XIV. MON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANlSATlONS The Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 requires the Commission to "encouragethe efforts of non-governmental organisations working in the field of human rights." No duty is more essenfial for the Commission if it is to fulfil its responsibilities, for NGOs are its natural allies, sternest critics and indispensable partners. Just as the Commission needs to turn to NGOs in every aspect of its work, so it has had to intercede on behalf of NGOs - human rights defenders - when they have experienced harassment or difficulties. 14.I 14.2 No field of activity of the Commission now remains insulated from NGOs, whose advice has also been sought on ways to make the Commission more effective. The Commission receives numbers of public-interest complaints from NGOs. They-have often been associated with aspects of the investigations undertaken by the Commission. Further, in respect of projects and programmes, the list grows of NGOs working closely with the Commission, particutarty in respect of serious societal issues relating, inter alia, to matters such as child and bonded labour, child prostitution, literacy and human rights education, health care and malnutrition, the rights of women, the rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups, the problems of Dalits and Tribals. 14.3 The Commission is aware that it still has a long way to go before it can say that it has established a truly satisfactory and systematic method of drawing on the vast potential and talents of NGOs. It is therefore constantly seeking to improve its ways of interacting with them and is frequently reminded by them of the need to do so. The list of NGOs maintained by the Commission is growing steadily in size and it has proven of great value to the Commission in seeking partners, in different parts of the country, to work with in specific instances and situations. The list has also facilitated net-working amongst like-minded NGOs, strengthening their capacities in the process. 14.4 As in the past years, the Commission continued to make modest financial contributions to NGOs for seminars or like functions organised by them in respect of human rights matters. In particular, the Commission sought to ensure that such functions were related to practical follow-up measures that would contribute towards the betterment of the human rights situation in the country. Amongst those financially assisted in the course of the year were SEVAK, which received a grant for a seminar held in Calcutta in September 1998, on "Strategy Development for the Promotion of Human Right of the Mentally IIIP and the Asia-Pacific Conference on "Education for Human Rightsnheld in Pune in February 1999.