A new draft bill that the government says it needs to coordinate grants to non-governmental organisations is raising fears of Panchayat-style controls on Nepal's civil society. The Social Welfare Council (SWC) wants all NGOs in Nepal to operate under one umbrella so it is easier to keep track of who is doing what. "This will increase transparency, make NGOs more accountable and effective," says the SWC's Tika Pokhrel. But activists and foreign charities in Nepal are not so sure. In fact, they say, the bill reminds them of the SWC's predecessor, the Social National Services Coordination Council which had a reputation for rent-seeking and graft. "This is a dangerous power-grab," one INGO representative based in Nepal told us. "Making the SWC a one-stop shop will centralise corruption, it will be a place where officials will demand a cut from all the charity money coming into Nepal."

The bill came up in the prelims on Tuesday for the Nepal Development Forum meeting where activist and First Lady Arzu Rana Deuba said the SWC had outlived its usefulness. "There is a need for some kind of regulatory body, but the SWC is not it," she said.

SWC officials, for their part, say they need to be able to monitor money coming into the country so it is not channeled to the Maoists, and also to curb the proliferation of fly-by-night NGOs.