The crackdown: Is the government really at war with NGOs?

The government’s recent move to cancel the registration of nearly 9,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for failing to provide details of foreign funding for three years starting from financial year 2009-10 clearly shows that it has intensified its ongoing major crackdown on non-profit organisation operating in the country. The move came soon after the government suspended the licence of Greenpeace India and put US-based Ford Foundation on a security watch list, necessitating government approval to carry out their activities in the country.

A few months ago, the home ministry said lobby groups such as Greenpeace were damaging the country's economy by campaigning against genetically modified food, mining and power projects.

The Ford Foundation was put on a watch list following accusation that it was providing funding to a local group run by an activist who is a Modi critic. This has given some fodder to Modi’s critics to argue that the government's move to restrict the movement of foreign funding to local charities is an attempt to scuttle the voices of those, who oppose the government’s economic agenda.

The sudden spurt in the number of circulars issued by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) against organisations registered under The Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) in the recent past has proved that the ministry has intensified its scrutiny of NGOs.

In December, an RBI circular listed NGOs such as Danish International Development Agency, US-based Mercy Corps, US, Netherlands-based Hivos International and US-based Climate Work Foundation and Greenpeace in a list of those whose funds should be monitored by banks. Any NGO receiving funds from them will now need prior permission of the MHA before they bring in the funds. Also, from April 1, all organisations registered under the FCRA have to reapply for licence within a year.

The previous Manmohan Singh government too issued notices to NGOs that hadn’t filed their returns during 2006-2009. But critics say the crackdown has become more pronounced under the Modi government because it wants to stifle voices against its economic and growth agenda.

The government’s supporters say this increased scrutiny is to safeguard national security. The significant spurt in cross-border terrorist activities over the last couple of decades, which reared its ugly head following a series of terror strikes including 9/11 attacks in the US and 26/11 carnage in Mumbai, has forced the government to track every penny that is flown to the country by NGOs and think-tanks to ensure that the money is not used to fund terrorist or secessionist activities.

The government suspect that most of these organisations misuse funds by indulging in money laundering and campaigning against development work.
The strain in the relationship between bureaucracy and the civil society in the country that is increasingly being based on mutual suspicion and hostility is also cited as a reason for the crackdown on NGOs, which activist groups accuse as an attempt to silence free speech, opposing views and dissent.

Both Indian and foreign donors are shying away from engaging with NGOs which work in governance, environment and human rights as the government is seen increasingly hostile to and suspicious about activities in the space supported by donor money.

The government’s ‘blacklisted’ of foreign donors amply indicates that those working on environment issues and climate change, and those organisations which have an alternative vision and definition of growth elicit government ire more than others.

The fall in fund flow to the NGOs in the country in the recent past is also seen as a fallout of the deterioration in mobilising funds for charity and development aid because of the global economic recession as well as the projection of India as an ‘emerging economic power’.

Following the intensified government scrutiny, donor entities are likely to go slow on their funding plans till the political opposition to the government’s approach against charities becomes more visible and vocal in the public domain.

This may also lead to a situation where funding for NGO activities will become more decentralised—smaller donations from a large section of the civil society supporting social entities that genuinely pursue larger common good instead of a few big funders controlling fund flow.
While the government cannot be criticised for putting national security on the top of its agenda, whether voices of dissent should be stifled in a mammoth democracy like ours needs to be debated.

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