Christian charity facing ‘challenges’ in India: US

Washington : The US on Thursday said it will take up with India the shutting down of a Colarodo-based donor NGO and sought a “transparent process” for foreign NGOs in the country, saying the Christian charity has been facing “significant challenges” for some time.
Compassion International is said to be shutting down its India operations after it was put under ‘prior permission category’ in May last year. When a donor organisation is put under this category, it is barred from funding any Indian NGO without the government’s approval.
In December, the Home Ministry said it was unlikely to reconsider the decision, notwithstanding appeals by American authorities. “NGOs do valuable work overseas. Certainly these countries and governments have their own reasons for the laws they pass, but we believe it should be transparent and clear why they’re shutting down these organisations,” State Department’s acting spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
He said the US will take up the matter with India. “Certainly, we’ll raise that with the Indian government,” he said.