IB, RAW nod will be mandatory for NGOs registered under FCRA henceforth
New Delhi: Following the fiasco over the renewal of licence of controversial preacher Zakir Naik’s NGO, Islamic Research Foundation, under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the home ministry plans to put in place a stringent mechanism of security checks before licence of such NGOs are renewed.
According to the proposed move, a clearance will have to be taken from two key agencies, Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing, before licence of NGOs registered under FCRA is renewed again.
As of now, the clearance for renewal of these NGOs is done at the level of Foreigners Division of the home ministry which after checking the returns filed by the organisation and other relevant documents.
However, the ministry now plans to make it mandatory to get a security clearance done before the licence is renewed. The proposed procedure will be similar to the one the ministry is following in clearing proposals of Foreign Direct Investment where a security check is done both by the IB and RAW.
It is only after the security check is done that the home ministry clears or rejects the proposal and sends it back to the parent ministry which is handling the FDI project. The home ministry had suspended four officials including the joint secretary concerned who was heading the Foreigners Division.
While rectifying the error, the ministry had subsequently put Zakir Naik’s NGO under the prior permission category which means the Reserve Bank will have to seek home ministry’s clearance before releasing foreign donations to the organisation.
The NGOs that are registered with the ministry under the FCRA do not have to take prior permission before receiving foreign contribution but have to file their annual returns with the Division concerned giving details of their income and expenditure incurred.
Sources said ever since the error of renewing Zakir Naik’s NGO came to light, the ministry has been deliberating as to how such mistakes can be avoided in future. The IRF is being investigated by multiple agencies both by the Centre and the Maharashtra Government.
“The obvious thing we can do is that run a security check on the background of the NGO and seek a detailed report from the Intelligence agencies,’’a senior ministry official said.
