ONGC’s CSR Funding to RSS Linked Organisations Demands an Explanation

The reported allocation of nearly 671 crore in ONGC’s Corporate Social Responsibility funds to 20 organisations linked to the RSS raises serious questions about the impartiality and transparency of public sector institutions. When a significant share of a public sector undertaking’s CSR budget is channelled to organisations associated with a particular ideological network, it undermines public confidence in the neutrality and fairness of public resource allocation.

The Government and ONGC must explain the criteria adopted for selecting these organisations as beneficiaries. Why were such substantial public resources concentrated among organisations affiliated with the RSS, an organisation that itself is not registered as a legal entity, instead of being distributed through a transparent and equitable process among all eligible institutions? Given the long history of communal controversies involving elements of the wider Sangh Parivar, these allocations warrant an independent inquiry and complete public disclosure to ensure that public sector CSR funds are administered without ideological preference.

Dhehlan Baqavi
National Vice President
Social Democratic Party of India