Christian missions pump whopping funds to NGOs – Foreign donations touch 10,000 crores – The Pioneer – 27.2.12

A mi d   up ro a r   o v e r   t  h e Government’s disclosure about foreign funding to NGOs to fuel anti-nuclear protests in Kudankulam, the latest report of the Home Ministry showed that more than  10,000 crore was pumped into India during 2009-

2010, mostly from the USA and Europe to NGOs in India.  The report says that while

it is not proper to make sweeping generalisations, it is necessary to note that the NGO

sector in India is vulnerable to the risks of money laundering a n d   t e r  r o r  i s t   f  i  n a n c i n g . “Therefore, necessary steps for rigorous enforcement as well as coordination with foreign countries for law enforcement will continue. Our efforts

for coordination with State police organisations and other specialised organisations will also continue towards this direction,” the report said.  The report, approved by

Union Home Secretary RK Singh in January 2012, revealed that major donors from abroad and receivers in India are Christian Missionaries and Church-sponsored NGOs. The analysis of the Home Ministry’s 42-page report shows that 14,233 NGOs received foreign contribution of 10,337.59 crore. The highest contribution

came to Delhi (1,815.91 crore) followed by Tamil Nadu (1,663.31 crore) and  Andhra Pradesh (1,324.87 crore). Interestingly, in district-wise analysis Chennai topped the list of foreign contribution with 871.60 crore, followed by Bengaluru (703.43 crore) and Mumbai (606.63 crore). The biggest fund inflow to

NGOs has come from the USA (3,105.73 crore) followed by Germany (1,046.30

crore) and the UK (1,038.68 crore). These three countries have topped in the donors’ list of Home Ministry for many years. Most the funding has been generated from Christian missionaries of these three nations.  The donor missionaries have also formed their Indian subsidiaries. The other toppers come from Italy (583.47 crore), the Netherlands (509.46 crore), S p  a i n   (4 3 7 . 2 5   c r o r e ) Switzerland (302.06 crore), Canada (297.98 crore), France (189.12 crore) and Australia

(148.28). The eleventh big donor to Indian NGOs is from UAE with 133.15 crore.

“The list of foreign donors is topped by the Gospel For Asia Inc of the USA (232.71

crore) followed by Fundacion Vi c ente  Fe  r  re r,  B arc  e lona , Spain (228.60 crore) and the World Vision Global Centre of the USA (197.62 crore),” said

the  report  of  Home  Ministry on foreign contribution and regulation for the period of year 2009-2010. These three are evangelical organisations. The   four  t h   l arge s t  donor, Compassion International, is also from the US (131.57 core) and belongs to the same category.  In t e r e s t i n g l y   t h e   f i f t h biggest donor is India’s HCL, which has made the contribution through its Mauritius s u b s i d i a r  y  HC L  Ho l d i n g s P r  i v  a t e   L  i  m i t e  d .   HCL’s entire donation of 

94.28 crore has gone to educ a t i o n a l   o r g a n i s a t i o n   i n C h e n n a i ,   k n o w s   a s S  e  v  a  s u b r  a m  a n  i  a   N a  d  a r Educational Charitable Trust, f o r  m e d   i n   t  h e   n a m e   of HCL owner Shiv Nadar’s father. “The highest amount of f o r e i g  n   c o n t  r  i b u t  i  o n   w a s received by the World Vision of India, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (208.94 crore), followed by the Rural Development Trust, Anant hapu r,  AP  (1 5 1 . 3 1 c r o r e ) ,   a n d   S h r  I S  e  v  a  s u b r  a m  a n  i  a   N a  d  a r Educational Charitable Trust, Chennai (94.28 crore). “The highest amount of f o r e i g  n   c o n t  r  i b u t  i  o n   w a s received and utilised for establ i   h m e n t   e x p  e n s  e s   (1,482.58 crore), followed by rural development (Rs944.30 crore), welfare of children (742.42 crore), construction and maintenanc e   of   s  chool / col l e ge (630.78 crore) and grant of stipend/scholarship/assitance in cash and kind to p  o  o r / d e s  e r  v i n g   c h i l d r e n (4 5 4 . 7 0   c rore ) ,”   s  ay s   t he Home Ministry report on the fund utilisation by NGOs. According to the report, during the year, 133 NGOs received foreign contribution in excess of  10 crore, 179 associations between 5 crore and 10 crore, 1,594 associations between  Rs 1 crore and 5 crore, and 12,327 below Rs 1 crore. Out of 21,508 associations, 7275 have reported ‘nil’ r e  c e i p t   o f   f o r e i g  n   contribution.