Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 And Examining The Role Of NGOs.

“There are NGOs, often funded from USA & the Scandinavian Countries, which are not fully appreciative of the development challenges that our country faces. But we are a democracy. We are not like China. You know for example, what’s happening in Kundakulum [In Southern India, where local NGO-led protest have stalled commissioning of two 1000-Megawatt nuclear reactors]. The atomic energy programme has got into difficulty, because these NGOs, mostly I think based in United States, don’t appreciate the need for country to increase the energy supply.” [The Then PM, Shri Manmohan Singh in an interview in February 2012.] The Background To FCRA (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is a piece of legislation having a long and chequered history. It was first enacted in the year 1976, and the Statement & Object of Reasons of the original Act read as follows: “An Act to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain persons or associations, with a view to ensuring that parliamentary institutions, political associations and academic and other voluntary organisations as well as individuals working in the important areas of national life may function in a manner consistent with the values of a sovereign democratic republic, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” One of the original intents of the 1976 Act, brought in by the Indira Gandhi Government at the peak of emergency, was to stop political funding of its rivals, who were starved of funds within the country. The Act was enacted to insulate the sensitive areas of national life like- Journalism, judiciary and politics from extraneous influence from outside the country. Unwarranted Criticism Of The FCRA (Amendment) Act, 2020. Since 1976, much ink has been spilled on paper, and the original Act has undergone several Amendments, including the recent Amendments of 2020, FCRA (Amendment) Act, 2020. The aforesaid Amendment has met with criticism from several quarters on the premises that the foreign aid is not a new concept. Even the mighty US had been a beneficiary. Without appreciating the correct intention behind the Amendments, it was said that the Amendments are meant to crush dissent and concentrate powers in the hands of this Government. Surprisingly, even the United Nations criticised the new Amendments on the premise that access to resources, including foreign funding, is a fundamental part of the Right to Freedom of Association under International Law, standards, and principles, and more particularly part of forming an association. Therefore, any restriction on access to foreign funding must meet the stringent test for allowable restrictions for the right to association developed by the International Human Rights bodies. Given this narrow test, restricting access to foreign funding for associations based on notions such as “political nature”, “economic interest of the State” or “public interest” violates the right because these terms or definitions are overly broad, do not conform to a prescribed aim, and are not a proportionate response to the purported goal of the restriction. Such stipulations create an unacceptable risk that the law could be used to silence any association involved in advocating political, economic, social, environmental or cultural priorities which differ from those espoused by the government of the day. The Formal Response of The Government Of India On The New Amendments.  There is absolutely no justification in the allegations or understanding that these Amendments in any way prevent or impede the inflow of foreign contributions in India. Shri Nityanand Rai, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt. of India has stated in the Parliament, that; “FCRA is a national and internal security law with the main objective of ensuring that foreign money does not dominate India’s public life, politics, and social discourse. Internal security, cultural security, national security and protection of Democracy are the utmost priority and specialty of this Government. This amendment is also necessary for Atma Nirbhar India. This government wants NGOs to make their sincere contribution to meet the specific needs of society. They should bring transparency in the expenditure of foreign contributions and ensure that it is spent on the right objectives and the work for which foreign contributions is received. There is a provision of foreign contributions for social education, cultural, religious, and economic activities. These Amendments has not been brought to threaten any political opponents. The only aim behind the Amendment is to ensure that the funds are not misused to throttle Indian democracy and suppress Indian people”. Justification And Necessity Of The New Amendments. It has to be appreciated that India is a vibrant and pluralistic democracy with a robust domestic grievance redressal mechanism, overseen by an independent judiciary and a Category ‘A’ National Human Rights Commission, compliant with the Paris Principles. Framing of Laws is power & prerogative of the sovereign, so long as the new law or amendments in existing law are made for achieving legitimate aims & objective and, inter alia, is in national interest and public order. It is a misconceived notion that the aforesaid Amendments are against NGOs. Had that been the case, a large majority of the NGOs and individuals in this sector would not have already complied with the new requirements of the FCRA (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Indian Parliament, representing the will of the people, has enacted the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act thereby laying down a clear legislative policy of regulating foreign contributions for certain activities in the country. As a matter of principle, there exits no Right to receive any foreign contribution outside the framework designed by the Parliament and implemented by the executive. The existing regime in place, which enables receiving of foreign contribution, envisages certain regulations and procedural preconditions and compliances for accepting foreign contributions. No part of any purported Right to receive foreign contributions can be said to be a part of the Fundamental Rights granted to citizens. There is no question of Fundamental Rights being violated through controls of acceptance of foreign contribution by certain type of organisations as the said organisations or individuals are