A group of former civil servants have expressed concern on the “negative” approach of the Central government over the renewal of FCRA licenses of certain non-profit organisations claiming that this “relentless harassment” amounts to cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the ‘Constitutional Conduct Group’, which professes to be without any political affiliations, said that these voluntary organisations were supplementing the government’s efforts in crucial areas of health, education, employment and human rights basically working in areas where the government’s own reach was limited or ineffective.
“The government should view them as partners and not as adversaries. Most importantly, these organisations work at the lowest levels of our society, with mostly marginalised groups who have fallen through the cracks in the government’s own welfare schemes, and have no safety net to take care of them. Deliberate denial of even this modicum of assistance or advocacy to them does not do credit to a government whose rallying cry is “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas,” the letter said.
