New Delhi: Greenpeace is determined to keep operating in India although the government has frozen its bank accounts, leaving it with no funds to pay hundreds of staff members, its country head said on Thursday.
In April, the home ministry blocked foreign funding to the Indian arm of the environmentalist group as part of a wider crackdown against international and domestic non-governmental organisations which were found to have misreported foreign aid.
"The government has made it impossible for us to operate, but our employees are willing to work without pay for a month because they see that the larger commitment has always been to fight against injustice," said Samit Aich, head of Greenpeace India.
Greenpeace workers - who have campaigned against genetically modified crops, nuclear power and toxic waste management - said their activism did not hurt the country's economy.
Mr Aich said the government's attempts to silence rights groups were attracting fresh funds and their support was growing despite the crackdown. Greenpeace says it has more than 75,000 domestic donors but all of its local bank accounts have been blocked.
Ministry officials say an audit of Greenpeace's accounts showed that Rs 60 million ($943,000) in foreign funds were not accounted for and the money was paid directly to activists to obstruct development projects.
"We have evidence to show that Greenpeace was paying villagers to become obstructionists. The accounts in which they receive domestic aid have not been frozen, so why are they complaining?" BK Prasad, a senior home ministry official, told Reuters.
Mr Prasad, who is overseeing the crackdown against NGOs, said the action against Greenpeace in April exposed the extent of fraud in civil society groups.
The government has also placed the Ford Foundation, a prominent private US foundation that provides grants to Indian NGOs, on a watch list.
It has also appointed auditors to investigate the finances of charities funded by the foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.
© Thomson Reuters 2015