Asia-Pacific, Civil Society, Development & Aid, Global, Global Geopolitics, Headlines, Human Rights, Poverty & SDGs

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: NGOs Balk at Tighter Gov’t Controls

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

NEW DELHI, May 8 2007 (IPS) - Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India are up in arms against moves by the federal government to regulate the flow of foreign funds into their coffers through a new bill that would amend existing law governing contributions from abroad.

Spokespersons for civil society groups describe the bill as “draconian”, “dangerous” and of “questionable merit”. The bill, they argue, would “stifle” and “choke” the working of hundreds of voluntary organisations, many of them engaged in alleviating poverty and empowering the underprivileged.

NGO workers also say the move is inexplicable at a time when the government is actively encouraging the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the corporate sector.

On Dec.18 last year, the centre-Left United Progressive Alliance government in New Delhi introduced this bill in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) without much fanfare. The proposed legislation is called the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill, 2006, which, if enacted, would repeal and replace the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) of 1976.

The objectives of the bill have been spelt out in its very first sentence which states that it is meant “to consolidate the law to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or companies and to prohibit acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

Currently being deliberated upon by the Indian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs that comprises members from different political parties, the bill calls for a prohibition of foreign contributions to organisations of a “political nature, not being political parties”. Under the existing law, such “political” organisations can receive foreign funds after they obtain the prior permission of the federal interior ministry that administers the FCRA.

The bill states that the federal government will provide a certificate of registration or give prior permission to an organisation to receive foreign contributions if it is satisfied that the applicant “has undertaken meaningful activity in its chosen field for the benefit of the people” or “has prepared a meaningful project for the benefit of the people”. NGOs say the word “meaningful” and the phrase “benefit of the people” are both open to discretionary interpretation and the same is true for what constitutes “foreign hospitality”.

Whereas registration of an NGO is permanent and free under the current FCRA, the bill requires recipients of foreign funds to renew their registration every five years and introduces a scheme of payment of fees for registration, renewal of registration and prior approval for receipt of funds. Representatives of civil society groups say this provision in the bill would not only generate inconvenience but could also lead to harassment by government officials.

“Who decides what constitutes political activity and what kind of activity is meaningful?” asks Rajesh Tandon, president of an NGO called Participatory Research in Asia. He told IPS that civil society groups do indeed “try and influence the politics and economics of development” and bureaucrats should not be allowed to curb their work so long as they do not violate the laws of the land.

Tandon found it ironical that one wing of the Indian government (the interior ministry) was attempting to restrict the activities of NGOs while another (the Planning Commission) was asking civil society organisations to supplement the government’s developmental efforts.

“This bill gives civil servants the power to interfere with civil society activity, potentially undermining their vital work and violating their democratic freedoms,” Clare Doube, manager, CIVICUS, a “world alliance for citizen participation’, stated in a media release. Recommending to the standing committee that the bill be dropped, this NGO has criticised what it calls “the cumbersome registration process, the bill’s overlap with existing laws and the excessive power it gives to authorities to de-register an organisation or search and seize its property.”

The bill also seeks to impose a 50 percent limit on the total quantum of foreign contributions received by an NGO that can be spent as “administrative expenses”. It also contains certain provisions meant for the media. It prohibits any association, company, correspondent or editor engaged in the production or broadcast of audio or audio-visual news or current affairs programmes from receiving foreign contributions.

“The bill is against India’s liberal, democratic ethos,” says Maja Daruwala, director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. In an interview with IPS, she said the voluntary sector in India was growing and “coming on its own”. This sector was closely linked to people’s movements and “encouraged diversity and dissent that is part of the democratic fabric of India”.

“The bill goes beyond tracking the use of foreign money and intrudes into the management of NGOs in ways that I believe are illegitimate,” added Daruwala, who is in the forefront of a campaign against the bill.

In the past, supporters of the right-wing, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party had sought curbs on the flow of foreign donations to NGOs on the ground that the funds were being misused to “entice” poor Hindu tribals and convert them into Christians.

Others have alleged that movements aimed at securing better compensation and rehabilitation for those displaced by the building of large irrigation projects have been “covertly” supported by foreign organisations. Such allegations have been levelled against the well-known Narmada Bachao Andolan (‘Save Narmada Campaign’) led by Medha Patkar, which is opposed to the construction of a series of large dams across the River Narmada in central India.

Those opposed to the new bill contend that existing laws in India are adequate to ensure that foreign donations that are received through legal banking channels are not misused or illegally diverted. It is further pointed out that while the Indian government goes out of its way to welcome foreign investments in industry, it is seeking to curb and monitor the flow of foreign funds to NGOs.

“In comparison to the tens of billions of US dollars that are flowing into India’s corporate sector and its stock markets, the total amount received by the voluntary sector is peanuts,” says Pooran Chand Pandey, who represents Voluntary Action Network India. “In this respect, the bill that has been proposed is regressive and misplaced and I am hopeful it will be rejected.”

While the Indian government claims the bill would check the use of foreign funds for subversive activities of terrorists and ‘anti-national’ organisations, NGOs argue that the proposed new law could block funding for valuable and legitimate civil society activities.