evencontemplated barring the NGO from working in any part of the State.It was sensitive to the humanitarian aid provided by the MSF acrossthe world and in India.

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