MHA allays Ford Foundation’s concerns
The MHA has assured that the NGO can be removed from the prior-approval category
By : namrata biji ahuja
Update: 2015-05-26 06:16 GMT
New Delhi: The US-based Ford Foundation has approached the Union home ministry by writing to Union home secretary L.C. Goyal seeking a clarification on whether the NGO can “continue its operations normally’’ in the country, “including releasing pending grants and payments to organisations where they have received a no-objection from the department of economic affairs.’’
Soon after the Ford Foundation shot off a letter to the MHA last week, the top MHA brass has met the officials of the US- based NGO allaying its concerns and explaining the government’s move to put the organisation in its prior-approval category, citing national security concerns. The MHA has assured Ford Foundation that the NGO can be removed from the prior-approval category. if the organisation is “all clear’’ following the scrutiny.
It may be noted that the MHA move to put Ford Foundation on its watch-list came after the Gujarat government alleged that the organisation was “abetting communal disharmony” through Teesta Setalvad’s NGO.