Kerala Assembly Rejected FCRA Amendments. (Image Internet)
Thiruvanathapuram: The Kerala Legislative Assembly on wednesday passed a resolution demanding the Central Government to withdraw its move to amend the Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act. The resolution points out that the Central Governments's FCRA directives will adversely affect the smooth functioning of voluntary charity institutions working in the social,health,educational,and charitable sectors of the country, and particularly in Kerala.
While rejecting a demand by BJP MLA to modify the resolution,the Chief Minister V D Satheesan clarified that the proposed modification was against the very spirit of the resolution and could not be accepted.
The state government stated that the amendments made to the FCRA and the provisions introduced in Parliament by the Centre under the guise of ensuring transparency actually destroy the autonomy and democratic freedom of action of civil society organisations.Instead of allowing foreign contributions for general purposes, the operational areas of organisations have now been restricted to just five specific sectors:social, educational,cultural,economic and religious.
Taking objections to the amendments made by the Centre, the state government pointed out that a condition dictating that an organisation registered in one state must register again to operate in another state is a restriction that particularly hinders voluntary work.
Further, the provision to levy a heavy fine of upto 30 per cent of the received contribution for rule violations is an approach that could destroy the financial stability of many model institutions over minor technical errors.
The mandate requiring individuals and office-bearers associated with the organisation to disclose their personal social media accounts and websites is an invasion of citizens' privacy, the state government pointed out.
