Greater transparency and accountability of NGOs is imperative. In an attempt to tighten the noose around NGOs, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed that in addition to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) clearance, they will also have to inform the RBI in detail about the nature of foreign funds and their usage.
This is certainly an effective control, vigilance and superintendence over the working of NGOs in their relation with the civil society, Government and their funding agencies. It is also not desirable that the Government should always go after the voluntary organisations like a hound after hare which would kill their spirit and initiative.
An NGO may be defined as any association having a definite cultural, economic, educational, religious or social cause or any non-profit voluntary citizens group which is organised taking specific issues, such as education, environment conservation, social welfare, rural development, sanitation, healthcare, human rights and legal aid etc on local, national or international basis.
Volunteerism is defined as a voluntary spirit of individuals and communities to make interventions for community good to address various issues/ problems and disadvantages in the society and play a significant role in shaping the human civilisation at each stage of its growth.
The term ‘volunteer’ is normally used to denote someone who renders unpaid service to a good cause and a voluntary organisation ensures collective action with division of responsibilities amongst its members. For instance, civil liberty is one of the leading human rights organisations in the UK, campaigning to protect the civil liberties and promote human rights for everyone.
It is heartening to note that even the United Nations has recognised the contribution of NGOs, voluntary organisations and non-profit social action groups working in social sectors for the welfare of the people.
It is really a stupendous task to execute different welfare oriented schemes and programme initiated by the Government and therefore, it is a welcome step that the NGOs have taken up the work to carry forward on their own the objectives of the Government. It is worthwhile to mention that Article-71 and Sub Article-10 spell out the word ‘NGO’ in the United Nations Charter.
The UN has recognised that the contributions of’NGOs’ in social welfare activities are enormous not only in the areas of promotion, protection and safeguarding human rights but also in terms of contribution to the field of free legal services, environmental protection, public health, sanitation, pollution free air and clean drinking water etc. Besides funding to the NGO by the State, Central Government and foreign funding agencies, they generate funds on their own to a reasonable extent.
It is worthwhile to mention that very recently the Government has solicited the assistance of the NGO groups by way of PPP mode (public -private partnership) for execution of different welfare schemes and projects.
In a welfare State like ours it would be practically impossible for the Government to deliver services to the society without participation and involvement of social action groups. In view of their commitment and dedication, they are in a position to evolve strategy for bringing changes in social and economic structures, giving access to the people to justice delivery system and for their economic goods.
The NGOs conduct socio-legal surveys to investigate and identify the injustices and violation of human rights. They study about the effects of Government policies and development programme on the people.
The NGOs help people resort to the judicial process for enforcing their rights, particularly for the needy and down-trodden through public interest litigation, when the Government or the bureaucratic machinery fails to respond to the demands of the people.
They promote group consciousness, group dialogue and social action through a massive legal literacy programme. The voluntary organisations train up paralegals or barefoot lawyers who would identity the problems of the poor, give voice to their demands, protest against injustice, alert them against deprivation and exploitation and help them to use law as an instrument to assert or defend their rights. Significantly the NGOs across the country have given the legal service movement a new thrust to make it a dynamic force for the transformation of society.
It is gratifying to note that even the judiciary as one of the organs of the State has recognised the role of NGOs to further the objective of the Government to cater to the needs of the civil society under different schemes, plans and programmes.
The Apex Court in the case of Centre for legal Research v/s State of Kerala has held that in order to achieve the objective of Article-39(A) the State must encourage and support the participation of voluntary organisations or social action groups in operating legal aid programmes which should be free from Government control. It is remarkable that regarding the role and position of NGOs in the USA, a constitutional tort is redressed in two ways.
There is available a statutory cause of action under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, for a violation of the constitutional rights and other rights based on common law principles. American courts have made some important progress in this regard.
However all said and done, in recent times there has been mushroom growth of NGOs/ voluntary organisations and social action groups who are under scanner.
So far as the figures regarding receipt of money from overseas funding agencies by NGOs are concerned, it is revealed from an annual report of MHA that on the whole the voluntary organisations have received more than `11, 500 crore.
The report has also given the statistics that by March 31, 2013, in our country 43,527 NGOs have been registered. They have received foreign grants of `945.77 crore for rural development projects, `929.22 crore for child welfare, `824.11 crore for construction and repair of educational institutions and `539.14 crore for research projects.
In view of the fact that the voluntary organisations are receiving huge amount of grants from foreign countries which are mostly unaccounted for and some funds are also not used for the purpose for which the NGO’s have received the same, time has come that there must be regulation and control on such foreign funds.
It is also felt in different quarters that a national policy in this regard has to be evolved to encourage the NGOs to ensure transparency henceforth regarding such transaction. This is absolutely necessary because the huge unaccounted and unused foreign grants in the hands of NGOs may slip into the hands of terrorists and Maoists and criminal elements which may be used by them affecting the security of the country.
It is felt in different quarters that there should be a regulatory mechanism to watch the performance and style of functioning of the NGOs. The Government had a review about the funding position of the NGOs and more particularly, regarding the inflow of funds to some of the NGOs from foreign countries.
Very recently, the Government has banned the direct foreign funding of the NGOs. Voluntary organisations will now have to fulfil stringent regulatory norms and show compliance report. Now there is an eagle eye on overseas funds flowing in favour of NGOs.
This is seen as the beginning of a process to block flow of foreign aid to NGOs which the Government perceives are engaged in stalling developmental activities in the country. As per this exercise, the Centre has cracked down on NGO “Greenpeace” and placed on its radars thousands of other voluntary organisations receiving foreign aid.
The MHA has directed the RBI to take prior permission of the Home Ministry’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) Department before clearing any foreign aid.
(The writer is a former CBI Special Judge and former Professor of law at lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie)