An association with a definite
cultural, social, economic, educational or religious programme
can obtain foreign contribution either by obtaining ‘registration’ or ‘prior
permission’ from the Ministry of Home Affairs, as per the provisions of the
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976 and rules made thereunder. Guidelines have also been put into place to
facilitate the process.
The total number of NGOs which
reported receipt of foreign contribution including for social purpose during
the year 2008-09 is 20088. Accounts of
foreign contribution received by associations for the financial year 2009-10
have been received and are being processed.
As per the
information available, the number and amount of foreign contribution received
by associations registered and associations granted prior permission under the
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976 during the period 2006-07 to
2008-09 is as follows:
|
Year
|
No. of Associations which have
reported receipt of foreign contribution
|
Amount of foreign contribution
received
(Rs. Crore)
|
|
2006-07
|
18996
|
11007.43
|
|
2007-08
|
18796
|
9663.46
|
|
2008-09
|
20088
|
10802.67
|
Monitoring
of receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution by
Associations is done through scrutiny of audited annual returns filed by
Associations. After scrutiny of annual
audited accounts, in case of any complaint or adverse inputs against an
Association indicating violations of the provisions of the Act, an inspection
of the books of accounts and records of such Association is carried out and
appropriate action is taken under the Act.
Where there is no misutilisation / diversion
of foreign contribution for undesirable purposes, and after evaluation on a
case to case basis, appropriate decision is taken within the extant provisions
of FCRA, 1976.
However, if
any Association is found involved in serious violations, action is initiated
against such Association. Actions include (i) placing
the Association in Prior Permission category, (ii) prohibiting it from
receiving foreign contribution, (iii) freezing its bank accounts and (iv) prosecuting it in a court of law.
This
was stated
by the Minister of State in the Ministry
of Home Affairs, Shri Mullappally Ramachandran in written
reply to a questions
in the Rajya Sabha
today. *****
OK/KS