Supreme Court’s directive to the government to audit
nearly 30 lakh NGOs which received public funds but
failed to explain how they spent the money is unprecedented
and a step in the right direction. As per figures gathered
from Central and State depts, between 2002 and 2009, funds
amounting to Rs 4,756 cr were disbursed by the Centre while
some States gave Rs 6,654 cr without receiving any account
of how money was spent. Though public funds to the tune of
thousands of crores are spent on NGOs and voluntary organisations
annually, only about three lakh of the 30 lakh NGOs
file their balance sheets, thereby avoiding opening up their accounts
for scrutiny. This also comes against the backdrop of a
misconception that NGOs are exempt for taxation scrutiny and
other regulatory requirements since they are working in public
interest without a profit motive. The SC directive will come as
a hard blow to the thousands of NGOs across India and even
Goa who have not been filing returns. The govt is now required
to come up with guidelines for not only their accreditation,
but also draw a template on which basis they should maintain
their accounts. The govt is known to have earlier cracked
down on foreign funds received by NGOs and have also managed
to blacklist some, but armed with this SC directive, the
govt will have to crack the whip harder. It’s time govt has an
account of where each and every rupee of public money goes.
