IB report on foreign-funded NGOs raises fears of curbs on dissent

New Delhi: The 21-page Intelligence Bureau (IB) report on the “negative impact” of foreign-funded NGOs on India’s growth rate packs quite a punch. The report claims that NGOs funded by donors based in the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries are using “people-centric issues to create an environment which lends itself to stalling development projects.” It goes on to make the rather sensational claim that the economic impact of this ‘anti-national’ role of NGOs on India’s GDP is to the tune of 2-3 percent per annum.The report, not surprisingly, has elicited angry reactions from those accused of being a threat to India’s ‘national economic security’ and has been slammed as an attempt to “muzzle and silence civil society members who raise their voices against injustices to people and the environment by asking uncomfortable questions about the current models of growth.”The report has also raised larger concerns among members of civil society about the implications of such a report on democratic rights of citizens to express dissent and to protest. “To demand that there should be labour law compliance and environment law compliance is not an anti-national activity. It is a legitimate activity. And if you are talking about equitable growth, it has to be growth that takes everybody along. I don’t see that as a trade-off. I feel it is a false opposition that has been created,” said Harsh Mander, Director, Centre for Equity Studies, reacting to the IB report.The long-term solution to ensure that NGOs were transparent and accountable, said Mander, was to bring them under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act.“The report can lead us in two directions. I wouldn’t like to see it resulting in any kind of suppression of social dissent. But if it takes us in the direction of greater accountability of NGOs, I would support that,” said the social worker and writer.[caption id="attachment_1568787" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Members of Greenpeace draping a poster on Essar's office in Mumbai. The IB report mentions Greenpeace as well. AFP[/caption]Activists are concerned that the IB report could be used as an excuse to scuttle dissent. “The report seems to suggest that because of dissent and protest, growth is being negatively impacted. In a participatory democracy, people have the right to raise their voice against what they feel is going against their interest. And if that slows down decision-making to some extent, it is a necessary cost. The answer cannot be that we therefore clamp down on spaces for protest. These rights are as important as growth,” says Anjali Bhardwaj, founder of Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a Delhi-based citizens’ group that focuses on greater transparency and accountability in government functioning.Another cause of worry is the timing of the report. Submitted on 3 June, it comes barely two weeks after the Narendra Modi-led government assumed office.“In Parliament we don't have much of an Opposition to speak of. And that is a worry. For people’s concerns to be brought out in a powerful and meaningful way, it is even more important that there be adequate spaces to put across points of view and to express dissent when and where ever necessary. If these spaces begin to shrink, it will be a cause for great concern to civil society and to anybody who wants our democracy to function strongly,” says Bhardwaj.It is important, says the RTI activist, that the government clarify its stand on the IB report.“I think the response of the government even to reports like this should be clear and, in my mind, be to say that democratic spaces are going to be protected and that spaces of dissent will be protected. And, of course, that if any NGO is guilty of a specific illegality, action will be taken. We hope the government will allay the fears of people and that it will clarify that such reports will not be used as a means to curb dissent,” she adds.