by LOLA NAYAR
Penny for your thoughts The Ford Foundation office in Delhi. PHOTO/Sanjay Rawat
It’s often said, tongue in cheek, that India’s “shadow” government works out of the nondescript, low-slung buildings abutting the Lodhi Garden in Delhi. That’s partly hubris, but it also stems from being close to the centre of power. This rarefied zone houses powerful “cultural” institutions like the India International Centre, as well as a host of global multilateral agencies and think-tanks. Things get done here discreetly, sans any fanfare. Which is why there is a faint air of disquiet at the spotlight on Ford Foundation, whose headquarters are across the road from IIC.
The context, of course, is the Anna Hazare team-led ‘India Against Corruption’ movement for a Jan Lokpal bill. Author-activist Arundhati Roy, among others, raised concerns about Arvind Kejriwal’s links with the foundation, which is touted as a front for multilateral agencies interfering in public policy matters. In the spotlight is Kabir, an NGO run by Kejriwal associate Manish Sisodia, which has received grants totalling $3,97,000 from the foundation. Kejriwal and Ford Foundation have both denied any links while Sisodia has said the money was for films, documentaries and campaigns on RTI (see Arvind Kejriwal interview). But the issue has rekindled old fears of a “foreign hand” in domestic policy.
Should NGOs receiving grants from international agencies like the Ford Foundation and others be barred from participating in the shaping of public policy? And are these civil society groups working as stooges of the West to execute an “American agenda”?
The Ford Foundation, which completes six decades in India next year, provides a continuing flow of grants to institutions, think-tanks, civil society, and even farmer groups, to carry out research and advocacy work. The sums are not inconsequential—about $15 million (about Rs 70 crore) a year. And the recipients—320 grants, over the past four years—are the who’s who of civil society and advocacy groups in India.
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