Ford Foundation conveyed ahead of Modi visit to US: Foreign funding restrictions removed

By Rajiv Shah
Knowledgeable sources in the Gujarat government, citing information they had received from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), have said that the US-based philanthropic organization, Ford Foundation, has been formally conveyed that all restrictions placed on it under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by the Government of India have been “removed”, and it could freely operate as a registered NGO in India.
“This happened just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US”, the sources said, adding, “Under intense pressure from powerful lobbies in the US, Modi, apparently, wanted to convey it to President Barack Obama that he is not against foreign funding of NGOs, as it is being interpreted by some in India.”
This happened because, said the sources, strong lobbies were operating in the US, putting pressure on the White House to raise human rights issues with Modi, who landed in the US on June 7. “Had this happened, it would have meant a major embarrassment to Modi”, the sources said, adding, “Sensing trouble, the Centre acted quickly to formally tell Ford Foundation about the good news.
Sources also said, apart from Ford Foundation NGOs, lobbies at work in the US were in “direct touch” with some of the senior administrators and academics of educational institutions which received Ford Foundation funds – IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, GB Pant Social Science Institute and National Academy of Legal Studies and Research.
These insitutes wanted the Ford Foundation to “lift” all FCRA restrictions at the earliest, as, according to them, these were “affecting projects”, including those related with capacity building and technical assistance, feasibility for wireless broadband services to the rural poor, fellowships for international studies, and general research work.
The relations between the Ford Foundation and the Modi government began showing signs of thawing early this year, when it was taken off the 'prior permission' list. The 'prior approval' list comprises a group of organisations under government scanner for alleged 'anti-India' activities.
Soon thereafter, the Government of India “unblocked” foreign funds amounting to $150,000 to the Ford Foundation's Indian bank accounts, helping it to pay salaries to its staff.
Gujarat govt role: A little more than a year ago, the Gujarat government’s home department has asked the Government of India to seek an inquiry into the Ford Foundation’s grants to NGOs run by human rights activist Teesta Setalvad, fighting tens of 2002 communal riots cases.
In a letter addressed to the Union Home Ministry, the Gujarat government officially said action should be taken against the Ford Foundation, alleging that the it was "interfering in internal affairs" of the country and "abetting communal disharmony" through the NGO Sabrang Trust, run by well-known social activist Teesta Setalvad.
The complaint reportedly said, Setalvad’s NGO received $250,000 with allegations that she “embezzled” these funds given to her NGOs -- Citizens for Justice and Peace and Sabrang Trust. A CBI inquiry was instituted, her house was raided and an attempt to arrest her was made, but a Supreme Court order came in the way.
The Union home ministry placed Ford Foundation on its watch list and said that its funds would be routed with proper clearances.
Meanwhile, the Ford Foundation moved quickly to remove one of the technical glitches – it had been operating in India since 1952 as the only NGO which did not operate under the then Foreign Exchange Management Act, which required registration under the Indian Societies Act.
On registering as Indian NGO, in March this year, the Ford Foundation was taken off the "prior permission" list – a move that came just a few days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US for the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Enjoyed your comprehensive reporting. Great talent, nourished by years of hard work.

June 11, 2016

pemmaraju said…

what is that talent you have seen for writing just 3 paragraph biased content?

June 15, 2016

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Transgender Bill testimony of Govt of India's ‘contempt’ for marginalized community

Counterview Desk India’s civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)* has said that the controversial transgender Bill, passed in the Rajya Sabha on November 26, which happened to be the 70th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, is a reflection on the way the Government of India looks at the marginalized community with utter contempt.

Search This Blog