In order to ensure that foreign donations received by non-governmental organisations are utilised for the right purpose, the home ministry is likely to ask NGOs which have an annual expenditure of mor
In order to ensure that foreign donations received by non-governmental organisations are utilised for the right purpose, the home ministry is likely to ask NGOs which have an annual expenditure of more than '10 lakh over the last three years to register un-der the Foreign Contribu-tion Regulation Act.
As of now, NGOs that are not registered with the home ministry under the FCRA are given permission on a “case-by-case basis” and the concerned NGO has to take prior permission from the ministry’s foreigners division every time they receive a funding or foreign donation. But NGOs that are registered under the FCRA can receive foreign donations without prior approval as it is mandatory for them to file their annual returns with the ministry, when they have to give details of the funds received and expenses incurred.
“We are basically trying to streamline the system of foreign funding for NGOs and ensure that funds are utilised for the purpose for which they are received. In some cases, NGOs divert the foreign donations for other activities and this must stop,” a senior ministry official said.
The home ministry has already initiated a probe into the funding of Amnesty India in the wake of a sedition case registered against the organisation in Bengaluru regarding a recent event.
Ministry sources said that the organisation had been denied permission at least four times since 2010 to receive foreign donations. Amnesty India is not registered under the FCRA and an application for the same has been pending with the home ministry for some time now, with officials claiming it was still under examination.
What the home ministry is primarily investigating is whether any foreign donations were received by the organisation through an indirect route. Amnesty has strongly refuted allegations that any of its members shouted anti-India slogans at the Bengaluru event and the sedition FIR had been lodged without a proper investigation. The organisation has also claimed there were factual inaccuracies in the complaint given to the police by some ABVP activists.
