The Ministry of Home Affairs is going to give a big blow to Turkey, China and the conversion mafia. The Central government has decided to make amendments to make the FCRA law more effective. The purpose of these amendments is to stop the NGOs from indulging in anti-national activities and conversion.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act i.e. FCRA Act was recently introduced in the Lok Sabha for amendment. Under the amendment, the Aadhaar card number of its officers or a copy of passport or OCI card in case of a foreigner, will be required for registration of any NGO and more importantly, there will be a ban on donations received by public servants.
According to the draft bill, all NGOs under the FCRA will not be allowed to use more than 20 per cent of the total foreign funds as administrative expenses. Currently, the NGOs can use 50 per cent of its total foreign funds as administrative expenses. This amendment would be a major setback for the NGOs in terms of payment of salaries, professional fees, utility bills, travel and other such expenses.
After the new amendment, any NGO registered under the FCRA cannot transfer funds to another organisation after receiving donations from abroad. That is, NGOs working in groups will be controlled.
Additionally, all NGOs will be required to receive foreign donations in a designated FCRA account. That is, the government will also be able to monitor those who help these NGOs. NGOs registered under FCRA received foreign grants of more than Rs 58,000 crore between 2016-17 and 2018-19.
In India, many conversions and anti-India activities are carried out in the name of these foreign funds.
Therefore, the law enacted in 2011 has been amended twice. The Amendment Foreign Contribution (Contribution) Bill, 2010 was enacted to regulate the use of foreign donations of people or associations or companies.
Now, the new amendment of this law will not only shock the money transfer industry but also the funds coming from Pakistan and Turkey and the possible Chinese agents present in the country.
In a recent report, it was revealed how Turkey funded anti-India activities in India through NGOs and financed anti-India activities in Jammu and Kashmir and other states of the country. According to a Hindustan Times report, Turkey is funding radical Islamic organizations in all parts of the country, including Kerala and Kashmir. Intelligence reports state that Turkey is supporting radicalization of Indian Muslims and recruitment by radicals.
A second report states that the organizations through which Turkey is carrying out anti-India actions are directly linked to President Erdogan and his family.
In the North East too, China is trying to become active and is looking to conduct nefarious activities through these NGOs. Last year, there were reports of China stopping the hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh through the NGOs.
A few days ago, 13 NGOs saw their FCRA licenses getting canceled as they were found to be actively involved in the forced conversion of tribals. The Union Home Ministry has given instructions to cancel the FCRA license as well as freeze their respective bank accounts. At the same time last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs had canceled the FCRA license of more than 1300 NGOs.
The Central government has taken the right step by deciding to introduce the amendments bill in order to take major action against the NGOs involved in anti-national activities and religious conversion.