NEW
DELHI: Christian missionaries and allied groups continue to be largest recipients of
foreign funds. They received Rs 15.88 crore (75.69 per cent of the total foreign funds) in
April-June this year compared with Rs 11.41 crore during the corresponding period last
year and Rs 12.67 crore in the first quarter. A study of the receipt of foreign funds
by religious/ non-political organisations and other groups in April-June, based on
Intelligence reports gathered by the Home ministry, indicates a sharp increase to Rs 20.98
crore compared with Rs 14.02 crore during the corresponding period in 1998.
The US with donations of Rs 4.10 crore (as against Rs 2.26 crore during the same period
in 1998) displaced Germany as the leading donor. In the first quarter of 1999 also, the US
was the highest donor with Rs 3.31 crore.
In the second quarter of this year, Kerala received the largest amount (Rs 3.09 crore)
followed by Himachal Pradesh (Rs 2.87 crore) , West Bengal (Rs 2.73 crore) Maharashtra (Rs
1.69 crore), Andhra Pradesh Rs 1.3 crore and Karnataka Rs 1.2 crore. Rajasthan was the
lowest, accounting for a mere Rs 4,000.
Non-political organisations were the other major recipients of foreign funds (Rs 1.38
crore) followed by Muslim organisations which got Rs 64.13 lakh compared with Rs 23.06
lakh received by them in the second quarter of 1998.
According to the study, there was a fall in the receipt of funds by non-denominational
organisations, including ``pseudo-religious'' bodies. They received Rs 22.99 lakh in the
second quarter of this year against Rs 70.99 lakh in the corresponding period last year.
