The Hindu Business Line : NGOs worried over new Bill on foreign contributions

CIVIL society organisations have expressed the fear that the new Bill on foreign contributions would restrict, regulate and strangulate non-governmental organisations and make them non-functional.

The Bill, known as Foreign Contribution (Management and Control) Bill, 2005, has been displayed on the Web site of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, seeking response from the public and other stakeholders.

The Government had not taken NGOs into confidence in preparing the final document, Mr Ali Asghar of Confederation of Voluntary Associations, and Mr Shiv Kumar, Voluntary Action Network India, said in a press release.

Stating that civil society organisations understood and supported the Government's security concerns, they objected to defining NGOs as "risk customers" by a senior Enforcement Directorate official.

The Bill, they said, covered a lot of issues that concerned NGOs.

Citing some provisions of the Bill, they said it considered interest accrued on foreign contribution as also foreign contribution.

"Since the interest is accrued in India it should be treated as Indian money and not foreign money," a press release quoting them said.

The Bill mandated that the certificate of registration granted should be valid for five years and prior permissions would be valid for specific amounts for the said purpose. The NGOs felt that once granted, there should be no justification for asking them to seek renewals.

The clause granting the registering authority the right to cancel the certificate would put NGOs under constant threat of closure or suspension.

On the redress of grievances, the NGO leaders felt that the process of appealing (in respect of refusal of registration) should be laid down in the Act. "It should be time-bound," they said.

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