The Ahmedabad district continues to be the most favoured destination of foreign donors sending donations to the state, even as farmers continue to commit suicide in places like Saurashtra, and the fishing community has to buy potable water.

According to the Annual Report of Foreign Currency Regulation Act (FCRA) 2005-06 prepared by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Gujarat bagged Rs 301.22 crore out of the total Rs 7877.57 crore that came as foreign donation to the country. And Ahmedabad, the tenth most favoured recipient of foreign aid in the country, received as much as Rs 161.53 crore.

Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) bagged the largest chunk from this kitty (Rs 62.31 crore), and emerged at the 12th position in the list of organistions receiving the maximum foreign aid.

The surprising thing, according to the report is that Ahmedabad district boasts of less than a quarter of organisations registered in the country with the FCRA. There are a total of 841 organisations associated with the FCRA in Gujarat, with Ahmedabad district alone boasting of 203 associations.

The highest contribution has, however, flown to Chennai district, which bagged a whopping Rs. 753.83 crore with 668 organisations registered under FCRA.

As a state, Tamil Nadu has topped the recipient chart with 2967 organisations bagging a total of Rs.1609.64 crore.

Elsewhere, Daman and Lakshwadweep do not have any organisation registered under the act, and Arunachal Pradesh with 20 organisations received only Rs. 0.59 crore to settle at the bottom of the list.

In all, 38 organisations, including one from Gujarat, the Idar-E-Talimate Islamia (Darul-Ulm Shahe-Alam), have been prohibited from receiving foreign funds.

The report further said that there has been a steady rise in foreign contribution to India over the last decade. While during 1996-97, India received only Rs.2571.69 crore as aid, in 2001-02, the amount touched 4870.52 and during 2004-05, the figure was 6256.68.

The US topped the chart of donor countries making donations worth Rs.2425.88 crore.

Others like Gabon, Sierra Leone and Society Islands also made donations amounting to Rs 1000 each, during the year. The purposes of donor’s choice included relief and rehabilitation of the victims of natural calamities (Rs. 875.67 crore), followed by the establishment cost (Rs. 679.46 crore) and Rural development (Rs. 475.18 crore).

Source