Notification on NGOs may be put on hold

New Delhi, July 26

The Centre is planning to keep on hold a notification that brings trustees of NGOs under the definition of public servants under Lokpal, which requires them to declare assets by July 31 or face action.

With the deadline for declaration of assets nearing, MPs across the political spectrum had raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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D Raja, CPI parliamentarian, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had told him about a formula being worked out and the June 24 notification being kept in abeyance till further orders. Subsequently, a comprehensive amendment in the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act could be carried out. Sources said an announcement in this regard would be made in Parliament soon. The suggestion to extend deadline, too, is under consideration, they said.

Raja, who was part of the MPs’ delegation that met the PM on Monday, told The Tribune today that many members, including Sharad Pawar (NCP) and Anu Aga (nominated), sought extension of deadline of the notification.

The meeting of MPs with the PM was on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, implementation and issues arising out of it. The government plans to refer these to the Standing Committee of Parliament since there is also a proposal to exclude spouse and dependent children of government servants from the applicability of the notification.

The notification mandated that all trustees and officials of NGOs getting Rs 10 lakh as foreign contribution and more than Rs 1 crore from the government as grant should disclose their assets and liabilities as well as those of their spouse and dependent children. Failure to do so could attract criminal prosecution.

Aga had raised the issue in the RS and said there was a need to address the issue on urgent basis since the detailed information about the personal and private assets would be in public domain and many trustees apprehend could be a source of harassment.

Social Research and Reform Foundation (SRRF), a grouping of NGOs, today said following demands for relief under the Lokpal Act, there was a likelihood of the government extending the deadline for filing of returns under the law. The government has extended the last date seven times so far. “While no one, except the government, can guarantee extension, we all hope this will be done,” an SRRF statement by Coordinator Ramanuj Maurya said.

Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha the Minister of State for Home said over 33,000 NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act received over Rs 50,000 crore in the past three years. — TNS