MADURAI: Since the freezing of accounts of four Tamil Nadu-based NGOs after officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allegedly found that they had diverted funds received from foreign countries for “purposes other than intended”, more than 100 other NGOs have been sent notice seeking details on their transactions.In Madurai alone, seven NGOs, including People’s Watch and People’s Education for Action and Liberation (PEAL) have received MHA notices seeking details about their activities. However, a senior member of an NGO said the details sought do not have any questions related to Koodankulam or the protests. The MHA letters have only sought details such as those on the NGOs’ banking transactions, foreign contributions they have received from various agencies and accounts of funds used for projects in the last 10 years, he said.An office-bearer of another NGO rued that the government was harassing NGOs run by minorities that work for the welfare of the poor. Y David of PEAL echoes the sentiment: “The Central Government is adopting polices such as promoting nuclear plants which is against the interest of people. I have also received notice and they even check my records. Through this, they are trying to put psychological pressure among us,” he said.Confirming that the MHA has issued notices on several NGOs, a senior intelligence officer said many NGOs do not directly support the anti-Koodankulam protests. However, the officer claims that under the pretext of working on development issues as Dalit rights, the NGOs do divert funds for the protest. The officer said checking the NGOs’ accounts and project details would help track their activities and how their funds are used.
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