Civil society under siege in India

Source: This post has been created based on the article “Civil society under siege in India” published in “The Hindu” on 5^th January 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Governance – The role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.

News: The article discusses the recent attacks on civil society in India. It also highlights the instruments being used to attack civil society.

What is civil society?

Civil society refers to a wide variety of communities and groups such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations that function outside of government to provide support and advocacy for certain people or issues in society.

A free civic space regulated under constitutionally guaranteed principles is the essence of democracy. India is lucky to have a diverse and vibrant civil society.

However, according to the author, the anti-communal and progressive civic space is under attack by the state.

What is the status of attacks on civil society?

According to the author, civil societies in India are under varied degree of attacks:

1. Highly attacked organisations: These include organisations that actively fight against communalism. This has led to them running out of funds and their leaders sent to prison or being charged.
   This includes organisations such as Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), Amnesty India, Oxfam, Centre for Equity Studies and Lawyers Collective.
2. Moderately attacked institutions: This has led to some organisations almost closing their operations. They have been attacked, for example, for having connections with Adivasi rights movements impacting mining interests.
   They include the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and anti-communal NGOs such as ANHAD.
3. Low-level attacks: These include Institutions that are generally not active in the anti-communal area but pursuing significant human rights causes.
   For instance, organisations such as Navsarjan, which is a leader in Dalit rights, and Save The Children’s work on child rights.

What are the instruments being used to attack civil society?

1. Legal Charges: They have been attacked with charges that may lead to penal consequences such as imprisonment on charges of money laundering. This is done through:
2. Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002: The 2019 amendments enabled the Department of Revenue to work with a broader definition of proceeds of crime. This has resulted in attacks on NGOs by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
3. Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010: The FCRA was made stringent in 2010 and in 2020. This has been used to take away the right of NGOs to access foreign funds from 18,000 organisations between 2015 and 2022.
   Under the FCRA, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) too is empowered to investigate NGOs and their personnel with lethal impact.
4. Restrictions on Domestic funding: The 2020 amendments to the Income-Tax Act provisions on tax exemptions for NGOs and donors have now made renewals of 12A and 80G certificates mandatory every 5 years.
   Also, donor data (including their PAN card numbers) must be made available to the Ministry of Finance. This can enable the state to intimidate these domestic donors.
5. Income-Tax Surveys: It is a way of collecting data that can be used to file more cases either by the CBI or the Tax Department.

Because of the use of these instruments, the last ray of hope for India’s democracy, its civic space, is under serious threat.

Question for practice:

What are the instruments being used to attack civil society in India?