The government has registered cases against four NGOs for routing foreign funds to organise agitations.
Getting tougher on the protests against the Russian-built Kudankulam nuclear plant, the government has registered cases against four NGOs for routing foreign funds to organise agitations.
“Cases have been registered against four NGOs for violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA),” said Union home secretary RK Singh.
The cases have been registered by the crime branch of the Tamil Nadu police and the CBI on the MHA’s orders, sources said.
The action came soon after the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) cancelled the NGOs’ FCRA licence, a pre-requisite to get funds from donors outside India. Their bank accounts were frozen after an inquiry by the MHA found them diverting funds meant for charity to fuel the protests.
Union home minister P Chidambaram is expected to reveal more about these NGOs, including their names, in his monthly report card on Wednesday.
One of the NGOs, Tuticorin Diocese Association (TDA), when contacted by DNA, vehemently refuted all the allegations and said they are being victimised. “We are shocked. When we have not been a part of any anti-Kudankulam protests, how one can accuse us of funding it? The home ministry inquiry revealed nothing; even then we are being hounded. We have asked the ministry to reconsider it decision. If it does not we will be going to court against this order,” Fr William Chandarnam of TDA said.
The other two NGOs — Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society and Madurai-based People’s Education for Action and Liberation — could not be contacted despite several efforts.
According to AP, anti-nuclear campaigner SP Udaykumar objected to his People’s Education for Action and Liberation being shuttered, saying there was no proof to support the prime minister’s allegations that the protesters were supported by overseas funding.
“Instead of acknowledging the people’s struggle, he is accusing us of receiving money from American and Scandinavian sources,” Udayakumar told reporters. “We reject these accusations. We are not receiving any money from any international or Indian sources.”
However, Union minister of state in the PMO V Narayanasamy said the NGOs were found to be diverting foreign funds for the anti-nuclear campaign in Kudankulam. “These NGOs were receiving funds from foreign countries for social service causes like helping the physically handicapped and eradication of leprosy but these were used or anti-nuclear protests,” he said.
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