Foreign-funded NGOs to have core bank a/c

As many as 5,800 NGOs and other institutions registered under a law to receive foreign funds have been asked to open accounts in banks with core banking facilities.

Further, they have been asked to provide details to allow security agencies to monitor it on a real-time basis. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to 3,768 NGOs telling them that their bank accounts are not available as per the core banking format.

Another 2,077 NGOs have been asked to furnish bank account details as no such data is available with the MHA.

To check discrepancies

Official sources said the move is aimed at checking discrepancies in NGOs receiving foreign funds.  They said the list does not mean that all these institutions have committed any irregularities.

The NGOs and organisations whose bank accounts are not available with the MHA also include Karnataka Holy Cross Sister's Society, Karnataka Rural Development Service Centre and Karnataka State Council For Child Welfare.

The list also includes Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Jamia Millia Islami and YMCA. Those who have been told that their accounts do not conform to core banking facilities include Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore Education Society, Karnataka Baptist Sabhegaha Sanaila, Karnataka Chinmaya Trust, Karnataka Labour Education Trust, Karnataka Navodaya Ashram and Karnataka Rural Employment Generating Association.

The list also includes Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (under CSIR), Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts, PRIA and People for Animals.

The directive to the NGOs came after an examination found that many of them maintain their accounts in cooperative banks or those without core banking facilities.