PC revives NGO funding bill

Home Minister P. Chidambaram has decided to put the proposal for a tighter foreign contribution regulation law for the voluntary sector on the table.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram has decided to put the proposal for a tighter foreign contribution regulation law for the voluntary sector on the table.

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The Home Ministry had put the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill into the deep freezer after the voluntary sector — dependent on foreign funding — complained that the new law would choke them. Nearly 2,000 NGOs received foreign funding to the tune of Rs 11,000 crore in 2006-07.

The Home Minister told a panel of MPs that a group of ministers formed to examine the legislation would have its first meeting in January.

NGOs are uneasy at the prospect of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill — introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2006 — becoming a reality in the near future.

“It will result in harassment of small organisations and encourage corruption,” said Rajesh Tandon, chairman of Voluntary Action Network of India, a national-level coalition of NGOs.

Officials, however, insist that since NGOs were currently registered in perpetuity, there number had swelled to 34,000. But last year, only 18,000 of them submitted audited records as required under the law.

“We do not even know if the rest are defunct or violating the law,” an official said. Chidambaram intends encourage organisations to approach the government every time they have to receive foreign funds.

The Bill would make it mandatory for banks to submit annual reports on foreign funds received by its customers.