Congress, other Oppn MPs red flag FCRA Amendment Bill: Some shops could be shut !!

Now, wait for more to come:

1.Uniform Civil Code

2.Anti conversion bill

Modi Govt already got: Demonetistaion, GST, Triple Talaq Ban, Article 370 abolition, Ram Temple,
Banking for poor - Jan Dhan, CAA & NRC (in Assam)

Farm bill: Agri reforms

B L Santhosh, BJP general secretary:

"FCRA Bill will have a far reaching effect on the way NGOs are run in this country . No more service for gains ... It has to be Seva for society".

.....

# Over Rs 58,000 crore of foreign funds were received by NGOs registered under the FCRA between 2016-17 and 2018-19. India has around 22,400 NGOs.

Congress and other opposition parties flagged off several objections to the new FCRA Bill introduced in Lok Sabha on September 21, 2020 by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.

Congress floor leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says: "This Bill will crush dissent and confine unnecessary power in the hands of the (central/federal) government.”

Manish Tewari of Congress: 

"FCRA provisions need to be relaxed rather than made stringent.

I would like say that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly has stated that the FCRA provisions and rules are not in conformity with international
law, principles, and standards. Right to freedom of association includes the right to access foreign funding".

"Clause 3 of the Bill which inserts new Section 7 in place of the old one violates the Wednesbury Principle, which is intrinsic to Article 14 of the Constitution of India by making the bar on transfer of foreign contributions absolute.

Clause 6 which inserts a new proviso to subsection 2, Section 11 gives unbridled powers of harassment and persecution to the Government by giving it the authority to conduct a summary inquiry to interdict foreign contributions. This turns the jurisprudential principle of ‘innocent
until proven guilty’completely on its head.

My third objection, Speaker, Sir, is that clause 8 that amends Section 13 increases the suspension period of an FCRA certificate from 180 days to 365 days and no valid or cogent reason has been provided for this increase.


"My final objection, hon. Speaker, Sir, is that clause 11 that amends Section 16 dealing with the renewal of FCRA permissions makes the process equivalent to applying for a new certificate itself."

Saugata Roy, Trinamool Congress:

"I oppose the introduction of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020. This is an another example of big brother watching, that is, the Central Government keeping an eye on all those who are receiving foreign contributions". 

"It is mainly directed at minority organizations or institutions which receive foreign funding. There is an attempt to tighten the screw on all those organizations, NGOs, who receive foreign funding. 

"Now, public servants are being excluded from accepting foreign funding. The administrative expenses have been reduced to 20 per cent. AADHAAR number is being made compulsory and in case of FCRA account, it is being specified that it will be done through State Bank of India, New Delhi."

The purpose of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act was to have some control on foreign contributions, not to stop them altogether. But now this is an attempt where foreign contributions will be stopped altogether because very few people will be able to comply with the new regulations expected from this Act.

"Thus, the freedom of people who work in social organizations, do good work in the tribal areas and rural areas, will be prohibited or barred or hampered in accepting foreign contributions.

As Mr. Tewari (of Congress) correctly pointed out, the idea should be to deregulate and not overregulate foreign contributions so that people can receive foreign contributions and do their work honestly.


"If somebody does fraud, if somebody does anything wrong, then criminal investigation can be
initiated. But so far, no such criminal investigation has proved anything against people receiving foreign contributions. Sometimes we see that certain persons have been probed, but not a single conviction under this law has taken place so far.

So, I fully oppose the introduction of this Bill which will hamper the freedom,especially of minority groups.

ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY : Congress floor leader


"Section 12A is a violation of an individual’s concerns and privacy of Aadhaar data.

Sir.....The Supreme Court judgement delivered on 22nd September 2018 stopped the Government from setting up mandatory provision for Aadhaar as an identification document. That is against
privacy concerns of citizens and violation of the Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court bench chaired by Justice Dipak Misra said it is mandatory only for IT returns and PAN allotment.


In other cases, the Supreme Court had even struck down the national security exception under the Aadhaar Act, reiterating the importance of data privacy by restricting Government from accessing it. But Section 12(a) demands Aadhaar as a mandatory requirement for identification.

Secondly, arbitrary and unreasonable provisions are still existing in the Bill, for example Section 5 of FCRA, which confers power upon the Central Government to declare any organisation to be an organisation of political nature.

"This is contrary to the spirit of promoting foreign contribution and regressive towards democratic principle. The Government can turn an organisation political, and prohibit an organisation from receiving foreign contribution if they try to respond to a political issue or dissent. This provision can be used as a tool to eliminate voices of dissent which is a part and parcel of democracy.

"Current amendments are made in order to confer unnecessary power in the hands of Government and as a tool to suppress the opposition voices. 

This is the reason for my opposing the introduction of the Bill.

Christian Organisations will face the brunt

Some provisions of the Bill (Highlights)

## “Every person who has been granted certificate or prior permission for foreign funding shall receive foreign contribution only in an account designated as ‘FCRA Account’ which shall be opened by him in such branch of the State Bank of India at New Delhi, as the Central Government may, by notification, specify and for other consequential matters relating thereto”, the bill says.





One analyst and associated with a NGO in northeast India says:

By making SBI, New Delhi as the designated bank, are they trying to say that other banks are crooks or that only SBI will survive in this country in future?”


"The provisions only give unbridled powers to the executive - that is the Modi government in the centre - and the officials to take action unreasonably and arbitrarily and there will be no checks and balances."



Govt argument in favour of the new draft Law:

The new proposed amendments only “seek to streamline the provisions of the FCRA by strengthening the compliance mechanism, enhancing transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution worth thousands of crores of rupees every year”.

-- The need to amend the law was felt after it was found that the "annual inflow of foreign contribution has almost doubled between the years 2010 and 2019, but many recipients of foreign contribution have not utilise the same for the purpose for which they were registered or granted prior permission under the said Act".

Many of them were also found wanting in ensuring basic statutory compliances such as submission of annual returns and maintenance of proper accounts,” according to the government statement.

(The Modi government canceled the FCRA licenses of about 10,000 organizations in 2015 alone)

refer to this link:

https://www.ucanews.com/news/india-bans-four-christian-groups-from-accepting-foreign-funds/89450#

Govt also says:

“This has led to a situation where the central government had to cancel certificates of registration of more than 19,000 recipient organisations, including non-governmental organisations, during the period between 2011 and 2019. The criminal investigations also had to be initiated against dozens of such non-governmental organisations which indulged in outright misappropriation or mis-utilisation of foreign contribution,” it adds.


A clause in the bill states that it will allow for the central government to hold a summary inquiry to direct bodies with FCRA approval to “not utilise the unutilised foreign contribution or receive the remaining portion of foreign contribution”.

The clause states: “Provided the central government, on the basis of any information or report, and after holding a summary inquiry, has reason to believe that a person who has been granted prior permission has contravened any of the provisions of this act, it may, pending any further inquiry, direct that such person shall not utilise the unutilised foreign contribution or receive the remaining portion of foreign contribution which has not been received or, as the case may be, any additional foreign contribution, without prior approval of the central government.”

Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India, tweeted: 

“Devastating blow. Red carpet welcome for foreign investments for businesses but stifling and squeezing the nonprofit sector by creating new hurdles for foreign aid which could help lift people out of poverty, ill health and illiteracy”.

A Naga social worker said:

“I find the Government could not conceal its double standards and hypocrisy. They want foreign corporate investment, but no charity ? If political parties are allowed foreign donations, even the PM-CARES launched after Covid19 can receive foreign donations, then how do they say that a public servant cannot use foreign contribution?

"This Bill is against Christians and Muslims. This is a move to target the people who speak against the government and scare away the common people who dare to vote against the BJP". 




Proposed migration of all FCRA designated accounts to SBI New Delhi, needs to be thought through. How will charities and religious trusts spread across India open and manage accounts home-branched at Delhi?

- DevelopAidFoundation

A right wing intellectual, S Gurumurthy said:

"The so called Social Entrepreneurs can’t get dollar rated salaries, five star stay and execute class travel and posh office and secretariat."

BJP supporters and Modi admirers have endorsed the Bill in unambiguous manner !


Netas and Government generally talk - but Modi Walks the Talk and gets things done !!

Demonetistaion
GST
Triple Talaq Ban
Article 370 abolition 
Ram mandir
Banking for poor - Jan Dhan 
Toilet for all (work is on)
Electricity 
CAA & NRC (in Assam)
Changes in FCRA Law
Farm bill: Agri reforms 

Now, wait for more to come:

1.Uniform Civil Code
2.Anti conversion bill