GREENPEACE LIED ON FOREIGN FUND INFLOW
Friday, 10 April 2015 | Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Centre on Thursday came down hard on Greenpeace India by blocking foreign funding to the NGO with immediate effect and freezing seven of its bank accounts alleging it has “prejudicially” affected the country’s public and economic interests in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The Union Home Ministry suspended Greenpeace India’s licence to receive foreign donations and served a notice asking why its licence should not be cancelled. The Ministry said the licence of Greenpeace India will be cancelled permanently if the NGO fails to make a satisfactory presentation to the Government.
The decision came after a probe by FCRA division and the Intelligence Bureau into the alleged gross financial irregularities by the NGO.
The NGO was allowed to accept foreign funds through only two banks but the probe found that they were receiving donations through five other bank accounts as well. The four-page notice served to Greenpeace, bank managers and the RBI, details the series of violations by the organisation in utilising the huge value of donations.
The notice says that in 2008-09, Greenpeace India showed nil foreign donations in the opening balance but the probe found that it received Rs6,60,31,783. When caught by the FCRA division of the Home Ministry, the Greenpeace cited it as a “typo error”.
“Whereas the association has under-reported and repeatedly mentioned incorrect amount of foreign contribution received in violation of Section 33 of FCRA 2010, the most glaring example being Foreign Contribution opening balance for 2008-09, which was reported as Nil in the auditor’s certificate but was actually Rs6,60,31,783. Greenpeace India subsequently admitted the same and claimed it to be a typographical error,” said the notice issued by MHA.
The seven suspended accounts of Greenpeace are with IDBI Bank, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank. The major foreign donor to the India unit of the NGO was Greenpeace International, Netherlands Unit of Greenpeace and another international NGO named Climate Works Foundation.
“Whereas, it has been found during a 2014 on-site inspection of accounts and records conducted on September 24 and 27, that the association (Greenpeace) has first transferred foreign contribution received in the FCRA-designated bank account to FCRA utilisation account and from there to following five other bank accounts without informing the authority concerned, thus violating Rule 9(1)(e) of FCRR, 2011,” said the notice.
The Ministry said the NGO has “wilfully suppressed” and not disclosed the payment of salary, Euro 56,951.16 per annum, by Greenpeace International to Greg Muttitt, a foreign Greenpeace activist, who worked on secondment with Greenpeace India for nearly six months.
The Home Ministry further said the NGO has incurred more than 50 per cent of the foreign contribution on administrative expenditure during 2011-12 and 2012-13 without obtaining prior approval of the Central Government in violation of the FCRA rules which is also substantiated by the notice issued by the Income Tax Department and subsequent payment of Rs 62.12 lakh by Greenpeace India to the IT Department.
With the Government tightening norms for funding to NGOs, security agencies have alleged that nearly 200 foreign donors were indulging in money laundering under the garb of donating money to some of these organisations. Economic wings of central security agencies have shared a list of 188 foreign donors with the Home and Finance Ministries, as well as relevant departments for keeping a check on their donations.
“This is a smear, pure and simple. All of this was put before the Delhi High Court when we brought a case against the Centre and the court decided in our favour. This feels like a revealing moment, one that says much more about the MHA than it does about Greenpeace. We believe in the Indian legal system. A campaign is being waged against dissent, but we will not be cowed,” said Samit Aich, Executive Director Greenpeace India.
Noting that its work is supported by the people of this country, Aich said 70 per cent of Greenpeace India’s funds come from Indian donors. “Greenpeace India added 30,746 new supporters, taking its tally of financial supporters within India to 77,768. In all, the group received Rs 30.36 crore, of which Rs 20.76 crore was given by supporters within India,” Aich said.
Greenpeace and the Government have been at loggerheads ever since the incident involving the offloading of the NGO’s campaigner Priya Pillai at the Delhi airport while she was on her way to London to attend a seminar. She was supposed to give a presentation before a delegation of British MPs on tribals affected by coal mining in Mahan Coalfields. The Delhi High Court, however, had slammed the Centre for offloading the activist.
Referring to the case, the Home Ministry said that Intelligence reports indicated that she had planned to testify on the alleged poor state of tribal people in India and the manner in which the Government had allegedly increased efforts to rob the tribals of their rights, which is an absolutely false allegation.http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/greenpeace-lied-on-foreign-fund-inflow.html