Government to be soft on 'genuine' NGOs doing good work

NEW DELHI: After taking a series of action against "erring" NGOs, the Centre is planning to roll out guidelines to help "genuine" voluntary organisations dedicated to welfare of people and society.

As per the proposed guidelines, the Home Ministry wants to do away with all physical paper works for NGOs which apply for registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ( FCRA).

There will be no personal interaction between an applicant and the Home Ministry officials as there have been complaints of corruption at this particular stage.

The applicant will have to fill the relevant registration form online and upload documents required at the website of the Home Ministry's foreigners division.

"The process will be simple and less cumbersome as we feel that there are many genuine NGOs who want to do good work," a Home Ministry official said.

The renewal process of registration of NGOs in every five year will also be simplified and the organisations will not be "unnecessary harassed" since as per the proposed new rules, the government will get automatic information if any NGO gets foreign donation.

The filing of annual returns will be made online and thus check the possibility of the misplacement of papers on transit.

The move came after the Home Ministry took a series of action against various NGOs including Greenpeace India, two NGOs run by social activist Teesta Setalvad and cancelled registration of more than 10,000 NGOs for allegedly violating provisions of the FCRA.