Ford Foundation under watch, has a lot to answer

Following a major crackdown on the NGO Greenpeace, the Home Ministry has now placed the Ford Foundation under the scanner.

Ford Foundation is considered to be one of the most powerful international funding organization and the name had even cropped up during the Nirbhaya documentary prepared by the BBC.

Action by the Home Ministry has been taken under Section 46 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act which states that any funds coming in will have to be first cleared by the Home Ministry.

If Ford Foundation does not abide by the norms then it could run the risk of its licence being suspended as was done in the case of Greenpeace.

5 million dollars blocked:

In the last couple of months the Indian government has blocked up to 5 million dollars in grants which was said to be sent in by the Ford Foundation.

The government believes that most of the funds are being sent in to sponsor activities and projects that run contrary to the interests of India.

A directive has been given to the Reserve Bank of India which in turn would have to instruct all banks and branches dealing with Ford Foundation to have the funds cleared first by the Home Ministry.

NGOs have not filed annual balance sheets:

The contention of the Home Ministry is that despite repeated instructions and also requests several NGOs have not filed their annual reports and balance sheets with the Home Ministry.

An intelligence bureau report had taken the name of several NGOs which were getting in the funds to disrupt India's image.

The NGOs were also accused of not filing their statement of accounts for several years now.

Among the various issues raised against Ford Foundation there is also a question mark on the 1 lakh dollar grant to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

The Home Ministry wants to know why the accounts statements were not filed in this case.

All funding are under the scanner:

The Home Ministry says that at the moment it has ordered the NGO to be placed under watch.

There are several donations that have been made which have no valid accounting. Until the accounting is clear there shall be no permission to receive funds unless cleared by the Home Ministry.

Further the alleged funding of the BBC documentary on Nirbhaya which was banned by India is also under the scanner of the Home Ministry.

The Ford Foundation was also said to have contributed 4 lakh dollars to the NGO Kabir which was run by Arvin Kejriwal.