Ford Foundation funding dries up as Modi clamps down on NGOs

A leading global charity has frozen $4 million in funding to India, squeezing aid to the poor, after a clampdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on donors deemed to be meddling in domestic politics that has raised concern in Washington. 

The government restrictions on the US-based Ford Foundation relate to a $250,000 grant to a vocal Modi critic, but a top official at the charity said the fallout has hit projects that fight child marriage, provide clean water in slums and feed pregnant women. “We don’t want to move ahead until the time we are clear about the rules and nothing we do is viewed as illegal,” the official said, requesting anonymity as he did not want to jeopardise talks with the government. 

The Ford Foundation has donated more than $500 million to India since opening its first overseas office in Delhi in 1952. Its headquarters in New York did not respond to requests for comment 

about the decision to hold back funds.