Coming, law to regulate NGO funding

Voluntar organisations (VOs) will soon have to comply with provisions of the RTI Act that require “proactive disclosures” of assets and expenditures, reports Srinand Jha.

Voluntar organisations (VOs) will soon have to comply with provisions of the RTI Act that require “proactive disclosures” of assets and expenditures. The feasibility of a central law for registration of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is also being examined. The move follows numerous complaints regarding the outdated ways of funding schemes, arbitrary procedures and the misuse of funds by NGOs.

HT Image

On May 31, the Hindustan Times had first reported (4,000 NGO funds files missing. Where’s the cash?) on how a massive financial scandal involving public money was being revealed at the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART). Around 4,000 files pertaining to unaccounted funds, running into hundreds of crores, had gone missing from the funding organisation’s office.

Plans for a major internal restructuring of CAPART were discussed at a meeting convened by the Prime Minister’s principal secretary TKA Nair on Friday.

Last month, the Planning Commission had formulated a new national policy that underlined the need for “an independent and a national-level self-regulatory agency” for the voluntary sector.