New law proposed to bar foreign funding of media, organisations
09 Nov 2006
Mumbai: The union cabinet has cleared a proposed legislation barring several organisations, including political parties, the electronic media and journalists from receiving foreign funding. The proposed bill will be introduced in Parliament in the forthcoming winter session.
The
new legislation — the Foreign Contribution (Regulation)
Bill of 2006 — cleared by the cabinet at a meeting
chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh, also provides
for repeal of the 30-year-old Foreign Contribution (Regulation)
Act of 1976 to give more teeth to enforcement agencies
to regulate donations from abroad.
The bill proposes to bar additional types of groups or persons, including organisations of a political nature "not being a political party", associations or companies engaged in production or broadcast of audio news or audio-visual news or current affairs programmes through electronic mode or any other mode of mass communication from receiving foreign funding.
This
also includes correspondents or columnists, cartoonists,
editors, owners of associations or companies relating
to mass communication.
Amounts received from any foreign source as a fee or
payment for services rendered would be excluded from
the definition of foreign contributions.
The bill has been rephrased to prohibit "acceptance and utlisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interests".