IUST Pulwama among 4739 institutions yet to file returns in 2015-16

NEW DELHI: Islamic University of Science and Technology in Pulwama district features among the list of 4,739 institutions and NGOs- including other prestigious institutions like IIM Kolkata, Aligarh Muslim University and Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College for Women- that have not disclosed to the government their foreign funding and expenditure for 2015 -16, the Home Ministry said.
According to the ministry documents, the 4,739 institutions and voluntary organisations have not filed their annual returns for 2015-16, thus failing to submit details of their annual income and expenditure for the year.
All these institutions and voluntary organisations are registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 and it is mandatory for them to file returns every year.
Those which have not filed returns for 2015-16 include IIM Kolkaka, IIM Lucknow, Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi College of Engineering, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts, Delhi.
Others in the list include Vivekananda Foundation, Mysore, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and Nehru Indira Rajiv Memorial Association for Needies, Koraput, Odisha.
The Modi government, which has tightened the rules for NGOs, has already cancelled registration of more than 10,000 non-governmental organisations in the last three years for alleged non-filing of annual returns as mandated in the FCRA.
In addition, renewals of more than 1,300 NGOs have been denied for allegedly violating various provisions of the FCRA.
The home ministry has also asked nearly 6,000 NGOs to open their accounts in banks having core banking facilities and furnish details for real-time access to security agencies in case of any discrepancy.
The move was initiated after it was detected that many NGOs have their bank accounts in cooperative banks or state government-owned apex banks or banks which do not have core banking facilities.
In November 2016, the government had directed more than 11,000 NGOs to file applications for renewal of registration by February 28, 2017, and many of them had failed to do so.