NEW DELHI: Even as Greenpeace India faces heat from the home ministry over FCRA issues, the environment ministry has ensured it remains in the government’s directory of environmental NGOs.
The directory, comprising around 2,300 environmental NGOs including Greenpeace, was released by environment and forest minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday.
The directory was released ahead of the government’s plan to bring out performance-based rating of NGOs working in the field of environment across the country.
The home ministry’s foreigners division had on September 3 cancelled Greenpeace India’s registration under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), alleging that the NGO was working against the country’s economic progress. The NGO on September 16 got relief from Madras High Court which granted interim stay of eight weeks on cancellation of its FCRA registration.
The directory of green NGOs has been compiled by the Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Centre, WWF-India on behalf of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
The database covers all relevant information catalogued under various heads including details like permanent as well as part-time staff, number of members and geographical coverage in addition to general information like name, address, status (registered/non-registered, trust/society/group), and commencement of activities.
The directory is compiled in such a way that it can be used effectively by government agencies, voluntary groups, libraries, researchers, aid agencies, media and educational institutions.
Releasing the directory ‘Environmental NGOs in India – 2015’, Javadekar said the government will bring out performance-based rating of NGOs working in the field of environment to encourage them.
The minister also called for new features in the next edition of the directory, to make it even more useful, comprehensive and user-friendly.
The directory, now in its 10th edition, contains a list of about 2,300 NGOs in all states and Union Territories working towards environmental protection, conservation and awareness.