Govt's vendetta against NGOs

The number of non-government organisations (NGOs) operating in India has plunged from 33,000 in 2015 to 13,000 this year. The shocking shrinking in NGOs numbers has to do with the Home Ministry cancelling licences of some 20,000 NGOs on the grounds that they were violating provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010. The number of cancelled licences can be expected to increase in the coming months. There are NGOs that are getting funds from international donors with dubious reputations and dangerous agendas, but these are a minority. Most NGOs are doing commendable work in improving the health and wellbeing of India’s poor. They have contributed to building awareness and empowering the masses about exercising rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It is distressing that the list of NGOs with cancelled licences is dominated by NGOs with stellar records in improving the lives of the people. Without foreign funding, their work will now grind to a halt.

The Narendra Modi government says foreign donors are pushing NGOs to challenge and block India’s economic growth. It is their raising of environmental concerns that is slowing mineral extraction, construction of roads and special economic zones, it says. Indeed, several of the NGOs whose licences have been cancelled are questioning the government’s economic policies. They are calling for sustainable and inclusive development and respect for human rights and environmental concerns.

They are working to deliver on the promises made by India’s founding fathers with regard to building a diverse, secular, equitable and democratic society. This does not qualify to be labelled as anti-national activity. It does not threaten the security of the people of this country. Neither does it merit cancellation of the NGOs’ licences. It does seem that objective criteria did not determine the Home Ministry’s decisions. Rather, the NGOs appear to have been targeted for questioning and laying bare the anti-people policies of the Modi government.

In the name of regulating NGOs, the government is repressing them. The FCRA has become a weapon to harass, intimidate and silence. It is not just NGOs that are at the receiving end. Civil society groups and NGOs are a vital component of democracies and by cancelling their licences, the government has dealt democracy a stunning blow. It has dashed the hopes of India’s most marginalised and exploited – Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women and children – for a brighter and better future.