Foreign funds row hits NGOs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
Single a/c for all foreign funds, orders MHA.
Hyderabad: The Union Home Ministry has served notices under the Foreign Contributions Registrations Act (FCRA) on several NGOs and registered societies in Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh regarding non-validation of their bank accounts that have foreign contributions.
Top institutions like Archdiocese of Hyderabad Society, R.C. Diocese of Hyderabad Deccan Society, Don Bosco Society, Sisters of Charity of St. Bartho-lomew and Vincenza Education Society of Secunderabad, Lions Club of Secunderabad Charitable Trust, Andh-ra Seva Samiti, Visakap-atnam Public Library Society, Godavari Delta Steward Association, are all in this list.
The home ministry has made it mandatory for NGOs to have a designated bank account to receive foreign funds.
MHA FCRA Wing Joint Secretary Mukesh Mittal in the notice stated, “All associations which have been granted registration or prior permission under Foreign Contributions Regulations Act shall receive foreign contribution in a bank account specially designated for foreign contributions. As per the rules, all the banks shall report to the central government within 48 hours of such receipts or even utilisation of foreign contribution by NGOs.”
He observed that several associations had not validated their designated accounts causing problems for the banks to comply with the provision of FCRA. The associations were asked to validate the accounts.
The home ministry based on an Intelligence Bureau report had recently cancelled the licenses of several NGOs in Hyderabad as they were being used for hawala operation or for purposes other than what the funds were meant for.
The home ministry also warned non-government organisations for not uploading the annual returns and said that their registrations would be cancelled if they failed to do so.
A source said, “Some of the NGOs are getting money from United States and Europe for hawala operations. In some cases the money is used for religious purposes though it comes here for charity.”