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Foreign Funds And Indian Civil Society – How Foreign Money Shapes National Discourse

This talk by C. Surendranath outlines the impact of foreign funding of non-profits in India and analyses the fund flows to India that are regulated by the FCRA Act, 2010.

Various data points are presented on:

  • Fund amounts being transferred to Indian non-profit entities
  • The nature of donors and the nature of recipients
  • The uses to which this money is put.

This data is utilized to study major donors, recipients and see how they jointly shape the directions that civil society takes. The talk presents different approaches that they take such as:

  • Lobbying the legislature for law making
  • Filing public interest litigation for directing the course of judicial activism
  • Participating in social services provided by the executive arm of the Indian State

This is followed by some specific instances that have captured the attention of the Indian public such as the Jallikattu ban, the RTE Act – it’s draft, passage and enforcement as well as others that have not – Childline services, prison visits and building trafficking databases.

Finally, Surendranath discuss the motives behind these interventions as well as possible remediation to ensure the sovereignty of the Republic of India.

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