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India non-commital on funding curbs on British NGOs

Oxfam subsequently filed a review petition with the government on January 14, but while the MHA acknowledged receipt, it has not communicated any decision in the matter…reports Asian Lite News

United Kingdom officials discussed foreign funding restrictions placed on Oxfam and other British NGOs with the Modi government last week, requesting the Union Home Ministry to reconsider its decision to deny Oxfam India’s registration renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA).

The request came during a virtual meeting the British Permanent Home Secretary Mathew Rycroft had with Union Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, one of a number of high-level exchanges ahead of a possible visit by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson later this year, The Hindu reported.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a virtual Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

“The issue was raised by United Kingdom [officials], and they were explained the process [of FCRA renewals],” a government source told The Hindu, confirming that the request had been made, but adding that India had given the British side no assurances on whether the cases would be reviewed, as the MHA had decided to do with the Missionaries of Charity, whose registration request was denied around the same time, but subsequently restored.

At the meeting, India expressed concern regarding “anti-India activities of certain extremists and radical elements in the U.K,” a statement by MHA had said. However, the sources said the U.K. had not raised the issues “formally” or in writing yet.

According to diplomatic sources, the delegation had also raised the denial of FCRA registration to UK-NGO Freedom Fund, which was one of 10 American, Australian, British and European NGOs dealing with environmental, climate change and child labour issues, who had lost their licenses due to what the government called “adverse inputs” on their partnerships in India.

Oxfam India is one the country’s largest NGOs that works on food, clothing, shelter and medical projects. On January 1, 2022, the MHA had issued a list of about 6,000 NGOs whose FCRA registration or license to receive foreign funds had ceased to operate as the Ministry refused to renew their application or the NGOs did not apply for one. The MHA had not given specific reasons for the non-renewal of Oxfam India, Oxfam India Trust and others, but said the decision had been taken in “public interest”, without further details.

Protesting the MHA’s denial of its application on January 2, Oxfam India’s CEO Amit Behar had said in a statement that it would “severely affect the ongoing humanitarian and social work in 16 States across the country” and would also affect the Covid-19 response programme distributing medical equipment and support initiatives. The non-renewal also meant that the NGO lost access to over ₹62 crore in its designated bank accounts, that came from international donors including Oxfam-UK (Rs 7 crore), Oxfam- Australia (₹3.1 crore), Oxfam-Germany (₹2.8 crore), and Stichting Oxfam International- Netherlands (₹7 crore).

Oxfam subsequently filed a review petition with the government on January 14, but while the MHA acknowledged receipt, it has not communicated any decision in the matter.

Significantly, Rycroft is understood to be well-versed with NGO funding issues as prior to being appointed Home Secretary, he was the Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development (DfID), the British government’s aid arm, which was closed and merged with the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in September 2020.

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Mumbai NGO helps runaway kids reunite with kin

“In the past 15 years, we have rescued and reunited around 12,750 kids, most aged between 8-16 years, a majority being girls, but we even get 5-6 years old children or 17-20-year old teens,” Jadhav said…reports Quaid Najmi.

This week, Mumbaikars were shocked to learn of a school topper girl, who – lured by a glamour career – ran away to Telangana, but was safely rescued by Mumbai Police and brought back to her family. She is among the one crore kids, mostly girls, who run away from home, often on flimsiest grounds, and end up in strange states, cities or in deep trouble, every year, as per NCRB data.

A lucky few catch the eyes of Samatol Foundation, Mumbai, a NGO founded in 2006 by Vijay Jadhav, which specialises in ‘catching’ such runaway or trafficked kids all over the country. “In the past 15 years, we have rescued and reunited around 12,750 kids, most aged between 8-16 years, a majority being girls, but we even get 5-6 years old children or 17-20-year old teens,” Jadhav said.

It all started around 2006, when he espied a kid loitering on Mumbai streets, apparently lost and baffled, and took his charge.
“He was a very bright child of Muslim parents from Hyderabad who pressurised him for academic excellence, so he just hopped into a train and reached Mumbai. As he refused to speak, his family, school authorities and Hyderabad Police came here and arrested me, believing I was a kidnapper,” chuckled Jadhav.

As an activist with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), Jadhav attended many of rallies and protests in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, etc., and between 1997-2000, came across hundreds of kids either lost, abandoned, runaway or trafficked and decided to do something for them, by working with YUVA, a NGO, till 2004.

“My inaugural case was a 12-year-old boy, son of a Parbhani village Sarpanch, who ran away just because his dad refused to buy him a bicycle till he turned 18..! The grateful villagers invited and felicitated me. That sowed the seeds for launching Samatol Foundation,” Jadhav recalled.
Over the past 15 years, the Samatol Foundation has helped ‘catch’ and reunite nearly 13K kids, working 24×7, with over 5,000 volunteers keeping an eye for such children at railway stations, bus depots, near eateries, etc.
“I personally met over a 1,000-families all over India reunited with their kids. Their joy was overwhelming and they celebrated as if it was an off-season Diwali. Our efforts are worth it,” he said.

Jadhav said that of the 10-million kids who ‘run away’ or ‘disappear’ annually, the maximum or more than one million, land up in Mumbai alone, a favourite destination of many.
The reasons often are as ‘childish’ as the children. A 14-year-old girl decamped from Jalandhar to meet her idol Salman Khan, a 16-year-old wrote her SSC exams and directly caught a train from Allahabad for Mumbai, dreaming of a heroine’s role opposite Shah Rukh Khan.

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