< Previous | Contents | Next >
India has witnessed boom in NGO sector. According to a conservative estimate by the CBI, there is 1 NGO for every 600 citizens in India. But there is accountability deficit with NGOs in India. Responding to a PIL filed in Supreme Court, CBI said that many don’t submit details of receipt of grant and spending to tax officials.
In a Supreme Court enquiry, major states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh could not provide details regarding NGOS working in their territory. This largely explains the regulatory mechanism of the NGOs in India. Supreme Court in 2017 ordered government to audit 30 lakh NGOs and voluntary organizations that receive public funds but fail to explain their spending.
A PIL has shown that NGOs do not have a transparent mechanism in place to monitor funding. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report that compiled state-wise data of 32 lakh NGOs revealed that only 10 percent of NGOs filed annual income and expenditure statements.
Intelligence Bureau, in a report accused "foreign-funded" NGOs of "serving as tools for foreign policy interests of western governments" by sponsoring agitations against nuclear and coal- fired power plants and anti-GMO agitation across the country. The NGOs, are said to be working through a network of local organizations to negatively impact GDP growth by 2–3%.
It also alleged that Greenpeace was leading a massive effort to take down India's coal-fired power plant and coal mining activity by using foreign funds to "create protest movements under 'Coal Network' umbrella at prominent coal block and coal-fired power plant locations in India.
In April 2015, the Government of India shared a list of over 42,000 NGOs with Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to check suspicious foreign funding amid the crackdown on some top international donors for flouting the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2011.
For the first time, the government clearly defined the sectors in which it has listed Christian missionaries, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim religious groups receiving foreign contribution besides other activities of NGOs in which funds are claimed to be utilized. There is also suspicion that money launderers could use the legitimate route to wire illicit money.