Government cancels registrations of close to 9000 NGOs

After suspending the licence of Greenpeace India and putting the Ford Foundation on a watch list, the government of India on Sunday cancelled the licenses of 8975 NGOs for failing to file annual returns. A report in The Times of India states that the Home Ministry had issued notices to 10,343 NGOs on October 16 last year. Only 229 NGOs reportedly complied by filing returns for the years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. The government was trying to ascertain the amount of foreign funds received by the NGOs, the source and purpose of the money, and how the cash was utilized. “No reply has been received from the remaining associations numbering 8975”, said the Home Ministry’s order which was communicated to the NGOs and the district magistrates of the place where they are based, and the RBI. A Hindustan Times report further mentions that the ministry had asked the DMs to “manage the assets” of the NGOs concerned in whichever way they “considered necessary and in public interest”. Under the UPA government too, the home ministry had sent notices to 21,000 NGOs for not filing returns during the 2006-09 period. It reportedly cancelled registrations in 4138 cases where letters from the government returned undelivered by post.