Cabinet okays draft law to regulate foreign funds
The Cabinet on Monday approved in principle a new law titled ‘Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act-2014’ in a bid to ensure transparency in the process of receiving foreign funds.
The new law strongly prohibits political parties, the judges of the Supreme Court, parliament members, government and semi-government employees and elected members of local government councils from receiving foreign donations or funds.
The approval was given at a weekly meeting of the Cabinet held in the Secretariat on Monday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, Cabinet Division secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting.
Bhuiyan said that under the new law, the non-government organisations (NGOs) would have to register with the NGO Affairs Bureau if they want to undertake and implement any development project by receiving foreign funds.
"If anyone wants to receive foreign donation individually, s/he must take approval from the NGO Affairs Bureau and also mention the sources of the funds and the activities where the funds will be utilised," the secretary added.
Moreover, no NGO can carry out its operations without securing approval of the NGO Affairs Bureau. A NGO can appoint foreign expert or advisor taking security clearance from the Ministry of Home. The law also kept provisions of punishments, including cancellation of registration and imposing fines for violating the law.
The tenure for the registration will be for 10 years, but in case of any violation of the law, the registration of the NGO concerned could be scrapped.
For violation of the proposed law, the first step is issuing warning, then scrapping the registration and then finally imposing fine.
But, in case of criminal nature offence like financing or patronising terrorism and militant acts, women and child trafficking and drug smuggling, criminal procedures will be followed.
The Cabinet meeting approved the draft of the ‘National Insurance Policy, 2014′ in a bid to ensure further development of the country’s insurance sector through mitigating the risk of lives and property.