NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry on Friday defended its decision to put four US-based NGOs on the watch list and subject all foreign contributions received by them in India to prior clearance, stating that they were flouting norms by receiving remittances in personal accounts instead of their designated FCRA account.
As per the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010, all foreign contributions must be remitted to designated FCRA account of NGOs registered under the Act. The four US-based NGOs – reportedly, Avaaz, Bank Information Centre, Sierra Cluba and 350.org – were found to be remitting foreign funds to personal accounts instead of the designated FCRA account. “These NGOs are therefore liable for action initiated against them. It is expected of all NGOs, including foreign, to respect Indian laws and regulations and carry out their activities in accordance with the laid-down norms,” said the official.
The Reserve Bank of India has now put on hold any direct flow of funds to these NGOs and their representatives from abroad since each transaction has to be cleared on a case-by- case basis.
The official said the government could also ask the NGOs to shut down shop in India if they continued to flout FCRA norms.
The New York-based Avaaz works on public issues. Bank Information Centre (BIC) is an Washington-based NGO that tracks World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded projects worldwide, with a special focus on coal and energy projects in India.
350.org, also based in New York, works on climate-change while Sierra Club of California has been opposing coal imports from Australia for Indian thermal plants.
TOI | Jan 3, 2015
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