NGO Consultant

NGO Consultant
Odisha NGO Consultancy Services

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Dutch civil society groups prodded govt to confront Modi on foreign funding of NGOs

NEW DELHI: Days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Netherlands, Dutch civil society organisations involved in advocacy of human rights, Dalit upliftment and prevention of child-labour were actively lobbying with their government to confront Modi on the alleged marginalisation of minorities, restrictions on foreign funding of NGOs and violation of labour rights in India.

India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN), a human rights organisation claiming to be dedicated to improving the lives of the marginalised in south Asia, wrote an open letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on June 24, drawing his attention to the increase in "marginalisation of minority groups such as Dalits, Christians and Muslims". ICN director Gerard Oonk, who signed the letter, particularly referred to cow vigilantism, while accusing the Indian government of largely ignoring related violence.

"We urge you to ask PM Modi to actively promote the rights of minorities and to speak out against the violence of the Hindu extremist groups," wrote Oonk.

Also complaining against restrictions imposed on Indian NGOs getting foreign funding under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010, ICN warned that this might "disproportionately affect those organisations engaged in critical human rights work, those which address issues of government accountability and good governance, or represent vulnerable and minority populations or views". A special mention was made of the recent FCRA ban on Navsarjan trust, an ICN partner that claims to work for Dalit rights but is now unable to receive money from foreign donors.

 


Incidentally, the ICN's comment that freedom of critical human rights and environmental organisations working in India is under pressure comes amid four key Dutch NGOs being put in the prior permission category over the past few years. This means that all their donations to Indian NGOs must be approved by the Union home ministry. These list include Cordaid, which Indian agencies claim was involved in activities aimed at creating unrest in north-east India by lobbying against violence against women, dams and oil-drilling. Another Dutch NGO, Hivos, Indian intelligence agencies point out, was funding some north-east insurgent groups. Similarly, IKV Pax Christi, was put on prior permission after Indian agencies reported that it had been funding Kashmiri organisations and some fringe separatists between 2009 and 2012. ICCO, also among the 21 foreign NGOs in the prior permission list, is known to take over funding lines of the other Dutch NGOs in times of trouble with Indian tax authorities or FCRA authorities.

Interestingly, Hivos and ICCO fund ICN, an intelligence source told TOI.

As part of lobbying in Dutch parliament ahead of Modi's visit, its member Voordewind (Christian Union), submitted a set of parliament questions to Dutch PM and minister of foreign affairs on June 22. In one of these questions, he asked if Modi's attention would be drawn to the "restrictive FCRA, which causes Dutch development organisations to face major problems in financing their Indian partner organisations".

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/dutch-civil-society-groups-prodded-govt-to-confront-modi-on-foreign-funding-of-ngos/articleshow/59342684.cms