A few rotten NGOs...
THE Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Advancement (CAPART), an autonomous body funded by the Union ministry of rural development, is much acclaimed in official documents and reports as yet another example of the Indian government's commitment to "encouraging, promoting and assisting volunatary action for the enhancement of rural prosperity". Then the bomb went off: a unilateral decision on June 10 by CAPART authorities to blacklist 564 NGOs for financial fraud showed clearly enough that even bleeding hearts can be corrupt to the core.
Down To Earth finds that this reprimand is merely the preliminary outcome of investigations being conducted by CAPART. The Counil funds nearly 7,500 NGOs in India; its overall budgetary portfolio was a whopping Rs 208 crores last year. CAPART has managed to audit the books and working of just over 2,000 NGOs: the malpractices it discovered were worth Rs 15 crores. It estimates that the overall financial skulduggery could be worth Rs 45-50 crores.
Out of those blacklisted, Uttar Pradesh tops with 122 cases. Andhra Pradesh has 78 and Gujarat 12. Interestingly, CAPART investigators have been able to identify districts where corrupt NGOs have been especially profligate. The Council's deputy director, B K Sinha, refused to elaborate on the details but identified the leading ones as Cuddapah and Kolar in Andhra Pradesh, Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Nalanda in Bihar.
Most of the blacklisted NGOs have small portfolios and receive moderate funding. Their micro-sized projects are supported to the tune of Rs 15,000-20,000 per annum. Even the big fish get less than Rs 5 lakhs. The most frequent method of financial fiddling is typified by the Guru Gobind Singh Mahila Samiti. This ngo ostensibly conducts short-term employment programmes for rural women. Its address in CAPART files was found to be false; investigators have failed to trace its whereabouts. A senior CAPART official reveals that there are almost 300 phantom NGOs.
Through the past decade, other NGOs like the Samajik Shaikshanik Vikas Kendra in Bihar's Madhubani district have used a single education project to gain repeated parallel funding from 6 state and union agencies. Andhra Pradesh has logged several instances of corruption in the providing and installation of handpumps in deep rural areas. Says Sinha, "Voluntary action is based on trust and this trust has been violated by the guilty NGOs."
Sinha's allegation has drawn a mixed response from the NGOs. "It is very well known that much of CAPART aid flows through middlemen who treaty projects as deals and pocket upto 30 per cent of the sanctioned aid," alleges a spokesperson of the Voluntary Action Network of India. P N Tripathi, general secretary of the Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (avard) confirms the allegation. "CAPART is better known for its nexus with corrupt NGOs and politicians," he says.
Other notable activists have called for NGOs and voluntary agencies to admit that there are skeletons in their cupboards. But they argue that any viable clean-up is possible only if CAPART hoses down its own corridors first. Says Tripathy, "Repeatedly, we have had consultations with CAPART to point out that they must strengthen the system and processes of screening NGOs which desire financial assistance. But our advice has never been heeded." In contrast, avard's spokespersons insist that the screening process has been delibrately kept loose to facilitate corruption. Says Anupam Mishra of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, "Inept monitoring has been the key to CAPART's culture of bribes and kickbacks." He pointed out that the Council often employs untrained personnel, like the monitoring and screening staff, who range from college students to retired army officials. Long-term concerns are usually given the go-by.
CAPART officials have admitted to administrative laxity. Sinha seeks to explain away CAPART turning a blind eye to the issue of NGOs paying salaries to staff that don't exist. "We are 165 officials, nearly all based in Delhi, looking after 7,000 NGOs all over the country. How do we keep track on all of them?" he asks. When the problem was put to Jagannath Mishra, Union minister for rural development, he drew attention to the setting up of 6 regional centres last December, all staffed by CAPART officials as well as representatives of local NGOs. When fully operational, the centres are expected to implement procedures for more rigorous screening of applications for financial assistance. That these centres will not bend to corruption is a matter that only the future can address.