Delhi govt debars tobacco control NGO over foreign funding, then blinks

While the situation for SEEDS turned around quickly and in their favour, this has not been the case for public health NGOs in India

Earlier this year, the Indian parliament amended the Finance Bill 2018 and the new amendment allowed political parties to accept foreign funding without scrutiny. In fact, it was a retrospective amendment which exempted parties from scrutiny for funds they received as far back as 1976.

But NGOs working in India’s health sector have been battling the government over this very same issue. Specifically speaking, NGOs working on tobacco control such as the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Institute of Public Health (IPH) have been embroiled in months of administrative logjam as their licenses to receive foreign funding were