Activist Harsh Mander under scrutiny again! Centre orders CBI probe into his NGO for FCRA violation
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended a CBI inquiry against Sonia Gandhi’s close aide Harsh Mander’s NGO ‘Aman Biradari’ for violating Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Harsh Mander and his NGO were on the agencies’ radar after he organized many protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Mander, who was a member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council during the erstwhile UPA government, founded Aman Biradari — “a people’s campaign for a secular, peaceful, just and humane world”. He was a former IAS officer who took voluntary retirement and is a close aide of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi. For the past nine years, Mander was found in many protests against the BJP-led government.
An MHA official said a CBI inquiry has been recommended against Aman Biradari for violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. All NGOs receiving foreign funding have to mandatorily register with the Home Ministry under the FCRA. According to Mander’s website (https://harshmander.In), he is the “founder of Aman Biradari, a people’s campaign for a secular, peaceful, just and humane world, established after the Gujarat communal carnage of 2002”.
“Aman Biradari works closely with other people’s organizations and groups for the defence of secularism; for public compassion; and for promoting the values of the constitution,” it states.
In October 2022, the MHA cancelled the FCRA registration of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) — two NGOs headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi — for alleged violation of laws[1]. Officials said that between 2018 and 2022, the FCRA registration of 1,827 associations were cancelled due to violation of its provisions and rules.
As on March 10, 2023, there were 16,383 FCRA-registered organizations. A total amount of Rs.55,449 crore in foreign funding has been received by Indian NGOs in the last three years, the Rajya Sabha was informed last week. An amount of Rs.16,306.04 crore was received by NGOs across the country in 2019-20, Rs.17,058.64 crore in 2020-21, and Rs.22,085.10 crore in 2021-22.
Reference:
[1] Home Ministry cancels FCRA licenses of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust – Oct 23, 2022, PGurus.com
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