We Serve Fudge

They are ostensibly non-profit organisations, but with working capital running into thousands of crores. Blessed with tax exemptions, their accounts rarely come up for scrutiny. Of course, it would be a misrepresentation to paint all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with the same tainted brush. But among the sincere and committed ones are several organisations getting foreign funds and donations which they divert for their own ends. Among these are NGOs which claim they are active in cultural, educational and religious activities but have not accounted for monies received from abroad.

When the ministry of home affairs recently decided to crack down on errant voluntary organisations, it realised that of the 32,000 registered ones, only a little over 17,000 had submitted accounts to the government. Of the remaining, more than 8,000 organisations have not shown their balance books for the past three years. Examining the records of the year 2003-04 (subsequent information is being collated), it found that over Rs 5,100 crore had come by way of foreign funding.

However, what was of concern was that probably an equal amount, if not more, was going unreported. In an effort to rein in the defaulting NGOs and institutions, the government has now banned 8,673 of them, countrywide, from accepting any more foreign donations without prior permission. In an unprecedented move, they were also put on a ‘Prior Permission list’. Which means their names will be cleared only if they submitted accounts. Among those on the list include well-known organisations and institutions like the Institute for Conflict Management (run by ex-supercop K.P.S. Gill), the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Delhi University, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), Times of India Relief Fund, Zee Telefilm Relief Fund, Indian Council for Agriculture Research, Jamia Millia Islamia, the RSS-affiliated Vanvasi Trust, Khoj and Sanchetana. Also on the list are hundreds of concerns working in the HIV/AIDS sector.

Ajay Sahni, of the Institute for Conflict Management, says it was just an administrative lapse. "Ours is a small organisation and anyway the foreign contributions we get are negligible," he says. A spokesperson for the Times Group claimed it had not received any foreign funds in the past three years. As for Khoj and Sanchetana, though they have not submitted accounts, records of the Ford Foundation for April-September ’05 showed it had paid $2,250 to Khoj and $5,00,000 to Sanchetana. Joint secretary D.S. Mishra, dealing with foreign contributions, told Outlook that all accounts would be scrutinised before any clearance is given. "Once they submit records, we will go through them very carefully and then decide if they should be taken off from the list," he says.

Meanwhile, 35 NGOs have been banned forever from taking foreign funds or donations. "They have been prohibited for various reasons, ranging from diversion of funds for anti-national activities, misuse for personal gain or for purposes other than stated in their charter," points out Mishra. This category includes several outfits which claim to be working in the religious and social sectors. Predictably, they span the four corners of the country.

The Saraswati Charitable Trust in Delhi figures in this list with a total ban. The trust was involved in translation, printing and distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and sources say they were found to be misusing funds. When Outlook tried to contact the trust, at the Greater Kailash-II address given to the home ministry, it turned out to be false. The phone number given to the ministry was also fake. In a third list are NGOs banned till they set their accounts in order. It has 30 names. "These organisations will have to get government permission before accepting any more donations. Their accounts were not above board," an official explained.

Regulated by the Foreign Contributions Regulatory Act (FCRA) of 1976, manys NGOs had been getting away without maintaining proper records for long. For the home ministry, FCRA was more of a national security legislation, but it was weak on issues like tracking the source and utilisation of foreign donations. It has been trying to replace the FCRA with an act with more teeth—the Foreign Contributions (Management and Control) Bill, 2005.

The earlier NDA regime had started the process, but now the UPA has a group of ministers (GoM) to study the FCRA and suggest changes to it. Headed by home minister Shivraj Patil, its other members are finance minister P. Chidambaram, law minister H.R. Bhardwaj, minister for science Kapil Sibal and minister for overseas Indian affairs Vyalar Ravi. Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee has said the new bill would aim to check "activities undertaken by unscrupulous elements in the garb of overt welfare schemes and projects". The government, he said, was keen to ensure that associations engaged in anti-national and illegal activities are taken out. But, at the same time, there would be no hindrance to genuine NGOs engaged in developmental and welfare work.

The GoM, which has already had two meetings, went through the FCRA and found the law did not even have provision to derecognise an organisation. It could only debar a violating organisation from receiving foreign funds. The GoM wants a provision to de-recognise an organisation and bar it from functioning altogether. Moreover, it discussed issues like an institution having only one bank account—declared to the government—to receive foreign donations. It could be allowed more accounts only to disburse the amount for various projects.

The aim of the new law will be to facilitate the inflow of foreign contributions for genuine activities without compromising concerns over national security. Of the reported Rs 5,100 crore coming into the country, Delhi received the maximum of Rs 857 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu with Rs 800 crore and Andhra Pradesh with Rs 684 crore. Among organisations, Andhra’s Rural Development Trust was the highest recipient with Rs 126 crore.

While foreign funding is crucial for NGOs as well as educational institutions, the government is clear it wants a proper auditing mechanism. And it has stuck to its guns that it’ll spare none. Perhaps the reason why IIT Delhi and the IGNCA figure in the list of organisations banned from accepting foreign donations without first getting their books in order.