Cos use foreign money for political funding. Isn’t that influencing polls?

A recent Intelligence Bureau (IB) report has claimed that some well-known NGOs are working to stall economic development at the behest of their foreign donors. Activists and rights groups have been up in arms ever since the report was leaked. In an interview with Fawaz Shaheen, Colin Gonsalves, eminent Supreme Court lawyer, constitutional expert and founder of the Human Rights Law Network, discusses foreign funding and the fears of India’s civil rights activists:
The leaked IB report claims that under the garb of “people-centric issues” certain NGOs are working to stall development projects, resulting in a loss of about 2-3 % of the GDP.Do you agree with this assessment?
Not at all, this is an issue of environmental protection. Let’s take the nuclear energy issue. There are some sections of society that point out its adverse effects. These are not people who are anti-national . It is their point of view, in the nation’s interest, that India should go towards renewable sources of energy and that nuclear power is dangerous. We must recognize that these activists are doing a public service, which many people may disagree with. But they don’t have the state power to enforce their point of view, all they can do is they can write and talk. That is a constitutionally protected activity.
But isn’t there a need for faster clearances of projects, which are often held up due to protests, so that the economy can be put back on track?
If you’re saying decisions on environmental clearances should be taken quickly and without any bureaucratic delay I would agree with you. What seems to be the impression from this new government is that they will clear projects irrespective of what environmental law may say. That may not be entirely lawful.
The report effectively accuses organizations like People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) of espionage. Do you think these accusations are correct?
It is ridiculous. We have seen over the last years, many corporations are involved in cases of fraud and scams. Have you ever seen anyone accuse a company of espionage? These NGOs are credible associations internally and nationally, yet the state accuses them of espionage. Is there even a single piece of evidence?
Then why do you think the IB is making these allegations?
Because they get the mood of their political masters. First it was Manmohan Singh who said people who oppose nuclear energy are anti-national . And the present dispensation also seems to have the idea that if you’re opposed to nuclear energy, you’re opposed to the nation’s development. The truth is to the contrary.
In the wake of this report, many activists have been alleging that the Foreign Contribution Regulation
Act (FCRA) is designed to target dissenting voices. Is this a valid claim, or a case of shooting the messenger?
It’s absolutely valid. In our country, a corporation can bring into the country crores of foreign money, without any prior permission. On the other hand you have NGOs. There are three kinds of NGOs. First, there are a whole range o f Hi n d u t va NGOs. They’re collecting money; they’re using it for semi-political and political purposes, but nobody is doing any investigation or asking for any details. Secondly, there are police officials and retired bureaucrats who apparently have set up NGOs in their wives’ names and are collecting money from companies, government and other sources. Thirdly, there are NGOs many of them with small funds which have closed down as the funds have dried up, and it is these NGOs that have not submitted their reports, about which such a huge hue and cry is being raised in the media. But of all the NGOs mentioned in the IB report , there is not a single one that has not filed its annual report and audited accounts.
When the FCRA bans foreign funding for “organizations of a political nature”, do you not think this is a valid restriction?
This phrase must be interpreted as meaning using foreign funds for support of political parties and not to stifle legitimate criticism. Suppose you are criticizing the Congress or the BJP government, for legitimate constitutional concerns, that doesn’t mean you’re an “organization of a political nature”. That is civil society criticism.
But don’t you think that foreign funds bring with them foreign influence?
Many of the corporations in this country supported the NDA government. Now these companies are bringing in huge amounts of foreign money, and using some part of it for political funding. So it is foreign money influencing an election, is it not? The NGOs, by contrast, bring in relatively minuscule amounts of foreign money.
In view of all this, do you think the FCRA needs to be amended?
Yes it does. For commercial purposes there are no controls, but for social work NGOs are over regulated. This discrimination needs to be abolished. Under the existing law, every NGO submits its reports annually and they are put up on the home ministry website. If money is being misused, they should be prosecuted under the normal law. So we’re not saying no to accountability.