With an aim to achieve more transparency and facilitate procedure compliance easier, all the non-governmental organizations and firms that get foreign funds must open accounts in any designated banks until 21st January.
With this move, the government hopes the measure will bring more transparency and make procedural compliance easier. The government has integrated 32 banks with the Public Financial Management System, which can monitor the receipt and use of foreign funds.
This Home Ministry’s directive said that NGOs, firms and individuals getting foreign funds must open foreign contribution accounts in these banks. The order also asked them to ensure that such funds are not used against the national interest. As per current data on the MHA website, 25290 NGOs are registered under the FCRA. [ See https://fcraonline.nic.in/fc8_statewise.aspx]
The 32 banks include State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, UCO Bank, IndusInd Bank, Syndicate Bank, Allahabad Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Punjab National Bank, Yes Bank, Oriental Bank Of Commerce, Dena Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank and Andhra Bank.
The order comes amid several measures the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken to crack down on thousands of NGOs that receive funds from abroad. It has also cancelled some of their licenses for violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
The MHA order says that the directive to the NGOs, companies and individuals to open foreign contribution accounts in banks, which are integrated with the central government’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS), came for providing a higher level of transparency and hassle-free reporting compliance.
The order, issued on December 21, said the NGOs are directed to comply with the order within one month. The government also told them not to do anything detrimental to national interests.
The central government has already decided that all banks where the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registered persons and organizations have opened their foreign contribution accounts will be integrated with the PFMS for providing a higher level of transparency and hassle-free reporting compliance.
Courtesy: NewsBharati
