96 Karnataka orgs get notice on funding submission

List includes Infosys Foundation, Vanavasi Kalyan, Bangalore North Rotary Trust, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Prathisthana and Kittur Rani Chinnamma Memorial Committee

Close to 100 entities in Karnataka, including the Infosys Foundation, have been served show cause notice by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last week for failing to submit mandatory annual income and expenditure statement on foreign funding for up to six years.

These are organisations are part of the 1,775 entities which were served the notice on November 16, an official document said. From Karnataka, there are 96 organisations which find their name on the list.

According to the notice, these organisations have not submitted online their income and expenditure statement, receipts and payment account, balance sheet for up to six consecutive financial years -- 2011-12 to 2016-17-- despite repeated notices served to them. As per rule, even if an organisation does not receive foreign fund in a particular financial year, it has to submit the "NIL form".

Besides Infosys Foundation, other organisations that find their name in the list from Karnataka include Vanavasi Kalyan, Bangalore North Rotary Trust, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Prathisthana and Kittur Rani Chinnamma Memorial Committee among others. According to the notice, Infosys Foundation has not provided details for the years 2015-16 and 2016-2017.
Other organisations that figure in the list also included Skoda Auto India, University of Rajasthan, Madras Christian College, Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust in Mumbai, Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Rajiv Gandhi Social Service Centre in Madurai and North East Institute of Fashion Technology in Guwahati.

The MHA warned that if they fail to submit the returns for the said period by December 1, 2018, "appropriate action" will be taken under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

The notice came after a scrutiny of records for the years 2011-12 to 2016-17. It was found that annual accounts for some of the financial years have not been found uploaded on the FCRA portal online by these organisations despite the fact that one final opportunity of one month was provided to submit the missing annual reports without paying any penalty on May 12, 2017, it said.

A second notice was issued on 24 April, 2018 but these organisations failed to submit the documents. "Therefore, the said associations are hereby directed to explain within a period of 15 days from the date of issue of this show cause notice as to why appropriate action under the FCRA may not be initiated against them," the latest notice said.