Delhi city government bars Bloomberg-funded charity from tobacco control work

S.K. Arora, chief tobacco control officer of Delhi goverment, poses for a photograph next to an anti-tobacco sign pasted on a school wall alongside a road in New Delhi - REUTERS 

NEW DELHI (Reuters): A small Indian non-profit funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies will not be allowed to carry out tobacco-control work in New Delhi after it failed to disclose its funding, according to a city government official and a memo seen by Reuters.

Other foreign-funded organisations will need to seek prior approval in the future for anti-tobacco activities in the Indian capital, the official also said.

The Delhi city government’s decision comes amid similar moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal administration, which has since 2014 tightened surveillance of foreign-funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs), saying many of them work against India’s national interests.

Thousands of charities’ licences have been cancelled for misreporting donations in recent years. Reuters reported last year that India had discreetly investigated how Bloomberg Philanthropies, founded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, funds local non-profit groups for anti-tobacco lobbying.

In the latest case, a Bloomberg-backed NGO, Socio Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS), had approached the Delhi city government to collaborate on tobacco control but did not share its foreign funding details when asked, the city’s chief tobacco control officer S.K. Arora told Reuters on Monday.

His decision not to allow SEEDS to carry out tobacco-control activities in the city is aimed at promoting funding transparency, Arora said, adding that he remained fully committed to tobacco control.

Arora said SEEDS had proposed advising the state government on tobacco-control policy matters.

The head of SEEDS, Deepak Mishra, said he had not received any order from the Delhi government. On reviewing the note shared by Reuters, he said SEEDS was working on tobacco control with two state governments and would discuss the issues with Arora. SEEDS has yet to start its work in Delhi and Mishra declined to disclose the funding he receives from Bloomberg.

A spokeswoman for Bloomberg Philanthropies, Jean Weinberg, did not respond to a request for comment.