'Modi govt's assault on dissent': Foreign funds of top finance NGO blocked

By Rajiv Shah

In a surprise move, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has cancelled the foreign funding license of the well-known advocacy group, Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), known for critically examining India's finance and banking sectors from human rights and environmental angle.
Ironically, CFA lost its license under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) even as it completed seven years of Finance Matters (FM), its widely appreciated column in the CFA website. In a statement, CFA said, "We are happy that somebody in power is reading our weekly newsletters. We assure them that we will continue to enrich their reading in future too!"
According to CFA, "The past seven years of FM coincided with the regime whose economic policies created a havoc for the common people. Demonetisation, ill-conceived GST and a reckless lockdown broke the backbone of the informal sector and unemployment peaked as never before. Dwindling income and skyrocketing inflation burnt a hole in the poor people’s purses exhausting whatever was left of their household savings."

It continued, "While we slipped in the global hunger index, the policies of the government sold off pieces of the country to the Adanis and the Ambanis, and gave the corporates massive tax breaks and write-offs fattening their pockets. While all of this was unfolding over the last decade, keeping quiet or looking the other way was never a choice. We joined others in holding this government to account."
According to CFA, "Through its weekly editions, Finance Matters has consistently provided a platform for informed commentary on crucial financial issues affecting our nation and world today. From dissecting the implications of global economic policies to unravelling the complexities of banking regulations, the newsletter has empowered its readers with valuable insights and perspectives."
Especially referring to the weekly column of former general secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation and steering committee Mmember at the Global Labour University Thomas Franco, Random Reflections, it said, it has been "one which is awaited for by many for the insights and analysis of Indian banking and the economy. Started towards the end of 2019, the column has been consistent and reproduced by many mainstream media."

Calling Finance Matters "a trusted source of information for policymakers, financial professionals, academics, and concerned citizens alike", CFA claimed, it has played a pivotal role in "advocating for and amplifying responsible financial practices and socio-economic, environment and climate accountability within the financial institutions."

Seeking public donations to continue its advocacy work, the statement underlined, "At a time when the government clampdown on civil society organisations (CSOs) has increased with a vengeance, in addition to false cases on and illegal incarceration of activists, throttling dissent and democratic rights, CFA will continue to speak truth to power.

In a separate statement, the Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Services, a civil outfit comprising of eminent academics, jurists, erstwhile administrators, trade unionists and social activists, the denial of renewal of FCRA registration of the public-spirited NGO "reeks of mala fide intent and vindictiveness."

Expressing solidarity with CFA, a "fraternal organisation with which it has collaborated closely in the last several years", the Commission said, the "latest action" is yet another confirmation that "the Modi government in its third term continues on a path of extinguishing dissent."

"The Commission notes with deep concern the manner in which the Ministry has been suspending/ revoking FCRA registration of several NGOs for minor infractions, while, shockingly, allowing political parties unfettered access to foreign donations", it underlined.

Stating that the Commission has highlighted how the current regime has worked on removing legislative hurdles to accessing foreign funding to political parties, it said, "This is clearly anomalous: there is one set of rules for political parties accessing foreign funds, while public-spirited NGOs face the weight of the state."

The Commission noted, "The CFA, a fledgling institution, in its short life span of 7 years, has distinguished itself in the cause of undertaking research that has provided analytical inputs to academia, journalists, social activists and the ordinary folk at a time when the mainstream media has sold its heart and soul to the powers that be."

It added, "In particular, its detailed fact sheets on specific issues ranging from demonetisation to inequities of the Indian tax regime have been revelatory for many. It has served a great public cause by shining a light on the misdeeds of Big Business, particularly their collusion with the ruling regime."

Comments

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.

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.

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.

Dalit woman student’s death sparks allegations of institutional neglect in Himachal college

By A Representative A Dalit rights organisation has alleged severe caste- and gender-based institutional violence leading to the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman student at Government Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and has demanded arrests, resignations, and an independent inquiry into the case.

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.

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 architect of Congolese liberation: The life and legacy of Patrice Lumumba

By Harsh Thakor* Patrice Émery Lumumba remains a central figure in the history of African decolonization, serving as the first Prime Minister of the independent Republic of the Congo. Born on July 2, 1925, Lumumba emerged as a radical anti-colonial leader who sought to unify a nation fractured by decades of Belgian rule. His tenure, however, lasted less than seven months before his dismissal and subsequent assassination on January 17, 1961.

Venezuela and the crisis of global order: Erosion of rules-based international order

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The American attack on Venezuela violates every principle of international law that the collective West claims to uphold. The response from the European Union—“we are monitoring the situation”—exposes the hollowness of these claims. WhatsApp gossipers may celebrate this as an act of “bravery,” but what kind of bravery is it to intimidate a neighbour that is neither large in size nor strong in military power?

Search This Blog