September 20, 2020
Saugata Roy opposes introduction of The Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, under Rule 72(i) of the Rules of Procedure, I oppose the introduction of The Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
This is another example of Big Brother watching, that is, the Central Government keeping an eye on all those who are receiving foreign contributions. It is mainly directed at minority organisations or institutions which receive foreign funding. There is an attempt to tighten the screw on all those organisations and NGOs which receive foreign funding. Now, public servants are being excluded from accepting foreign funding. The administrative expenses have been reduced to 20 per cent, Aadhaar number is being made compulsory and it is being specified that the FCRA account would have to be opened in State Bank of India, New Delhi.
Now the purpose of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act was to have some control over foreign contributions, not to stop them altogether. But now, this is an attempt to stop foreign contributions altogether because few people would be able to comply with the new regulations expected from this Act. Thus, the freedom of the people who work in social organisations, do good work in tribal areas and rural areas, will be hampered as many organisations would be prohibited or barred from accepting foreign contributions.
I think, as one Honourable Member correctly pointed out, the idea should be to deregulate and not over-regulate foreign contributions, so that people can receive foreign contributions and do the same honestly. If somebody does fraud, if somebody does anything wrong, then criminal investigations can be initiated. But so far, no criminal investigation has proved anything against people receiving foreign contributions. Only sometimes do we see certain people being probed. Not one conviction under this law has taken place so far.
Therefore, I fully oppose the introduction of the Bill, which will hamper the freedom of organisations, especially those aligned to minority groups.
