This Article is From Apr 28, 2015

Home Ministry Cancels Registration of 9000-Odd Organisations For Failing to File Returns on Foreign Funds

Home Ministry Cancels Registration of 9000-Odd Organisations For Failing to File Returns on Foreign Funds

Representational image.

New Delhi:

The home ministry has cancelled the registration of nearly 9000 organisations that receive foreign funds, saying they have failed to comply with the rules and submit annual returns.

Altogether, 10,343 associations had not submitted annuals returns since 2009-12 as stipulated, said a letter from the home ministry.

The letter said the ministry sent notices to all by October last year, but only 229 associations replied and filed the details.

The registration certificates all of the remaining 8,975 organisations were cancelled. The replies from the 229 associations were being examined on a case to case basis, the letter said.

According to the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act, organisations receiving foreign funds have to detail the contributions received, their source and purposes for which they were used, at the end of each financial year.

But the registrations of the organisations that failed to do so were being cancelled for "violation of Section 18 read with Rule 17(1)," said the letter from the ministry, which was also sent to the district magistrates and the Reserve Bank of India.

Non-governmental organisations and lobby groups have been under government's radar since last year after a report by the Intelligence Bureau said they had been preventing economic growth by campaigning against power projects, mining and genetically modified food.

Last week, the home ministry placed the Ford Foundation on its watch list, saying it wanted to ensure that its funds were utilised for "bonafide welfare activities without compromising on concerns of national interest and security".

Earlier this year, the government barred Greenpeace India from receiving foreign funds, alleging it has "prejudicially affected the economic interest of the state".

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