Environment/Science
Environment/Science MHA blocks receipt of Indian funds to Greenpeace India, alleges NGO
15 Apr 2015, 03:58 pm Print
New Delhi, Apr 14 (JEN): Greenpeace India on Tuesday termed the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) all out alleged attack on the NGO a "cynical move to suppress democracy and silence those with an alternative vision of development."
A week ago, the Ministry of Home Affairs had temporarily suspended Greenpeace India’s license to receive money from overseas and served it with a show cause notice for alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
"However, the Ministry Home Affairs’ actions indicate that the alleged FCRA violations are a smokescreen for the government to shut down the NGOs entire operations," Greenpeace alleged.
"Greenpeace India gets almost 70% of its funds from Indians, and the Ministry Home Affairs has ordered that these funds be frozen as well. There is no provision in the FCRA Act, 2010 which permits this," the NGO noted.
Samit Aich, Executive Director of Greenpeace India, has hit back strongly at the government’s actions, saying: “We will follow due process and respond to the Ministry Home Affairs’ claims of FCRA violations and take the matter to court. But the government has also blocked our domestic accounts and is now preventing ordinary Indians from supporting our work for clean air, healthy forests, pesticide-free food and a livable environment."
"This shows quite clearly that the Ministry Home Affairs’s real objective is not to restrict our access to foreign funds, but to shut us down completely. In effect the government is dismissing the concerns of the hundreds of thousands of Indians that support our campaigns, and the 70,000 plus Indians who support us financially.”
In the five days since news of the FCRA suspension was leaked by the Ministry Home Affairs to media, a number of Indians have come forward to pledge their support for the organisation, the NGO claimed.
However, many have seen their attempts to donate to the NGO blocked, allegedly on directions of the Ministry Home Affairs, it added.
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