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Govt To Probe Terror Links Over Failure To Reveal Foreign Funds. More than 350 foreign-funded organisations in the city are under the scanner of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) after they failed to submit the mandatory details of foreign contributions for the year 2011-12. INN Published three-series investigative story in these columns recently, as an impact MHA ordered enquiry on the entire episode.
The MHA has put up details of these organizations on its website under the category ‘FC-6 returns not filed’ recently because the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) says sources of funding must be disclosed.
“When the country is hit by terrorist attacks regularly, it is imperative that we know the source of funding as many of these funding agencies could be linked to terror groups,” said a senior MHA official.
Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh stands first in the country with about 2,400 such defaulting institutions. Last year, 670 NGOs from the state lost their licences for various violations. It is estimated that foreign donations worth more than Rs 1,500 crore finds its way into the state every year and the recipients are mostly NGOs with religious affiliations.
However, experts feel that an effective mechanism is not in place to keep a tab on these transactions. “There is no separate manpower or machinery in the home department to look into these foreign funds. The department usually acts after receiving some complaints on specific organisation,” said K Padmanabhaiah, a former Union home secretary. “I have come across a case where an NGO was registered in the city but later went untraceable. There could be many such cases where money is being misused and the state government is also not delegated to look into such cases,” he said.
With MHA sources not only looking at cancelling the licences but also probing terror angle in the whole issue, there is also a demand for thorough probe on all these organisations. “Why do they need hundreds of crores of rupees and where exactly the money is being spent? The government should immediately act towards checking the foreign transaction details of each and every NGO in the state. I have been suspecting for some time now that the foreign funds are being used for subversive activities,” said M Padmanabha Reddy, a former IFS officer.
“These NGOs have started taking it easy and the reason why organisations could not file returns on time is because they have to ‘adjust’ not only the source of income but also expenditure,” he said.
