WCD ministry files FIR against NGO accused of misutilising govt fund

New Delhi :    The Women and Child Development Ministry has filed an FIR against NGO Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) for misusing government-allocated funds and failing to refund the unspent balance, it said on Friday.

Earlier, following a writ petition in the Delhi High Court which alleged that ICCW had been violating the rules for utilising government funds, a three-member committee under the WCD Ministry was formed to determine if the funds were "siphoned off or misutilised".

The ministry observed "that there has been a systemic failure as far as checks and balances regarding utilization of the funds provided by the government is concerned".

Following this, the court ordered that it would consider if further investigations was necessary or any other proceedings are required to be initiated against the ICCW.

"Pursuant to the Delhi court's directions, an internal committee was constituted and it was ascertained that ICCW has not refunded the unspent balance of Rs 30,914,051 for the years (2014-16) available with its state councils," the ministry said in a statement.

The Bravery awards were earlier organised by ICCW. However, following the petition, the Centre dissociated itself from ICCW and revamped the scheme of National Awards for children in 2018 to include Bravery as an additional component in the Pradhan Mantri National Children Awards.