IB should focus on security
The Intelligence Bureau report on the NGO funds aims to target dissent in the system. It seems that the IB is on the witch-hunt against those civil society groups whose research work is not in line with the government policies. The agency should have better things to do than to study the NGOs, who have been contributing for the welfare of the society. The government should not unnecessarily panic. People working with different NGOs who are raising common man’s issues are as patriotic as any politician or IB official.
Dissent in any system always helps in understanding complex issues better. No democracy in the world can survive without dissent. That’s precisely the legacy of our freedom movement. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru brought the Ford Foundation to India. Does that mean that the foundation was creating a dissent in the country? One of our former Prime Ministers was from the World Bank. Does that mean he was anti-nationalist?
There is a disagreement in Parliament. Does this make all MPs anti-nationalist? One cannot convince everyone on every issue. At the same time, one cannot silence people by using cohesive methods. If there is general agreement on all issues, there will be no free flow of ideas. If one does not agree on a particular issue within his or her country that does not mean that the person is anti-nationalist.
All the funding to the NGOs is done under government rules. The financial transactions of all the NGOs are open to audit. If questions are being raised about the foreign funding of any NGO, the government has every right to check its accounts under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. The Societies Act is a binding on any registered group to submit FC (3) form to the home ministry on its foreign contributions. Also, only six per cent of the foreign funds go to the civil society groups. The major chunk of the foreign funds goes to the religious bodies.
I fail to understand why is the government making such a hue and cry about foreign funding of NGOs when it itself receives money from many institutions like the USAID, European Union, Asian Development Bank and World Bank. It is time for the IB to spend more time on the pressing issues related to national security rather than questioning the research on gender, environment and other social issues by the civil society groups.
The intelligence agency should focus on internal security. For example, it should find out who air dropped arms and ammunition in Purulia. The failure of the intelligence agency is primarily responsible for the terror attacks in the country.
The IB can also contribute towards the welfare of the society by doing in-depth research on dowry deaths, domestic violence, child marriages and child labour. The work of the civil society groups revolves around the issues concerning the common man. It was because of the hue and cry raised by the NGOs that the government was forced to go for gender budgeting in the country.
Dr Ranjana Kumari is director, Centre for Social Research
It’s vital to check vested interests
I fully support the intelligence agencies on the issue of monitoring the acti-vities of the NGOs. It is not a question about keeping one particular organisation under surveillance for vested interest by an intelligence agency. But if activities of any organisation are against the national interest then the security and intelligence agencies have every right to keep them under check. So why should there be an exception for the NGOs?
India is a vibrant democracy where it is extremely easy for groups or civil societies to express their views publicly or to carry out their activities. However in other countries, even in democracies, there are stringent norms for NGOs and civil right groups.
In fact, I strongly feel that NGOs in India should be extremely happy as there is virtually no interference from any government quarter.
It is in overall interest of the national security to ensure that no outfit, NGOs or any other organisation, work against the national interest, particularly the economy. There are vested interests abroad that would not want India to grow economically or in strategic areas like defence, nuclear power, energy etc.
So Indian agencies have every right to keep a check on foreign funds that are coming into the country to be used by NGOs or any other organisation.
At times, these funds can come in the garb of a grant and then get diverted for subversive activities. I am all for putting in place stringent mechanism to check from where foreign funds are being received by NGOs operating in India.
There are certain organisations abroad that work as fronts for their respective government that may not want a particular project in India to come up. We have seen this happening in the past in case of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project where it was largely suspected that the agitation was being funded by some foreign interest.
In a democracy like ours, there is always room for debate, discussion and even legitimate protests. In fact, NGOs and civil societies should engage more with the government and have a dialogue on all contentious issues. But to take an extreme position as to stall the country’s growth on key projects in uncalled for and smacks of suspicion.
The law of the land is same for everyone and there should not be any exception. If prima facie anyone is found to be violating the country’s laws then action should surely be taken against such entities. No one should take advantage of democratic norms or some loophole in the laws to work for foreign interests. In fact, this can prove to be very dangerous in the long run and can even harm the country’s strategic defence issues.
Perhaps, the government can also have a fresh look at the norms that govern the registration and working of the NGOs. May be they can be strengthened further to ensure that such groups do not misuse their activities. In fact, NGOs and the government should work in total sync and co-ordination because at the end of the day both want a better India.
A.K. Verma is former secretary, R&AW
