If the increased measures of the last few years against non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in India didn’t put enough pressure on them, the home ministry has issued a long, year-round scrutiny of their foreign-financing licenses. terminated the process. -end is sure to do that. Close on the heels of the news that The Missionaries of Charity group was denied renewal under its license Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (amended in 2020), the revelation comes that over four-fifths The applications of over 22,000 NGOs seeking renewal are yet to be scrutinized, until the government expands the deadline By midnight, they will all have lost their ability to access international funding in the new year. As experts have explained, NGOs must not only prove that the source of funding and their use of funds is reasonable but also establish that their work is not detrimental to the “public interest” or “national security”. Is – the vague term is left to the MHA officials to define. Therefore, the 2,000 NGOs under scrutiny may be denied renewal of their FCRA licenses as the Missionaries of Charity and its nearly 200 homes across the country are in the process.
Contrary to the government’s defense that it is only following Accounting and Auditing Procedures, it seems clear that the organizations particularly facing the ire of the Modi government are those that operate in specific “sensitive areas”: pollution and climate change issues, human rights, child labor and human slavery, health and religious NGOs, especially Christian and Islamic Charities, Prominent names among the nearly 20,000 NGOs that have lost their foreign funding licenses since 2014 include Amnesty International, Greenpeace India, people watch, European Climate Foundation, Compassionate International and Gates Foundation supported Public Health Foundation of India, If the government has enough evidence to prove that Indians are better off without the work of these internationally renowned organizations, it has yet to show it. It is now time for the government to provide a more transparent accounting of its actions against NGOs, which currently mirror those in China and Russia who have used their NGO laws to shut down dissent and criticism. Is. The crackdown on concerns of a “foreign hand” in India seems more hypocritical, given the relative ease with which political parties are able to access foreign funds for their campaigns through electoral bonds, under the same FCRA that allows NGOs. Wants to restrict money. At a time when India is coping with the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a prolonged economic crisis, the government’s moves have resulted in an estimated 30% drop in international non-profit contributions, to only the poorest and most vulnerable. Have been hurt. Recipients of philanthropic efforts, especially by NGOs working in areas where government aid fails to reach.
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