Only about 10 per cent of the over 29.9 lakh registered non-governmental organisations (NGOs) file their annual income and expenditure statements, the CBI told the Supreme Court on Friday.
The data was revealed in an affidavit filed by the CBI before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu after compiling inputs from 26 States. The agency said only 2,90,787 NGOs file annual financial statements of a total of 29,99,623 registered ones under the Societies Registration Act. In some States, the CBI said the laws do not even provide for the NGOs to be transparent about their financial dealings.
In the Union Territories, of a total of 82,250 NGOs registered and functioning, only 50 file their returns.
New Delhi has the highest number of registered NGOs among the Union Territories at 76,566. But none of these organisations submit returns, the CBI chart showed. In Kerala, which has 3,69,137 NGOs, there is no legal provision to submit returns. The same is the case for Punjab with 84,752 and Rajasthan with 1.3 lakh NGOs.
Among other States, Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest number of NGOs at 5.48 lakh among 26 States, has only about 1.19 lakh filing returns. Tamil Nadu has about 1.55 lakh NGOs registered, however, only 20,277 file returns. Andhra Pradesh has 2.92 lakh NGOs, but only 186 file financial statements annually. West Bengal has 2.34 lakh registered NGOs, of which only 17,089 active NGOs file annual returns.
The CBI was acting on the basis of a Supreme Court order on September 2, 2013, in a PIL petition filed by Supreme Court advocate, Manohar Lal Sharma, alleging misuse of funds by Anna Hazare’s NGO Hind Swaraj Trust.
