Foreign aid norms: UPA pushes NDA agenda

The UPA government seems to be carrying forward the Hindutva agenda of their predecessors at least in one thing: the new Foreign Contributions Regulation Amendment Bill that was tabled in the Rajya Sabha recently. The Bill, for the first time, targets conversion activities in the country.

The Bill makes it a condition for grant of registration for any NGO that the person making an application "has not indu-lged in activities aimed at conversion through inducement or force, either indirectly or directly, from one religious faith to another."

The question raised by NGOs like Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and Participatory Research in Asia (Pria) is "" even if it is assumed that the Bill was drafted by the previous NDA regime, how has it been pushed by a secular UPA government?

Asked whether this was a slip on the part of the UPA government, CHRI president Maja Daruwala said this had to be asked to the present government or its predecessor. If Muslims embrace the teachings of Sai Baba, will foreign donations be denied to the latter, she asked. Again, if a priest has in his life made many conversions, will he be denied foreign aid?

PRIA president Rajesh Tandon said the amendment had been in the making in the previous regime. "But we never saw their draft Bill," he said.

The Bill is being criticised also for being fraught with irrationalities like denial of registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulatory Act (FCRA) to applicant NGOs on the basis of their likely actions in future. It says NGOs won't be registered under FCRA if the applicant is "likely" to indulge in sedition, or "likely" to advocate violent methods, or "likely" to use foreign funds for personal gains.

"If I get foreign funds to assist temple entry for Dalits, it will cause violence. So, will I be denied funds? The solution would be to use law and order machinery against those who get violent rather than prevent a fair act," said daruwala.

Again, the Bill impinges upon applicants for registration under FCRA to have a "meaningful" project for the benefit of the people. "If I want to work on rural access, it is left to the discretion of the officials to decide whether the activity is meaningful or not," Tandon said.