The document discusses the ongoing debate around foreign funding of NGOs in India. It notes that while some see foreign-funded NGOs as threatening national security or stalling infrastructure projects, others argue they raise important environmental and social issues. The document suggests that governments, NGOs, and corporations could find constructive ways to partner by leveraging their unique skills and expertise for nation-building, rather than allowing petty disputes to block opportunities for partnership.

1. 6 | CSR TIMES | OCTOBER 2014 7 | CSR TIMES | OCTOBER 2014
The last few months have wit-
nessed ever increasing debates on
foreign funding for NGOs in India.
There is a growing suspicion that
NGOsreceivefundingaspartofglobal
reaction to civil society. Many coun-
triesaretryingtofinancethesegroups
thatraiseconcernsonenvironmental
and resource degradation due to
developmental activities. It is also
alleged that foreign funded NGOs
threatennationalsecurity.However,it
isobservedthatmostgovernmentsdo
notaddresstheissuesraisedbythese
organisations about repercussions
that industrial projects have on the
environment.
The IB report blaming foreign
funded organisation was recently
leakedtothepress.Inthereportitwas
alleged that these organisations are
stallingtheinvestmentbeingmadein
the large scale implementation of
infrastructure developmental proj-
ects.
It has been observed that our
countryhasverystrictenvironmental
laws and a number of conditions are
also laid down by the ministry before
theprojectiscleared.Nevertheless,it
is seen that the government does not
haveapropermonitoringmechanism
in place due to which few industries
are able to circumvent the conditions
laid down. The Social Impact and the
Environmental Impact Assessment
have not very much matured in our
country. We have to graduate into
Social and Environmental Risk
Materiality Mapping, so that we are
abletocomprehendtheimpactofthe
project and the consequences it is
likely to have on the Social, Financial
and Economic front. Without under-
standing the Ecological system in
which the project operates, it is very
difficulttopredict/analysetheconse-
quences. During the clearance of the
project the industries also give com-
mitment regarding the protection,
conservation and restoration of the
ecology/environment. But the fact is
thatahandfulofpeoplearerarelyable
to understand these terminologies
and what do they encompass. The
Environmental Research and
Development in our country has not
yet reached a stage, where, we are
able to quantify the exact ecological
lossthataprojectwithenvironmental
impactswillincur.
In some of the developing coun-
tries efforts are being made to study
theprotection/conservationofnatural
environs through creation of ecologi-
calcorridors,protection/conservation
oflandscapeorspecies.Stilltheclar-
ity on the above has not yet reached a
maturitypoint.Ecologicalsystemsare
complexmechanismanditwilltakeus
a lot of time to understand them fully.
This requires commitment from
industriesintermsoffinancialinvest-
mentforR&Dwhichonlyfewarewill-
ing to incur. In the absence of it, the
spaceisoccupiedbyfewenvironmen-
tal NGOs who are also learning from
theirexperiencesatvariouslocations.
On the other side, I also feel that
these International NGOs have been
putting pressure for change unitedly
as an activist group. For eg:
Greenpeace’s high profile campaign
againstamultinationalcompanyplan
todisposeitsoilrigatsealedtowide-
spreadcondemnationwhichresulted
in the company abandoning its plan.
Fewofushaveenviedtheseorganisa-
tions at the height of their activist
induced crisis, yet despite these and
many more high profile cases,
researchshowsthatfeworganisations
arepreparedforactivistattack.
Inanincreasinglypluralisticsoci-
ety,activismpresentsagrowingthreat
toorganisationsofallshapesandsiz-
es,andbecauseactivistemployawide
range of aggressive tactics such as
generating bad publicity, taking gov-
ernment and legislative intervention
etc, they can cause severe disruption
includingdamagetoreputation,sales,
profitabilityandemployeesatisfaction.
Ifeelthatorganisationsthatcome
under activist pressure tend to be
unprepared, do not know how to
respondoreitherfailstorespondatall
o r r e s p o n d i n e f f e c t i v e l y.
Unfortunately, ignoring these groups
increasestheirdeterminationandthe
likelihoodthattheywilltakethirdpar-
tyinterventionfrommedia,regulatory
bodies and the government.
Fortunately if dealt within the right
manner, activists have shown to
change their approach from aggres-
sively confrontational to cooperative.
Learningtomanageactivistsinvolves
learningaboutactivist.Whoarethey?
What do they want? What will they do
to achieve their objective? And most
importantly of all – what is the best
waytodealwiththem?
Putting a ban on activist NGO
groupsornotallowingNGOstocollect
funds from abroad will not solve the
problem. When deciding how to
respondtherearevariousapproaches
whichanorganisationcanadoptwhich
vary from simply ignoring them or
ignoringthembutseekingtoinfluence
publicopinionorpersuadingactivistor
the organisation position or fighting
back.Eachoftheseapproacheshasits
ownprosandconswhichanorganisa-
tionhastoanalyseholistically.
Any individual or activist NGOs’
group,whetherofficiallyregisteredor
not may pose threat to national secu-
ritybyimportingpotentiallydisruptive
ideas. Many attempts to restrict the
work of NGOs and other Civil Society
Organisations, conflict with citizen
rightstofreeexpressionandassocia-
tion. Justifying regulations on these
NGOs does not solve the problem. A
substantialamountofforeignfunding
flowsintoIndiathoughglobalfinancial
institutionssuchasWorldBankandin
the form of private investments. By
specifically targeting NGOs that help
marginalised communities raise
importantquestions–thegovernment
signals an intent to silent voices that
presentinconvenienttruthtothepub-
lic.Portrayinghumanrightsandenvi-
ronmental NGOs not just as anti-
developmental or anti-corporate but
as anti-national have grave implica-
tions for the future of dissent and
democracy in India. These legal and
regulatory barriers stifle civil society
andimpingeonfundamentalfreedom
ofexpressionandassociation.
Contrary to the reports available
inpublicdomainsandtheevaporated
tiff between the IB and the NGOs with
foreign funding, the three bodies:
Government, NGOs and corporate
sectorhaveahugescopeofintertwin-
ing their unique skills and expertise
fornationbuilding.Differenceinopin-
ions has its own place yet finding a
constructive means amidst such dif-
ferences carries huge probability.
Moreover,whenthefundamentalpur-
pose of the government, NGOs and
corporate is to do good to the society
anditsresidents,whynottopoolinthe
unique resources and expertise to
develophighlevelpartnershipswhere
all three can become an ally of the
other thereby leveraging the unique
skillstofurtherthefundamentalaim.
It will not be an exaggeration to say
that the Companies Bill too aims to
bring in all the stakeholders together
to address the demanding issues and
make the communities sustainable
where we sustain. The question
remainsshallweletthesepettyissues
becomeablockageinthewayoffind-
ingwaystobecomeamicablepartners
orshallsuchaspectsbecomeabottle-
neck in marring the possibilities of
highlevelpartnerships?
ThewriterColPrakashTewari(Retd)
istheFormerDirector-Policy(Ecology),
IntegratedHQMoD,Govt.OfIndia.
FOREIGN FUNDING IN NGOS: WHAT LIES AHEAD?
OPINION OPINION
CSRT
SomerecentdevelopmentsoveraperiodoftimeinthedisputebetweenGreenpeaceandthe
IntelligenceBureauwentonforquitesometimemakingitablamegame.Sansanyconstructive
conclusion,thedebatewasultimatelyleftinlurch.Yetitcouldturnouttobeahugeopportunityif
understoodfundamentally.Let’sunderstandhow.