New Delhi: Just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook his visit to the United States, the central government added three US-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to its watch list.
The NGOs placed on the list, including one patronised by billionaire global investor George Soros, include the Open Society Foundation (OSF), World Movement for Democracy (WMD), and National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a report in The Economic Times said today.
The fallout of the development will mean that donors can no longer send money directly to these outfits in India and NGOs will have to seek prior clearance from the Home ministry before taking any grant from foreign donors.
With these three added to the watch list, the total number of NGOs being closely monitored by the government has risen to 18 which also includes Greenpeace.
However, In March this year, the government removed Ford Foundation from its watch list.
The Centre had last year also unblocked foreign funds to the tune of $1,50,000 to be released to the foreign donor’s bank accounts as the organisation had exhausted its options to pay salary to its staffers and made a plea before the government.
In March last year, the Gujarat government had complained to the MHA that the Ford Foundation funded “anti-India” activities of activist Teesta Setalvad’s NGOs — Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace — and requested that the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) registration of the two NGOs be cancelled.
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