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The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is getting more vigilant over foreign funding to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and has asked the home ministry to tighten rules of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). 
 
Acting on the instructions, the home ministry will scrutinise foreign-funded NGOs based on recommendations of Intelligence Bureau. 
 
The home ministry expedited its review of FCRA rules after the PM's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra wrote to Home Secretary LC Goyal asking him to put a mechanism in place "without any delay" to monitor foreign funding of NGOs. 
 
The PMO wants to put in place new measures by June 15 in the interest of India's "economic security", officials told Economic Times, explaining the urgency of the matter. The FCR rules were brought in by the Congress-led Indian government after FCRA was enacted in 2010. 
 
Under the proposed changes, NGOs may have to provide details of all foreign funding within two days to ensure transparency. 
 
"NGOs would be mandated to have a website on which they will be required to put out the details of each foreign inflow for public viewing within 48 hours of receiving the funds. This will include the source of funds, the intended activity for which the funds are expected to be used and the details of its partner NGOs in that specific project," a senior government official told ET. Annual audited reports for previous years should also be made public, the official said. 
 
The official added that the 'oversight' part of the new measures would allow the government to keep close tabs on NGOs through stricter checks and inspections. 
 
A senior ministry official told ET that the PMO communication to home ministry had stressed the "need for effective linkage between MHA, Reserve Bank of India and banks for effective monitoring" of NGOs. 
 The move comes amid criticism faced by PM Narendra Modi over his clamp down on foreign-funded NGOs. The US-based <keyword id="57946" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ford-Foundation">Ford Foundation</keyword>, one of the biggest non-profit organisations across the world, was put on a watch list by home ministry. 
 
(Image: PIB)

Modi government to keep an eagle eye on foreign-funded NGOs

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said Indian Government’s crackdown on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) will have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and expression.
 

	He expressed his concerns over Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government’s action of reducing operational space of NGOs-like Ford Foundation and Greenpeace-in the country.
 

	Verma said if the government did not like the reports and answers by the NGOs, it should debate and discuss it.
 

	He cited Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and BR Ambedkar, saying discussions were a must for a democratic country like India.
 

	"Those that act peacefully to seek change are not anti-government. They are for better government, and by seeking to improve the government they strengthen national security, not weaken it," Verma said, while talking on India-US strategic relationship. 
 

	Recently, the US State Department had expressed concerns over Indian Government’s restrictions on activities of the NGOs.
 

	News agency Reuters reported Greenpeace was facing shutdown as India froze its funds in charity crackdown. Officials told Reuters that the charity was misreporting funds and using unaccounted foreign aid to stall development projects.
 

	The NGO has been campaigning against coal mining, genetically modified food and nuclear power projects. In its defence, Greenpeace said the Government wanted to silence its critics.
 

	Likewise, India has also put U.S.-based Ford Foundation on a security watch list and is investigating it for funding a local group run by a prominent activist and Modi critic. 
	 
	(Image: Reuters)

Modi Government’s crackdown on NGOs isn’t pleasing the US envoy

New Delhi, Mar 3 () Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday exhorted state-owned enterprises to select genuine NGOs, set accountable targets and proceed with a definitive action plan to achieve favourable outcomes through their CSR activities.Addressing a conference on "Transformation of Aspirational Districts - CSR Initiatives by CPSEs", the minister stressed that the objective of corporate social responsibility (CSR) should be the upliftment of villages.He underlined the importance of having "a genuine NGO, definite action plan, accountable targets, participation (of people)".Recalling his childhood years, Javadekar, who holds the portfolios of Information and Broadcasting; and Environment, Forest &amp; Climate Change, said he has witnessed poverty firsthand and therefore understands the country.Department of Public Enterprises in December, 2018 issued guidelines to all the central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) for spending 60 per cent of their CSR funds on a particular theme every year with reference to aspirational districts.The theme for the year 2019-20 is health-care, nutrition and school education, while for 2018-19 it was health-care and school education.Every year, the average CSR spend of CPSEs is about Rs 3,500 crore and 60 per cent of this works out to be Rs 2,100 crore and this amount can bring about significant improvement in the areas of health-care, nutrition and school education sectors in the aspirational districts.The Aspirational Districts Programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January, 2018 with the objective to improve the socio-economic indicator of 112 relatively less developed districts in the country. It is a significant initiative for achieving the vision of New India 2020-22 through the guiding principle of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas. RSN BAL

Javadekar exhorts PSUs to select genuine NGOs, set accountable targets for CSR

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> is struggling to bring its rampant COVID-19 outbreak under control. </li><li>Around the world people and companies have donated oxygen and PPE, and millions of dollars.</li><li>But a law is stopping charities from distributing aid to smaller groups, making it hard to reach those in need.</li></ul>Donations to help India fight <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-urged-india-to-impose-covid-lockdown-modi-refused-2021-5">its raging COVID-19 outbreak</a> are flooding in from around the world, but a new law is preventing many nonprofits from using the money effectively.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government <a href="https://www.cof.org/news/new-indian-fcra-amendments-impact-foreign-grants-indian-ngos#:~:text=A%20new%20law%20that%20was,U.S.%2Dbased%20foundations%20and%20corporations.">passed an amendment to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act</a> last September. The amendment effectively prevents local NGOs from redistributing donations to smaller aid groups.India is currently in crisis, with authorities reporting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-first-country-to-record-400000-single-day-coronavirus-cases-2021-5">record-breaking daily new cases</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-hospitals-report-dire-oxygen-shortages-coronavirus-battle-2021-4">shortages of oxygen tanks</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-indias-covid-19-surge-die-stretchers-hospitals-2021-4">hospital beds</a>.People around the world have raised millions for India, but in many cases, that money is being held up and not reaching those in need, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/business/india-covid-donations.html">according to The New York Times</a> and <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/foreign-aid-regulations-donor-fatigue-stymie-india-covid-19-response-99778">Devex</a>, an international-development news site.It is not clear where the aid goes instead.According to The Times, the Indian government has instead encouraged international donors to send aid to official charities, including one controlled by Modi and government leaders. The government has not given clarity on how the aid is being used, The Times reported.<div type="image" title="2021 05 01T033417Z_1_LYNXMPEH401GR_RTROPTP_4_HEALTH CORONAVIRUS INDIA.JPG" height="1643" width="3287" msid="82602762" hostid="261"></div>As it is, all nonprofits in India require a license to accept international donations, with the process of getting one fraught with red tape and subject to long delays.India-based nonprofits also need to open bank accounts with the state-owned State Bank of India to be eligible to receive funds from abroad.In one example cited by Devex, a small charity named the Hemkunt Foundation is working to transport oxygen supplies to cities across India, yet it is unable to access funds donated from abroad as it doesn't have the correct license.<h2>'Everybody is being stymied'</h2>Experts and charities have said that the limits on distributing aid were preventing them from using it effectively. The Times reported that the September amendment was passed with little warning. "Hundreds of international donors, businesses, and people from the diaspora are running around in circles and trying to help," Ingrid Srinath, director of the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy at Ashoka University in Sonipat, India, told Devex."Everybody is being stymied.""This is slowing down the speed and agility of the response. A bigger organization such as Oxfam could help smaller NGOs on the ground but they can't," she said.Last year Voluntary Action Network India described the aid as "a death blow to development relief," according to <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/parliament-monsoon-session-fcra-bill-will-be-a-death-blow-to-relief-community-support-work-of-ngos-6605341/">The Indian Express</a>.A group of 13 nonprofits recently wrote a letter to the Indian and US governments highlighting that the law had "paralyzed" the charity sector and would "divert scarce time, bandwidth and human resources" away from helping people, The Times reported."The organizations best placed to respond to community needs at the grass roots in a timely, agile manner are unable to access these donors," the letter said, per The Times.Nonprofits in India are actively seeking a waiver to the country's rules on accepting foreign donations, and government officials are considering the proposal, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/amended-fcra-norms-likely-to-be-withheld-following-pandemic/articleshow/82303544.cms">according to The Economic Times.</a>"Everyone was caught off guard, especially given the role that NGOs played in COVID relief last year," Nishant Pandey, chief executive of the American India Foundation, told The New York Times."To come with an amendment like that in the middle of pandemic was problematic."

A recently-imposed law in India is preventing local charities from accessing foreign donations, as the country keeps struggling with COVID-19

Perturbed by the number of government advertisements that features cabinet ministers and other state leaders, appearing in national and regional dailies, the <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> today barred the politicians from using their photos. 
	 
	However, the court clarified that the government could only use the photographs of the Prime Minister, President and the Chief Justice of India after getting the approval from these three personalities. 
	 
	According to a media report, the apex court noted that regular use of pictures of personalities could result in developing personality cults. The ruling implied that state governments will not be able to use images of their chief minister and governors in their advertisements. 
	 The ruling comes in following petitions filed by several NGOs including one filed by former <keyword id="6356115" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="AAP">AAP</keyword> leader <keyword id="6368850" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prashant-Bhushan">Prashant Bhushan</keyword> in the court. NGOs have asked the court to protect tax payers money from being used for gaining footage. 
	 The court has ordered a three-member committee to ensure that the directives are implemented and followed. It is worth noting that the government had spent over Rs 40 crore on advertising <keyword id="6354814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-minister-Narendra-Modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</keyword>’s <keyword id="6361202" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swachh-Bharat">Swachh Bharat</keyword> campaign in November 2014. 
	 
	Interestingly, the court did exempt the use of photos of deceased leaders. As per the media report, the court has warned the governments to abstain from excessive advertising of its schemes as well as celebrating its political leaders with advertisements notifying both their birth and death anniversaries. 
	 
	The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has allocated an overall Rs 170 crore as advertising budget for the current fiscal year. 
	 
	Representational Image: Indiatimes.com

Wasting taxpayer’s
money? Know why Supreme Court ordered Govt to only use photos of President, Prime
Minister and CJI of India

At a time when people have started questioning government’s expenditure in advertisements, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=modi">Narendra Modi</a> government is all set to initiate a massive advertisement campaign in print media and on radio and television glorifying the anniversary of the ‘<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Swachh-Bharat-Abhiyan">Swachh</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Swachh-Bharat-Abhiyan"> Bharat Mission’</a>. 
 
On October 2, Prime Minister Modi’s pet project of cleanliness completes a year. To commemorate the success, Modi’s ministers have received plan blueprint from the PM himself. 
 
Modi has formed a team of ministers to plan a 17-day anniversary celebration between September 25 and October 11. The team includes Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Road Transport Minister <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Nitin+Gadkari">Nitin Gadkari</a>, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore. 
 
Apart from advertisements, there would be appraising performance of all the states and printing the achievements in booklets. The chief ministers of the states would also be roped in and encouraged to conduct walkathons with the high-profile Swachh Bharat ambassadors. The states have also been asked to rope in governors to administer the "Swachhta pledge" to government officials to keep their surroundings clean. 
 
The government will also honour NGOs and volunteers who have contributed in the cleanliness programme. Swachh Bharat ambassadors would also visit households where toilets have been built under the scheme. 
 
 A senior government official told The Economic Times, "We plan to organise events in states and in the capital with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan brand ambassadors like Baba Ramdev, actor Kamal Hassan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.” 
 
(Image: PIB)

Swachh Bharat’s first anniversary will be huge! Modi is ensuring the Govt goes all out

In a push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Clean Ganga’ plan, the Union Government will start making efforts this week to implement <keyword id="2413594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Namami-Gange-project">Namami Gange project</keyword>, which it claims will bring visible change to the waters of the sacred river. 
 
The Namami Gange project is fully funded by the Indian Government for which it has okayed Rs 20,000 crore. 
 
Under this scheme, intensive river surface cleaning will be taken up in 10 identified cities along the banks of the holy river. Floating debris will be collected and cleaned off the Ganga river surface to see a visible difference in the cleanliness levels of the river waters. 
 
It will also cover ghat cleaning and drain-river confluence for ten priority locations is being prepared by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). 
River surface cleaning boats, trash skimmer machines and trash booms will be pressed into service to collect floating material. 
 
The Modi government will invite global tenders this week for river surface cleaning. The ten identified cities are Haridwar, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Mathura and Vrindavan, Garhmukteshwar, Patna, Kolkata, Sahibgunj and Nabadwip. 
 
Meanwhile, officials at the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation told Economic Times that aerators will be plied into action at river ghats to keep the gathering moss away. 
 
ET reported that the ministry wrote to the Central Pollution Control Board to install real-time monitors at 118 locations on Ganga where a nallah meets the river (drain-river confluence) to ensure that the cleaning is actually taking place and water quality is maintained. Ten of these have already been started on pilot basis. 
 
Moreover, the project will be backed by a mobile application- Bhuvan Ganga, which will enable people to see the difference at the surface of the river. 
 
This ISRO-backed India specific GIS tool will ensure real-time, public monitoring of pollution at the river bed on ground situations. The government is set to launch a Bhuvan Ganga app whereby real-time images of the Ganga can be captured by the public through smartphones and uploaded right away to check for any river surface pollution. 
 
This will bring in public participation as well as officials will be held accountable, if any laxity pointed out. 
 
Another public participation initiative- Ganga Volunteer Corps – which is yet to be launched initiative would channelise public volunteer services for cleaning of ghats and generating awareness. 
 
The Nirmal Ganga Bhagidaari project will see NGOs being involved in Ganga cleaning. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Narendra Modi is ensuring you will get to take a dip in a visibly ‘Clean Ganga’ in the next few weeks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy and political ideology being mismatch have raised new question mark in US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report. As reported by The Economic Times, USCIRF has slammed the BJP Government on the 'Ghar Vapasi' campaign and the violence against Christians. The only respite for Modi is his statement in mid-February in support of religious freedom, which has been deemed by USCIRF as "positive development". 
 
The annual report of USCIRF mentions, since Modi has come to power, religious minority communities have been subject to "derogatory comments by politicians linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)" and "numerous violent attacks and forced conversions by Hindu nationalist groups" such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). 
 
 
In a chapter on India, the report reads, “The states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan tend to have the greatest number of religiously-motivated attacks and communal violence incidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and religious leaders, including from the Muslim, Christian, and Sikh communities, attributed the initial increase to religiously-divisive campaigning in advance of the country's 2014 general election.” 
 
“Religious minority communities frequently accuse the RSS, VHP and other Hindu-nationalist groups and individuals of intolerance, discrimination, and violence against them, the report adds. Moreover, religious minority communities voice concern that high-ranking BJP members protect or provide support to these groups. In light of these concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in support of religious freedom made in mid-February 2015 was a positive development," the USCIRF report further read. 
 
As per the news report, USCIRF report adds that the Muslim community in India also has experienced increased harassment and violence. "It faces significant hate campaigns perpetrated by Hindu nationalist groups and local and state politicians that include wide- spread media propaganda accusing Muslims of being terrorists; spying for Pakistan; forcibly kidnapping, converting, and marrying Hindu women; and disrespecting Hinduism by slaughtering cows. Additionally, the Muslim community reports that its mosques are monitored and young boys and men are detained indiscriminately under the pretext of countering terrorism. Muslims also complain that most Indian states violate their religious freedom by restricting or banning cow slaughter, which is required for Muslims during Eid al-Adha," the report has said. 
 
In what may sound rough to Modi’s liking for the US, the financial daily report, the USCIRF has further urged the US government to urge the central Indian government to press states that have adopted anti-conversion laws to repeal or amend them to conform with internationally recognised human rights standards and make clear US opposition to laws that restrict freedom of thought and association. It has further asked the US to urge Indian government to publicly rebuke government officials and religious leaders that make derogatory statements about religious communities, as per the USCIRF report. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

The US didn’t like India’s ‘ghar
wapsi’

<keyword id="6354814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-minister-Narendra-Modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</keyword> did not forget the tasks he had assigned to different departments. 
 In January this year, Modi had set up eight groups of secretaries for concentrated attention on areas such as <keyword id="6439829" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Good-Governance">good governance</keyword>, inclusive growth, employment generation, education and health, Swachh Bharat and energy efficiency. 
 
He had asked the bureaucrats to "get cracking" and deliver results. 
 
Now, it is review time for all the departments and Modi will assess whether the departments brought about a transformative change and changed lives of people. 
 NITI Aayog CEO <keyword id="6358887" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amitabh-Kant">Amitabh Kant</keyword> will make a detailed presentation to Modi in the presence of all council of ministers of the cabinet at a comprehensive review meeting on Friday. 
 
"Group of secretaries had suggested transformative ideas to PM to push economic growth in the country. Following this, NITI had set action plans for all departments and have been monitoring progress on each of them," a senior NITI Aayog official told ET. 
 
“Friday's presentation to Modi is on the progress by each department on these action plans and inter-ministerial hurdles, if any, in implementing these,” the person added. 
 
Meanwhile, Modi will review departments based on good governance, employment generation, farmer-centric initiatives, education and health, etc. 
 
(Image: PIB)

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Modi government to keep an eagle eye on foreign-funded NGOs

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