J&K welcomes cancelation of licence to 9,000 NGOs

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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JAMMU, April 28: Civil society at large has demanded blanket ban on all dubious NGOs and other such organisations in Jammu and Kashmir which have been receiving funds from different departments and organisations of the State and the Central governments, besides foreign countries, without any accountability. It has been observed over the years that this ill-gotten money is either swindled completely by the NGO operators or spent on anti-national activities.

“Some of them have done a little bit of work and their vested interest is not apparently at work. But their number is not more than three or four. Government officials say over 50,000 fake NGOs have been registered in J&K in the last 25 years. One can say without fear of contradiction that 99% of them are a fraud. They exist only on papers. Many of them manage to siphon huge amounts of money in social, cultural, educational, environmental and health sectors”, said a Professor of the University of Kashmir on the condition of anonymity.

“These people maintain friendly relations with officers, bureaucrats, Police, security and intelligence agencies. They do public relation jobs for different individuals, including politicians. Even if somebody submits a written complaint against them, there’s no action. It’s a well-knit nexus”, added the academic.

On social media, hundreds of youngsters have been demanding White Paper on the activities of the NGOs who have been receiving funds from the State or the Central governments or the foreign countries. As of now, none of the government departments maintains a data base of the NGOs, though Police and CID sometimes prepare brief notes on the profile of the NGO operators and their apparent activities.

Intelligentsia across the board believes that the White Paper could differentiate between the fake and the genuine NGOs. “Why should the genuine social activists object to the suggestion of a White Paper on the NGOs and a detailed public account of their funding and spending?”, said a Jammu-based advocate. He, however, sounded pessimistic with regard to the role of Police and pointed out that senior Police officers themselves have provided huge funds of Civic Action funds, provided by Government of India, to some Srinagar-based Christian Missionary Schools in total violation of rules, regulations and norms.

“Their only purpose is to keep the prestigious school managements in good humour so as to ensure admission to the children of the influential politicians’ and bureaucrats’ families”, said the advocate. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the working of the NGOs and trusts operating in violation of different norms and guidelines in J&K.

On social networking sites, hundreds of people have appreciated the move of cancelling the licence of 9,000 fake NGOs as also keeping the US-based Ford Foundation and Greenpeace on security watch list. “Does any of those operating or claiming to operate in Kashmir fall under the cancellation move ... The rules change viz-a-viz Kashmir, even his (Modi’s) lieutenant (MOS) & ex army chief  [VK Singh]has been sponsoring such NGO's , civil & political persons in Kashmir as an official policy”, one Manzoor Wani of Kashmir posted on Facebook. His insinuation is reference to Army’s Technical Support Division which is known to have secretly funded different individuals, trusts and NGOs in the last 12 years.

Last week, Government of India cancelled licences of nearly 9,000 NGOs for violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). In an order, the Home Ministry said that notices were issued to 10,343 NGOs for not filing annual returns for the year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

The notices were served on October 16, 2014 saying that the NGOs should file their annual returns within a month specifying amount of foreign funds received, sources of such funds, for which purpose they were received and the manner in which they were utilised. Out of the 10,344 NGOs, only 229 replied. There was no reply from the remaining NGOs leading to cancellation of their registration.

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