Indian NGOs need to acquire fund-raising skills

Experts Root for a professional approach to fund-raising for better social service and accountability

NewDelhi– Working to promote a good cause sounds exciting to many. However one of the biggest challenges a social enterprise faces is raising funds to sustain its good inititiaves. With international funding drying up in India, NGOs today realise this fact more than ever before, and are therefore seeking professional ways to raise funds within the country. The Resource Alliance, an affiliate of RA UK helping NGOs in their resource mobilization efforts, believes in imparting skills to them in order to make them sustainable in the long run.

“NGO workers are excellent grassroots level workers. But they lack good marketing and communication skills. And that is why many good organisations face perpetual fund crisis,” says Maj. Gen. Surat Sandhu, Chair, The Resource Alliance

Experts are stressing the need for more professionalized ways of fund raising for better programme implementation & accountability among not-for-profit organisations in India. Most NGOs in India are dependent on funding and support from government and international donors and sadly have not been able to develop their own visions and organisational goals. This (over)dependency can be attributed to historical reasons and the lack of professional fundraisers available in the country.

In the West, trained fundraisers are able to raise billions of dollars each year for the not for profit sector. However, in India only about a billion dollars (Rs 6 to 7,000 crores) are raised every year by NGOs in spite of the potential being over $ 15 Billion a year.

“Capacity building of young fundraisers has now become a priority, which alone can make NGOs sustainable, accountable, transparent and credible. India boasts the biggest middle class population. Indian corporations are also looking to invest in CSR. They need to develop skills to tap indvidual and corporate donors,” adds Maj. Gen. Sandhu.

More than $ 3 billion dollars come into the country through the FCRA route as foreign funding but not even a small fraction of 1% of this is spent on training, skill building and up gradation in fundraising. Foreign funding has also brought in certain complacency amongst NGOs which, while getting these funds have not developed their indigenous fundraising. NGOs getting foreign funds need to realize that this funding is not likely to continue for ever and they need to invest in local fundraising which alone can move them to sustainability and independence.

However there are also NGOs who have done remarkably well in this area. For example, Save Life Foundation has tied up with many corporations to raise the issue of road safety in the recent past.

The Company’s Act 2013 has facilitated the availability of funds from the Corporates for development work thereby creating massive opportunities for NGOs to raise and use these funds. In a scenario such as this, it is all the more imperative for NGOs to sharpen their skills in resource mobilization and enable themselves to access the funds from the Corporates.

“SRF Foundation being an implementing NGO, set up by parent corporate body for its CSR action, commands respect from the community because of its grassroots work. While carrying CSR mandate of parent body, it also attracts funding from other corporate bodies by building collaborations and taking care of quality program delivery, branding and employee volunteering etc.” says Dr. Y. Suresh Reddy of Gurgaon based SRF Foundation.

Latest economic surveys have revealed an increase in the level of disposal income among households in India followed by over a million high net worth individuals (87,000 millionaires in dollar terms) who remain untapped. Many would wish to support if approached professionally. This untapped potential further expedites the need for creating fundraisers urgently in India.
In order to address this urgent, important but ignored need, The Resource Alliance does many programmes and is also holding an International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) Asia 2015 from 24-27 August this year.

About The Resource Alliance India

The Resource Alliance India is an affiliate of international not-for-profit organisation The Resource Alliance UK which is working globally to build the capacity of civil society organisations towards greater financial sustainability. This is done through workshops, seminars, accredited courses that are run in partnership with business schools and consulting and advisory services.

Source: http://www.nagpurtoday.in/indian-ngos-need-to-acquire-fund-raising-skills/06091233

NGOs: How the new rules will check foreign funding?

All NGOs will have to submit details of their foreign funding within 48 hours of receiving them says a note from the Prime Minister's Office. There is a proposal to amend the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act which makes the entire foreign funding process to NGOs in India more transparent. Several NGOs in India have come under the scanner following an explosive Intelligence Bureau report on how they were hurting the country's economy.

The Prime Minister's Office has instructed the Home Ministry to put in place a set of rules to ensure that the NGOs receiving foreign funds are monitored. The Home Ministry is currently working on the recommendations and the same could be in place by the end of this month, sources say.

Once the new rules come into force, NGOs would have to declare within 48 hours the foreign funds they receive. Once the funds come in from a foreign country, the new rules would mandate that the same is declared within 48 hours or two days, the new rules state.

Also read: NGOs: Some fly by night, many stay on stubbornly In addition to this the NGOs would also have to declare on their respective websites all details of the funds they get from abroad. Detailed information relating to the funding received by the NGOs would have to mandatorily put up on the websites of the NGOs the proposed rules also state.

Inform government about spending:

The new rules also state that the NGOs would have to declare the nature of spending as well. Not just the flow of the funds, the intent behind spending the same would also need to be declared both to the government and also on their websites, as per the new rules.

Further the rules also mandate that the funding of the previous years will also need to be put up on the website. The inflow of the previous years funds and how the same was spent will also have to be declared, the proposed rules state. Failure to provide details will lead to action: Once the new rules come into force, any NGO which fails to declare the flow of the funds or how the same was spent will be liable for action. According to the new rules there would be strict action taken if the NGOs fail to adhere to the new rules.
Not just action, but such NGOs will also be subject to frequent checks and auditing by the government officials, the rules also state.

Further the government will also ensure that there is a link between the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Reserve Bank of India and the banks of the NGO. This would help the government effectively monitor the flow of funds into the accounts of NGOs which are receiving foreign funds.

Source: http://www.oneindia.com/feature/ngos-how-the-new-rules-will-check-foreign-funding-1766236.html

Foreign funding for NGOs: After inputs from IB, PMO tells Home Ministry to tighten FCRA regulations

NEW DELHI: Acting on instructions from the PM's Office (PMO), the home ministry is stepping up scrutiny of foreign-funded non-governmental outfits based on recommendations of Intelligence Bureau, a move that could prove controversial coming as it does after actions against Ford Foundation and Greenpeace.

The ministry plans to tighten some rules of the principal law governing the sector — the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

The home ministry has quickened its review of FCRA rules after the PM's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra wrote to Home Secretary LC Goyal asking him to put a mechanism in place "without any delay" to monitor foreign funding of NGOs.

The Intelligence Bureau's recommendations, numbering a dozen, were received last week. Encouraging transparency and improving oversight will be the "guiding principles" of the exercise, ET has learnt.

PMO is said to be keen to have the new measures in place by June 15 in the interest of India's "economic security", officials said, explaining the urgency of the matter. The FCR rules were brought in by the erstwhile UPA government after FCRA was enacted in 2010, and these rules are now being tightened further.

As part of the proposed changes, NGOs may have to provide details of all foreign funding within 48 hours to ensure transparency.

"NGOs would be mandated to have a website on which they will be required to put out the details of each foreign inflow for public viewing within 48 hours of receiving the funds. This will include the source of funds, the intended activity for which the funds are expected to be used and the details of its partner NGOs in that specific project," disclosed a senior government official. Annual audited reports for previous years should also be made public, the official said.

The 'oversight' part of the new measures would allow the government to keep close tabs on NGOs through stricter checks and inspections. A detailed oversight system, describing each step, is being worked upon by the home ministry, officials said. "Each NGO would know the parameters on which it will be inspected," an official said.

The PMO communication to home ministry had stressed the "need for effective linkage between MHA, Reserve Bank of India and banks for effective monitoring" of NGOs. IB's recommendations on the 'oversight' aspect is based on "it's expertise in tracking NGOs misusing FCR Act and FCR rules," a senior ministry official told ET.

Action against foreign-funded NGOs

The Modi administration has been accused by critics of clamping down on foreign funded NGOs. The US-based Ford Foundation, one of the biggest nonprofit organisations across the world, was put on a watch list by MHA and each of its foreign donations is now vetted before permission is given for it to be credited to any FCRA-registered NGO in India.

"Officials of the Ford Foundation had met senior home ministry bureaucrats last week asking for a rethink on the move. Right now, there is no plan for a rethink till the inquiry against certain NGOs funded by Ford Foundation is complete.

The ministry is soon going to take a decision on the propriety of the funding given to Teesta Setalvad's NGOs by Ford Foundation," a senior home ministry official said.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/foreign-funding-for-ngos-after-inputs-from-ib-pmo-tells-home-ministry-to-tighten-fcra-regulations/articleshow/47521262.cms

Be Warned. Today Greenpeace, Tomorrow You

To his somewhat startled surprise, Modi has discovered that he can't do in Delhi, as freely as he did in Gandhinagar, all he wants to do and get away with it. For the Constitution that Ambedkar gave us and the democracy that Nehru nurtured have taken such firm roots that Modi, unlike Hitler who overthrew a fragile 14-year old Constitution and the frail democratic Weimar Republic, is confronted in Delhi with the rule of law, a Parliament in which he lacks a majority in the Rajya Sabha, an alert media, and well-established institutions of governance, including, above all, the courts that cannot be trifled with.

Thwarted in his efforts to undermine the basic functioning of our democracy in the political and administrative sphere, Modi is now probing the Achilles heel of our democracy - the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who have evolved under the umbrella of the Constitution's Fundamental Rights but do not enjoy the protection of any direct reference to them in the Constitution. This is perhaps because, back in 1948-50, when the Constitution was being framed, there were few NGOs. At any rate, they did not loom large on the political horizon. In any case, the Constitution assumed, as it did with Panchayat Raj, that the need for local self-government and an active civil society were so obvious that any special provisions for them in the Constitution were unnecessary.

In regard to panchayats, the Constitutional lacuna was filled at Rajiv Gandhi's initiative that led in 1992 to the passing of the two longest amendments to the Constitution (Parts IX and IXA relating respectively to 'The Panchayats' and 'The Municipalities'). It now appears necessary to similarly safeguard, sanctify and sanction NGOs as Modi has begun his assault on unprotected NGOs, making an example, on the one hand, of Teesta Setalvad who bravely continues baiting him on the pogrom in Gujarat in 2002, and, on the other, Greenpeace India that continues with the noble work it has been engaged in for a decade and a half. Teesta is entitled to a column - indeed, an encyclopaedia - on her own. I will here focus on the persecution to which Greenpeace India is being subjected.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have charged Greenpeace India, and its affiliate, Greenpeace Environment Trust, with misusing foreign funds and foreigners for "anti-national" activities. MHA apparently regards testifying about India before a meeting abroad as "anti-national". On the other hand, it seems MHA regard it as perfectly patriotic for the Prime Minister to go abroad and claim on foreign soil (once in the presence of a foreign PM) that all Indians were ashamed of being Indian until he, Modi, became PM!

So, in MHA's twisted logic, it is patriotic to lie about India's great past and denigrate everything India has achieved 15 August 1947-26 May 2014, in New York, Sydney, Toronto and Shanghai, but anti-national to explain why Greenpeace India is fighting for displaced tribals, forest dwellers' rights and protection of the environment - all of which is written into the law of the land by the holiest shrine of democracy - our Parliament. Else why did they detain Priya Pillai, a Greenpeace activist, as she attempted to board a flight to London in January this year to address a meeting of those who seek to protect the global environment?

There would appear to be little difference between Rajnath Singh and Rowlatt of the Rowlatt Act, 1919. And, to protect our precious fundamental rights, we will have to fight Rajnath Singh and Modi quite as vigorously as we fought Rowlatt and Lord Reading to protect and promote our freedom and liberty.

Standing firmly behind the nation's and the NGO cause are our courts. On 20 January 2015, the Delhi High Court delivered a stinging retort to MHA when it invalidated their order freezing Greenpeace India's accounts in the wake of Pillai's detention, the judge stating in court that MHA's conduct was "arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional" (which would be a good way of describing the Rowlatt Act!). On 12 March 2015, Priya Pillai's constitutional right to travel was decisively upheld by the same High Court, Justice Shakhder "rubbishing the reasons given by MHA" against her travel abroad.

Nevertheless, the persecution continues. At MHA's instance, the Reserve Bank of India on 23 March 2015 blocked all transfer of funds from the renowned Greenpeace International to Greenpeace India. MHA then followed this up with an order to banks to deep-freeze Greenpeace India's accounts with immediate effect. For the last three months, Greenpeace India have not had access to virtually any funds, domestic or foreign, with which to carry on their good and great work.

That is because Modi and Rajnath do not regard Greenpeace India's work as good and great. They regard it as "anti-national" for an Indian NGO, which receives 70 per cent of its funding from Indian sources, to fight for Indian causes that have twice within the first quarter of this year been upheld by the courts as perfectly legitimate and kosher.

Thus, the right to freedom of thought, speech and action is being throttled - only because Greenpeace India's conception of what is in the interest of the Indian people is not the same as that of our suit-boot sarkar. What, after all, is "anti-national" about demanding clean air and safe food, standing up for forest and community rights guaranteed under Indian law, and highlighting the dangers of climate change?

At the same time, the Modi-Rajnath duo is running a clandestine smear campaign against Greenpeace India. They thus seek to silence criticism and dissent - which are the blood stream of democracy, in India if not under the Gujarat of Narendra Modi. They claim to have conducted an "investigation" last year into Greenpeace India's affairs, but even six months after the submission of that "intelligence" report - which seems prima facie to be wanting in that one quality - those arraigned are not being given access to the dossier on the specious ground that the report is "secret". This is similar to the grounds on which the Prime Minister's wife is being denied information that is hers of right under the Right to Information Act.

Some of Greenpeace India's domestic accounts have been frozen although the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) has nothing to do with domestic donations. International experts who have visited Greenpeace India on valid visas are being defamed and prevented from again lending their valuable services. Bogus claims of Greenpeace India endangering India's "economic security" are being bruited about. Blatant lies are being spread by and on behalf of the government regarding a foreign TV programme about a proposed British investment in a mine project in India. What if not a smear campaign is this by a jackbooted government? Be warned. First an NGO. Next - YOU!

Source: http://www.dailykashmirimages.com/news-be-warned-today-greenpeace-tomorrow-you-80251.aspx

Government of India’s Mission Ganga seeks NGO Partnerships under the Nirmal Ganga Bhagidaari

The Government of India’s National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has issued a call for proposals for NGOs, government bodies, academic institutions in India and abroad to partner for the ‘Normal Ganga Bhagidaari’ – the ‘Join us in Cleaning Ganga’ campaign.

Pollution in River Ganga is mainly on two accounts: nallahs/drains carrying municipal and/or industrial effluents into the River Ganga and river surface pollution such as pious refuse, solid waste, disposal of dead bodies, etc. The focus of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) so far has been on creation of treatment capacities (Sewage Treatment Plants) and related infrastructure for abatement of pollution caused by domestic/industrial sewage.

Now, NMCG intends to expand its footprint to tackle river surface pollution and other areas. The projects are expected to start from June, 2015.

The proposals submitted by organizations should include the budget and timelines required for completion. Documentary proof with respect to legal status, registration details including FCRA status, financial status, performance, and relevant experience shall be enclosed along with the proposal. A committee comprising representatives from relevant government departments will scrutinize all eligible entries. Projects
recommended by the Committee will be proposed to prospective donors/investors/CSR funding/philanthropic donations by Overseas Indians as the case may be. The proposals will be considered on a rolling basis throughout the year.

For more information, download this document.: http://www.indianembassy.nl/docs/Nirmal%20Ganga%20Final.pdf

Modiversary: Tightening screws on NGO sector to push development

Modi government's relationship with NGOs, particularly those funded by foreign donors, has been troubled from the word go. But home ministry officials say the action against NGOs in the past year is an extension of UPA's policy of tightening the screws on organizations against development projects, negatively impacting GDP growth.

Work on the IB report that prepared the ground for action against Greenpeace, for example, was undertaken during UPA's tenure. The report's damning revelations left the Modi government little choice but to invoke FCRA to put Greenpeace International funding under prior permission category.

One is bound to look at the action against NGOs through the prism of the troubled relationship that Modi had with them during his days as Gujarat CM. That was when NGOs targeted him for his alleged "complicity in the 2002 riots".

Although a large number of NGOs are associated with the Sangh Parivar, it's always eyed foreign-funded organizations with suspicion, seeing them as a nuisance for India's sovereignty. VHP has issues with NGOs that get funds from abroad working in environment, which insist on implementing norms that aren't seen as feasible. This, it points out, impedes growth. Some of these organizations, the Parivar objects, are allegedly involved in proselytasation.

While UPA may have felt that NGOs were too big — 22,702 of them together received Rs 11,546 crore in 2011-12 — to be left unpoliced, one gets the impression that under Modi, there's a new-found keenness to enforce the rules, winked at by earlier governments.

Ford Foundation has been in the NGO funding business for long. But it's only now that it's being asked to comply with FCRA. It had defaulted on these provisions, funding non-FCRA registered NGOs in Gujarat, some of which had associated with campaigns against Modi when he was CM.

The offloading of Greenpeace India activist Priya Pillai from a London-bound flight in January was part of the government insistence on making NGOs play by the rules. Though Delhi HC directed the government to expunge the 'offload' remark in her passport, home ministry says they were right in restraining her from indulging in an anti-national campaign on foreign soil, briefing British MPs on the "negative" impact of the Mahan coal project at Singrauli.

Add to this the cancellation of licences of 10,117 NGOs, inspection of accounts of 165 and freezing of accounts of 34, civil society's mistrust of the Modi government has only grown deeper.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Modiversary-Tightening-screws-on-NGO-sector-to-push-development/articleshow/47378705.cms

Population Foundation of India Call Proposals on Health of the Urban Poor (HUP) program

Deadline: 15 June 2015

The Population Foundation of India (PFI) is currently seeking proposals for Health of the Urban Poor (HUP) program, rapid assessment in five cities in India.

The Health of the Urban Poor (HUP) program is funded by USAID/India. The goal of the program is to improve the health status of the urban poor in the urban locations by adopting effective and efficient sustainable strategic intervention approaches adopting the principle of convergence of the various development programs.

The scope of the program is to document the end-line situation on knowledge, attitude, behavior and practice (KABP) of the target population in terms of MNCHN including WASH issues, health care seeking behavior and preferred choices of health functionaries for different health issues in HUP intervention area.

Venue

The assessment will be conducted in five cities- Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Agra and Delhi.

Eligibility Criteria

The governmental and non- governmental organisations who have been working in the fields related to Reproductive and Child Health (RCH), Family Planning, Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH), Community Action for Health (CAH) and Urban Health are eligible to apply.

Evaluation Process

Methods of evaluation includes-

§ Design: The sample design needs to ensure that study findings are representative of the outcome indicators for slum areas in each city

§ Sampling Frame and Sample Design: Recently conducted household listing Frame will be the sampling frame in all cities

§ Respondents: Eligible women age 15-49 years, who has given birth in last two years.

§ Study Tools: The survey will use abridged version of HUP baseline questionnaire which has earlier been pre-tested.

§ Data collection: Data collection will be done using mini laptop/palmtop/tablets, thus reducing the data entry time along with the data entry error.

Application Process

§ The proposal should include proposal including study design, timelines, key deliverables, budget and any other requirements.

§ The Technical Proposal & Financial Proposal should be submitted in a separate sealed envelope.

§ Type of proposal (Technical or Financial) should be mentioned on the top of the envelope.

§ PFI reserves its right to accept or reject any proposal without assigning any reasons thereof whatsoever.

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted via mail.

For more information, please visit PFI India.: http://populationfoundation.in/sites/default/files/Rapid_Assesment.pdf

National Communal Harmony Awards 2015

Deadline: 30 June 2015

The National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) is currently seeking applications from the eligible individuals and organisations for the National Communal Harmony Awards 2015 for their outstanding contribution for promotion of communal harmony and national integration.

The National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) principally provides assistance for the rehabilitation of child victims of different kinds of societal violence, promotes communal harmony and national integration either independently or through state governments or NGOs, etc., and confers Awards on Individuals and Organizations for their outstanding contribution towards fosters communal harmony & strengthening national integration.

Objectives

§ Discouraging communal ill-will and regional animosities and weaning the misguided elements of society away from the path of violence;

§ Active and energetic propagation of the principles, especially of tolerance and harmony;

§ Mobilising constructive forces of society in the cause of national unity and solidarity and giving them leadership, encouragement and articulation;

§ Devising suitable community activities and programmes for fostering fellow feeling emphasising the secular character of the country;

§ Propagating and working for national integration and harmony between different communities, irrespective of religious, linguistic or ethnic differences; and

§ Asserting the common values and cultural ties which bind or act as unifying factor among the people living in this country.

Award

§ Rs Five Lakh to the individuals on the basis of their contribution for over 10 years

§ Rs Ten Lakh to the organisations on the basis of their contribution for over 5 years

Eligibility Criteria

§ Individual

§ Who has been working in the area of national integration and communal harmony for a minimum period of ten years;

§ Does not hold any elective office in parliament, state legislature or local body constituted under an act of parliament or the state legislature;

§ Is not a member of a political party recognised by the Election Commission of India; and

§ Is above 35 years of age and is alive on the date of nomination.

§ Organisation

§ Who is registered under an appropriate act of parliament or state legislature;

§ Has been working at the all-India level, or at least state level. In case activities of the organisation are at the state level, these should be spatially well dispersed and extend to cover a substantial area of the state; and

§ Should have been functioning for a minimum of five years in the field of promotion of national integration and communal harmony.

How to Apply

All individuals and organisations must apply by filling up the application form in a respective prescribed format.

For more information, please visit NFCH.: http://nfch.nic.in/?q=awards

Students with degree in social work are much in demand: NGOs

JAIPUR: Probably, a degree programme in social work is the only stream in the social science that can fetch you a corporate job. With the corporate social responsibility (CSR) becoming a reality in the country, the graduates in social work are first choice for corporates. Every corporate prefers candidates with master of social work (MSW) background which will help them spend 2% of their profit under the CSR activities.

The particular stream is meant for those students, who are ready to work in adverse conditions and have deep understanding of social issues.

Job consultants agree that MSW professionals, with deep understanding of issues involving weaker sections, can match starting salaries of an MBA or a BTech grad from tier-II colleges.

Nitin Gupta, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industries, Rajasthan chapter, said, "Every year, hundreds of small scale units move to medium and large scale industries that either carry out CSR activities by their own through these professionals or outsource it to NGO's. No doubt, the professionals with this degree are in demand and will continue to be so in coming years."

It is highly unfortunate that even after the scope of this programme, most of the state universities have not even introduced the subject. The situation is such that MSW program in Rajasthan University was scrapped last year. Students are left with no choice but to head towards Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore to pursue degree courses in social work.

Other than CSR, the job prospects for this career option is increasing in both government and non-government sectors. Opportunity in the government sector is mainly in the community development projects pertaining to health, education, rural development, child, woman and tribal welfare etc.

Globalization has widened the scope of employment for students opting for social work as a subject. Some MSW degree holders also prefer to be self-employed by establishing their own NGOs.

The course comprises of both theory and practical sections. Every student has to undergo practical training by interning at various corporate, legal or government organisations for a period of four months. Their performance during this period will have weightage in the final evaluation.

Mohammd Ameen, a project officer with international NGO, Action Aid, said, "Candidates with background in social work always have an upper edge over others in fields like project proposals, fund raising and project coordinators. Their work experience also helps."

In the absence of any premier institute in the state, students are forced to move out of Rajasthan for degree course, though , many private colleges in Rajasthan have been prominently displaying such course in their brochures.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Students-with-degree-in-social-work-are-much-in-demand-NGOs/articleshow/47321864.cms

Mr. Modi, here's why you should stop treating NGOs with suspicion

Dr Rajesh Tandon, who set up an NGO PRIA 30 years ago, argues against the current government's stance of treating NGOs with suspicion. Domestic dissent cannot be any longer equated with ‘hidden operations of the foreign hand’, he says. If citizens of India ask questions about any policy or programme of the State, they have a right to do so, without being asked to bare their source of livelihood.

Having left a teaching career at IIM Calcutta and ventured into the field of social development through a voluntary organisation some years ago, I was surprised to come across an article in The Marxist (June 1984) which argued that action groups and voluntary organisations in India were a part of western imperialist strategy. Written by Prakash Karat, it described such efforts, based on foreign funding, to be undermining to the ‘leadership of the party and misguiding the revolution in the country’.

I found myself confused about my work and the role of a nascent voluntary organisation that I had set up. By championing the cause of participation and talking about the empowerment of the exploited, especially women, I naively believed that I was ‘supporting social transformation’ by contributing, albeit in a very small measure, to redefining relations of power between the rulers and the ruled in India’s democracy.

But 30 years later, I must admit, I am further confused and somewhat bewildered. The current refrain in public discourse, from press releases by India's Ministry of Home Affairs to ‘investigative journalism’, seems to suggest that my work and that of my organisation PRIA (and thousands of other activists and civil society groups around this country) is still suspect, as part of some larger and grander post-modern imperialist strategy.

It was during the height of emergency that the then government of Indira Gandhi promulgated an ordinance in 1976 -- the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). It was aimed at preventing certain leaders like George Fernandes and Subramanian Swamy who were believed to be receiving political and financial support from ‘western powers’ to resist the authoritarian regime during the emergency.

When political democracy was restored in March 1977, George Fernandes became Industries minister in the new Janata Government and gained instant publicity by banning Coca Cola. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Foreign Minister and LK Advani, the Information & Broadcasting Minister in the same Janata Government. The FCRA ordinance was allowed to continue during this regime, neither repealed nor lapsed.

In 1980, when Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister again, she launched an Enquiry Commission known as the Kudal Commission, to investigate voluntary organisations which were associated with the Gandhi Peace Foundation, AVARD and related Gandhian entities, as they were seen to be ‘hosting’ such opposition leaders as Jai Prakash Narayan. Over the next seven years and after producing several volumes of reports, the Kudal Commission concluded that voluntary organisations “gradually digressed from their aims…and some became hotbeds of political activities.” It alleged (though could not prove in any single case) that foreign funds were being abused to “paint a very grave, exaggerated and false picture of the country”; the Commission alleged that this was particularly so in tribal and border regions of the country.

It is, therefore, not surprising that Prakash Karat decided to denounce all such voluntary agencies as ‘a strategy of western imperialism’ by June 1984. The Khalistan Movement was at its peak then and Operation Bluestar had been launched to flush out Sikh militants from the Golden Temple. As the movement was supported by Sikh organisations abroad, in October 1984, the then government of Indira Gandhi promulgated an ordinance further restricting FCRA. At the end of that month, she was assassinated. When Rajiv Gandhi won 80% of the seats in Parliament at the end of December 1984, his government regularised into a law in early January 1985, the amendments to FCRA.

It is in the late 1980s that a large number of voluntary organisations began to focus on building awareness and organisations of the rural poor, particularly amongst tribals and dalits. Participation of the marginalised in their own development began to be accepted as the cornerstone of many government schemes under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). I saw that as acknowledgement of the work that PRIA had been doing over the past decade.

It was during this period that several social movements began to spread in the country. Women’s groups began to protest against discrimination and violence that girls and women were facing, even in government programmes. When tribals and other rural poor began to lose their land and livelihoods due to large dams and industrial expansion, they also began to demand their rights. ‘Who gains and who loses in development’ was a common concern of many voluntary organisations by the end of the 1980s.

The voice of dissent, of questioning the dominant development approach, was largely raised through the efforts of voluntary organisations and social activists. The discomfort that such dissenting and questioning voices posed to government officials and political leaders became the basis for harassment of such voluntary organisations throughout the 1990s and since. Of course, the first question always investigated was about the source of funding. And whenever an organisation, so investigated, was found to have received any foreign funding (even if it also received government funding), it was accused of ‘being a part of the foreign hand’.

I am bewildered today because the same discourse is being re-played in 2015. Since the beginning of this century, globalisation and global inter-connectivity are being touted as the major shifts of our generation, supported through a technology revolution. Recent government policies are actively securing ‘foreign hand-shakes’ to bring large sums of investments into the country. Over the past decade, the government of India has invested in ‘foreign lands’ more than one billion dollars annually, to support their development.

Therefore, it is somewhat disturbing that India’s political culture has remained stagnated in the 20th century. Domestic dissent cannot be any longer equated with ‘hidden operations of the foreign hand’. If citizens of India ask questions about any policies and programmes of the state and/or national governments, they have a right to do so, without being asked to bare their source of livelihood. “Good governance” and “Sabka Saath” have gained current political meaning because citizens have been demanding the same for decades.
Citizens are more than voters. Having elected a government as voters, as citizens, they also have a right to comment on the government’s performance throughout its five-year term.

Good governance of democracy is ultimately the responsibility of all citizens.

The author is Founder-President of PRIA, Delhi

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-mr-modi-here-s-why-you-should-stop-treating-ngos-with-suspicion-2086135