The Kudankulam anti-nuclear struggle just got personal — for both the government and the non-government organizations. The centre has ordered a probe into the alleged violations of foreign contributions regulation act (FCRA) by four NGOs and has deported, Sonnteg Reiner Hermann, a German national and protester.

Many in the voluntary sector rejected the government’s foreign hand theory, attributed to prime minister Manmohan Singh’s interview with the American journal Science.

The NGOs first decried Singh’s choice of platform to air his views on the local protest of the people against hazardous technology. In a country infamous for the poor tracking of where foreign funds come from and where they go, the NGOs said that the probe was unfair and a witch-hunt.

“What’s wrong if an NGO joins a protest against a government move that could harm a community,” seemed to be the consensus among NGOs.

S P Udayakumar, an activist with People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), one of the NGOs accused of violating FCRA, has sent a notice of defamation to the peime minister over his remarks.

Few of his peers felt that government is trying to divert people’s attention from the liability issue.

The government’s own scientific community feels that the issue is political. “It is more of political problem, than technological issue,” W Selvamurthy, chief controller (R&D) of defence research and development organisation (DRDO) told Governance Now.

Crackdown on NGOs, govt. squeezing democratic values
Amitabh Behar, executive director, National Foundation of India (NFI)

I am very disappointed with the move. It sets a very worrying trend. How can the government delegitimise local concerns, as they are against nuclear plants in Kudankalam site? The protesters are all locals. They are raising their voice against the power plant. The government’s move to target NGOs is squeezing their democratic space and values. So, next time if people protests somewhere else, again the foreign hand issue will be raised. My question is why is government so worried about non-business money coming to India when it is trying to secure foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country? You give tax exemptions to several multi-national companies but raise questions on a few crores coming to NGOs from foreign shores.
The government’s move to restructure the direct tax code will also not help the funding of the NGOs.

Why doesn’t the government educate people through data and prove to them that nuclear power is good for country? Why this pointing of fingers at NGOs instead? Is it a part of accountability and transparency or of policing the whole thing?

Targeting NGOs is just a smokescreen
Divya Raghunandan, campaign coordinator, Greenpeace India

The allegations against NGOs are a clear ploy by the government to dilute the liability issue which will soon raise its head. It will involve different foreign governments. The local protest is happening on its own; it does not have any foreign hand as alleged by the prime minister. A lot of claims by the government are unsubstantiated. There is no authenticity in the government’s allegations. It is basically to frighten, bully and discredit the local protests and reassure the foreign companies (GE, Westing House, Reva) that government is doing something.

I think the targeting of NGOs is a smokescreen for hiding the government’s failure. Actually, the government wants to move away from the liability issue which the local protests are raising. How can the company making the plant be free of the liability in case of a disaster? If a company provides certain technology, it should be made liable in case the technology fails. Otherwise, we will have another Bhopal-like tragedy happening in India. We don’t want the rules to be diluted by the government.

PM has dragged his office into gutter
Nityanand Jairam, environmentalist and writer

It is first time that a prime minister of the country has been served a defamation notice on the account of his illogical comments. Actually, the prime minister has dragged his office into the gutter. Why does not he talk about nuclear safety? Instead, he offers some baffling comments on ‘foreign hands’, etc.

When you have globalization in trade, why don’t you face globalization of protests? There is an anti-nuke sentiment all over the world and India is not insulated from this. The foreign funding should not be a problem at all. The whole anti-nuke stir at Kudankulam is clean. People are voicing their concerns and fears and they have right to do so.

I don’t think all the NGOs will be affected by the government’s crackdown. I don’t think that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation which also receives foreign largesse will be affected because it is close to the heart of establishment. The same applies to the NGOs close to the PM’s heart. Yes, local NGOs might find their funds being squeezed.

Having said this, I believe that the NGOs which receive foreign funds should disclose the details on their own accord. Otherwise, the government will have more opportunities to cast aspersions on their credibility. And, one word for the prime minister — next time, try talking to the locals instead of a foreign journal.

Govt. stopping legitimate voice of people
Harsh Jaitley, CEO, Vani

The NGO sector which has contributed a lot to the development of the country is now being targeted by the prime minister. However, he forgets that he has implemented a lot of his schemes in close coordination with NGOs.

The government is basically trying to silence the voice of people through state instruments like the police and income tax officials. This is being done even though the government does not have enough data to substantiate its claims. The government talks of foreign fund but does it have a proper mechanism to monitor the funding? Or is it just blaming the sector on the basis of assumptions only? If you see Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) data, it is from 2008. No updates have been made after that. If you see the records of FCRA, it just mentions how much money is coming from foreign shores. It doesn’t mention from which organisation the money comes and for which area the contributions have been made. Has it been made for rural development, sanitation or other developmental projects of the country? In fact, if you see data from after 2005 (post-tsunami aid), foreign funding to our development sectors has drastically come down. And also, most of the foreign funding comes for religious purposes. Is government monitoring that?

For business, you have a corporate ministry but do you have a proper law to monitor the NGOs? In the last six months, several NGOs have received notices from the income tax. I think the policing is being done solely as a clampdown on the democratic space.

It is more a political problem than a technological issue
W Selvamurthy, chief controller (R&D) of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)

I would say more than it being a technological problem, it is a political problem. There are risks involved. If you want development, you need to have enough energy for it. There is no other way to augment thermal and hydro power in the country. We don’t have clean coal. We need to look at the nuclear option seriously. If you look at modern day nuclear technology, there are lots of safety layers built into the system. As a scientist, I feel, it is more of a political issue than a technological issue. The scientists are trying to remove fears of the locals. But to get convinced, the people need to have open minds and listen.