fcra license

FCRA License Cancellation of CFA ‘Reeks of Mala Fide Intent, Vindictiveness’: PCPSPS

The commission questioned the parallel set of rules that govern how political parties access foreign donations while public-spirited organisations are subjected to extreme scrutiny.

New Delhi: The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services (PCPSPS) has expressed its solidarity with the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) after its parent entity’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act registration (FCRA) license was cancelled on Wednesday (July 10).

The home ministry’s decision “reeks of mala fide intent and vindictiveness,” PCPSPS said in its statement.

The commission questioned the parallel set of rules that govern how political parties access funds, especially foreign donations, while public-spirited organisations are subjected to extreme scrutiny.

“The Commission notes with deep concern the manner in which the Ministry has been suspending/ revoking FCRA registration of several NGOs for minor infractions, while, shockingly, allowing political parties unfettered access to foreign donations. Indeed, the Commission highlights the fact that the current regime is the one that removed legislative hurdles to such access. This is clearly anomalous: there is one set of rules for political parties accessing foreign funds, while public-spirited NGOs face the weight of the state,” the statement said.

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While pointing out the Narendra Modi-led government’s record of reprimanding its critics, the commission said, “ It sees the latest action as confirmation that the Modi Government in its third term continues on a path of extinguishing dissent.”

The full statement is produced below.

Statement on the denial of renewal of FCRA registration of public-spirited NGO, the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA)

The decision of the Union Home Ministry’s decision to deny renewal of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of parent entity Critical Action Centre In Movement (CACIM) reeks of mala fide intent and vindictiveness. The Commission expresses its solidarity with the CFA, a fraternal organisation with which it has collaborated closely in the last several years. It also sees the latest action as confirmation that the Modi Government in its third term continues on a path of extinguishing dissent.

The Commission notes with deep concern the manner in which the Ministry has been suspending/ revoking FCRA registration of several NGOs for minor infractions, while, shockingly, allowing political parties unfettered access to foreign donations. Indeed, the Commission highlights the fact that the current regime is the one that removed legislative hurdles to such access. This is clearly anomalous: there is one set of rules for political parties accessing foreign funds, while public-spirited NGOs face the weight of the state.

The CFA, a fledgling institution, in its short life span of 7 years, has distinguished itself in the cause of undertaking research that has provided analytical inputs to academia, journalists, social activists and the ordinary folk at a time when the mainstream media has sold its heart and soul to the powers that be. In particular, its detailed fact sheets on specific issues ranging from demonetisation to inequities of the Indian tax regime have been revelatory for many. It has served a great public cause by shining a light on the misdeeds of Big Business, particularly their collusion with the ruling regime.

It is plain — and past experience with regard to the cancellation of the FCRA licenses of several NGOs that have drawn the ire of Modi regime confirms this — that this action is intimidatory and aimed at suppressing voices that speak truth to power.

We urge the government to rescind its arbitrary decision forthwith. Meanwhile, we stand in solidarity with our good friends at CFA.

Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Services

MHA Cancels FCRA Licence of 3 Major Church-Related Charity Organisations, 2 Others

There has been a concerning rise in the list of NGOs whose FCRA licences have been cancelled or have not been renewed by the government.

New Delhi: After the cancellation of the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) licences of five prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on April 3, the home ministry has said that the action was taken following “due process of law”, the Economic Times reported.

CNI Synodical Board of Social Service, Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), Indo-Global Social Service Society, Church Auxiliary for Social Action and Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), are the five NGOs that lost their license.

EFI general secretary Vijayesh Lal confirmed that their renewal application of FCRA licence was denied. “It is very surprising that the umbrella and representative body of Evangelical Christians in India and one that is involved in significant inter-faith, charity, and prayer initiatives to bless and unite the nation, is identified as a body that can ‘prejudicially’ affect inter-religious, or social harmony,” Lal told the Economic Times.

“On the contrary, it is one of EFI’s main works to act as bridge builders and agents of reconciliation to bring together a society that is increasingly being fragmented on religious and political lines. We are still debating on the next course of action and will take a call on the same soon,” he added.

It may be noted that EFI collects and publishes data on attacks against Christians in India. Its reports include data on violence, attacks on churches or prayers meetings, harassment of those following their faith, ostracisation and limiting access to community resources, and false allegations, particularly those pertaining to ‘forced conversions’.

EFI has reported a massive increase in violence against christians under the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.

There has been a concerning rise in the list of NGOs whose FCRA licences have been cancelled or have not been renewed by the government.

Political analysts and civil rights groups say this is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s move to suppress organisations that are critical of it.

VHAI, a federation of 27 State Voluntary Health Associations, links more than 4,500 health and development institutions across the country, according to its website.

The Synodical Board of Social Services is the development and justice board of the Church of North India (CNI). As per its website, CNI works on poverty alleviation and social justice for the poor and exploited, primarily with the Dalits and Adivasi communities and women who have been “socially and economically excluded”.

The Indo-Global Social Service Society, another NGO that lost its licence, works with the mandate for a humane social order based on truth, justice, freedom and equity, as per its website.

The Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action is the service wing of the National Council of Churches in India comprising the Orthodox and Protestant Church Societies in India. According to its website, it works “for the poorest of the poor irrespective of caste, religion, gender and political affiliations”.

The Union government had also cancelled the FCRA license of two Tamil Nadu-based christian organisations earlier this year – Tamil Nadu Social Service Society and World Vision India.

Over the past two years, more than 100 NGOs, including Centre for Policy Research, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and Oxfam India, have lost their FCRA licences on charges of alleged misuse of foreign grants, the Economic Times reported.

CBI Registers Case Against Oxfam India, Office Bearers for FCRA Violations

The action comes days after the Union home ministry recommended a probe into the NGO.

New Delhi: Days after the Union home ministry recommended a probe into Oxfam India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday, April 19, registered a case against the NGO for violating the conditions of its foreign funding license and attempts to pressure the Union government to renew the licence by using foreign governments and institutions.

The case has been registered against Oxfam India and its office-bearers. According to NDTV, the CBI is conducting searches at the offices of the non-governmental organisation. The CBI has taken cognizance of at least five alleged violations by Oxfam India based on a complaint filed by Jeetendar Chadha, the director of the MHA’s monitoring unit.

The NGO’s license under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, which is necessary to receive foreign funds, was not renewed by the MHA 14 months ago.

In a statement that was issued after the MHA recommended a probe against it, Oxfam India said that it is fully compliant with Indian laws and has filed all its statutory compliances, including FCRA returns, in a timely manner. “Oxfam India has been cooperating with all government agencies since its FCRA registration wasn’t renewed in December 2021,” it said, adding that it has filed a plea in the Delhi high court against the decision to not renew its FCRA license.

“In times of growing inequality and greater need for action on poverty eradication, Oxfam India has been and will continue to work in public and national interest. Oxfam India believes this is our constitutional duty as an organisation, irrespective of obstacles and hurdles in the path,” it had said.

What does FIR say?

According to the Deccan Herald, the MHA’s complaint, which is part of the FIR, says that Oxfam India planned to circumvent the FCRA by “routing funds through means other than the legal route”. It said that surveys by the Income Tax department showed that Oxfam had paid Rs 12.71 lakh to the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in the form of commissions to employees or associates, which is in violation of its FCRA licence which was granted to do social activities.

CPR’s FCRA registration was suspended by the MHA on March 1.

An email found during the IT survey claimed that Oxfam India has been “planning to pressurise the Indian government for renewal of FCRA (licence) through foreign governments and foreign institutions”.

“Oxfam India has the reach and influence to request multilateral foreign organisations to intervene on its behalf with the Government of India. This exposed Oxfam India as a probable instrument of foreign policy of foreign organisations/entities which have funded Oxfam India liberally over the years,” the FIR says, quoting the complaint, according to Deccan Herald.

Some of the institutes that the NGO wanted to involve in pressuring the Indian government were the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the US State Department, Asian Development Bank and various European governments, according to an IT department document attached with the FIR.

In Past Seven Months, Nearly 400 NGOs Lost Validity of FCRA Licenses: Report

According to the Economic Times, the Union home ministry’s website mentions that the number of organisations with active FCRA licences – necessary to receive foreign contributions – stood at 16,352 as on March 26, 2023, down from 16,727 on August 12, 2022.

New Delhi: The Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) licenses of nearly 400 non-governmental organisations have been cancelled, suspended, denied renewal, or deemed to have expired over the last seven months, according to the Economic Times. Among these organisations are the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, headed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Oxfam India, and the Centre for Policy Research.

The newspaper reported that the Union home ministry’s portal on FCRA – which is mandatory to receive foreign funds – mentions that the number of organisations with active FCRA licences stood at 16,352 as on March 26, 2023, down from 16,727 on August 12, 2022.

The ministry on Saturday granted six months extension to NGOs of “certain categories” to renew their FCRA licence till September 30, 2023, ET reported. The NGOs whose FCRA renewal is “pending with MHA” and “those who have applied/will apply before expiry of 5 years validity period” stands extended until September 30, the notification said.

The minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha on March 15 that as of March 10, there are 16,383 organisations with FCRA active licenses. He also revealed that these NGOs received Rs 16,306.04 crore in foreign funds in 2019-20, Rs 17,058.64 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 22,085.10 crore in 2021-22.

The Union home ministry grants FCRA licences for a five-year period.

The Narendra Modi government amended the Act in 2020, tightening the rules. After the amendments, it is now mandatory to provide the Aadhaar number of all office-bearers, directors, or key functionaries of NGOs that receive foreign contributions. The funds can now only be deposited in the SBI’s New Delhi branches.

Since the BJP government came to power, the number of organisations with FCRA licenses has declined sharply. On January 1, 2022, the home ministry said that nearly 6,000 organisations had lost their FCRA licenses. Before that, in December 2016, the FCRA licences of about 20,000 NGOs – out of about 33,000 that had this license – were cancelled for alleged violations of the Act.

Home Ministry Cancels FCRA License of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Charitable Trust

The action against the two NGOs headed by Sonia Gandhi came following investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the ministry in 2020.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), two NGOs headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, for alleged violation of laws.

The action came following investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the MHA in 2020.

“The FCRA licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust have been cancelled after investigations against these NGOs,” an official said on Saturday.

The investigators covered alleged manipulation of documents while filing income-tax returns, misuse of funds and money laundering while receiving funds from foreign countries, including China.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the RGF as well as the RGCT.

The trustees of the RGF are former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P. Chidambaram, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Suman Dubey and Ashok Ganguly.

The trustees of the RGCT are Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Ganguly, Bansi Mehta and Deep Joshi.

Set up in 1991, the RGF worked on a number of critical issues, including health, science and technology, women and children and disability support, till 2009. It also worked in the education sector, according to its website.

The RGCT was established in 2002 to address the development needs of the underprivileged people of the country, especially the rural poor.

It currently works in the poorest regions of Uttar Pradesh, one of the least developed states in the country, and Haryana through two development initiatives – the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) and the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre (IGEHRC) – according to the RGCT website.

Both the RGF and the RGCT function from the same building – Jawahar Bhawan – located on Rajendra Prasad Road, near the Parliament complex, in New Delhi.

The NGOs came under the scanner in July 2020 after the MHA set up an inter-ministerial committee headed by an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer to probe possible violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Income Tax Act and the FCRA.

Another organisation that came under the probe was Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.

However, no action has so far been taken against the third organisation.

The probe team comprised officers from the ministries of home and finance, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), besides the ED, and was mandated to investigate if these trusts run by the Gandhi family and other Congress leaders allegedly manipulated any documents while filing income tax returns or misused and laundered money received from foreign countries.

During the Indian Army’s face-off with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Ladakh in 2020, ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda had alleged that China gave funds to the RGF between 2005 and 2009 to carry out studies that were not in national interest.

Nadda had also alleged that money from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund was diverted to the RGF, which also received funds from fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi.

The BJP had also raised a question that whether the funds received by the RGF were a “bribe” for lobbying for a free-trade agreement (FTA) between India and China.

Then telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also made a similar claim, adding: “The donors list of the RGF annual report in 2005-06 clearly shows that it received a donation from the Embassy of People’s Republic of China. We want to know why this donation was taken.”

They were referring to an account of donations made to RGF in 2005-06 in its annual report, which is available on its website, in which the embassy of the People’s Republic of China is listed as one of its donors under “partner organisations and donors”.

(With PTI inputs)

MHA Removes List of NGOs Whose FCRA Licenses Were Cancelled From Website

The annual returns of NGOs can no longer be viewed either.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs has updated its Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA) website and in the process removed some crucial information – including the list of NGOs whose licenses have been cancelled and the annual returns of NGOs.

According to the Indian Express, while the ministry has not officially explained the decision, officials said it was done because the data was considered “unnecessary” for public viewing.

The earlier version of the FCRA website provided lists of NGOs that had FCRA licenses, NGOs granted prior permission for receiving foreign contribution, NGOs whose licences have been cancelled, NGOs whose licences have expired and the annual returns of NGOs. Now, while the overall data on all the categories is still there, the lists have been removed.

The annual returns of NGOs can no longer be viewed. Data on quarterly accounts of foreign contributions received by NGOs has also been removed.

“Whatever data was deemed not useful or unnecessary has been removed. The overall data on the number of NGOs that have lost licence and the number of NGOs which have filed annual returns has been maintained as it is,” an MHA official told Indian Express.

On July 1, the MHA had notified a series of changes in the FCRA rules to “lessen the compliance burden on NGOs”. This including deleting a clause that stated “A person receiving foreign contribution in a quarter of the financial year shall place details of foreign contribution received on its official website or on a website as specified by the Central government within 15 days following the last day of the quarter in which it has been received clearly indicating details of donors, amount received and date of receipt.”

Over the last few years, several NGOs have alleged that the Union government is using the FCRA law to go after NGOs it does not agree with and cut off their funding sources.

FCRA Registration of TTD, Ramakrishna Mission and Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan Not Renewed

NGOs that have an FCRA registration can receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural purposes.

New Delhi: Hindu religious institutions Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and Ramakrishna Mission are among the 6,000 NGOs whose Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was not renewed by the Union home ministry, according to The Hindu.

The TTD manages the famous Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The trust and the Ramakrishna Mission are registered as Hindu religious organisations, while the FCRA registration of Shirdi’s Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST), which falls under the “religious (others)” category of the Act, was also not renewed, the newspaper reported.

However, it is not clear from The Hindu‘s report if the organisations did not apply to renew their registration or if the home ministry declined to renew it.

The ministry said last week that it had declined to renew the FCRA registration of 179 NGOs, while 5,789 NGOs did not apply for a renewal before the December 31 deadline. The deadline has been extended to March 31, 2022, but only the applications of those NGOs which had applied for a renewal before December 31 will be considered.

However, a senior government official told The Hindu that the NGOs that have not had their FCRA registration renewed may re-apply.

NGOs that have an FCRA registration can receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural purposes. An FCRA registration is mandatory for any association and NGO to receive foreign funding.

According to The Hindu, the home ministry did not comment on why the FCRA registration of the three religious associations has not been renewed. When media reports had said that the FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity, a congregation set up by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, was not been renewed, the home ministry said it had “some adverse inputs” – and therefore, the registration was not renewed.

The newspaper reported that the annual report filed by the TTD on December 22, 2021 showed it had Rs 13.4 crore in its designated foreign contribution bank account, while the SSST’s report showed it has over Rs 5 crore in the designated account.

According to the official website related to the FCRA, among the organisations and entities whose registration under the FCRA ceased or validity expired were IIT Delhi, Jamia Milia Islamia, Indian Medical Association, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, India Habitat Centre, Lady Shri Ram College for Women and Delhi College of Engineering.

The Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts, the Indian Institute Of Public Administration, Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation and Oxfam India were on the long list supplied by the Union home ministry.

Also among those organisations whose FCRA registration ceased were the Medical Council of India, Emmanuel Hospital Association, the Tuberculosis Association Of India, Vishwa Dharamayatan, Maharishi Ayurveda Pratishthan, National Federation Of Fishermen’s Cooperatives Ltd.

The Hamdard Education Society, Delhi School Of Social Work Society, Bhartiya Sanskriti Parishad, DAV College Trust and Management Society, the India Islamic Cultural Centre, Godrej Memorial Trust, the Delhi Public School Society, Nuclear Science Centre in JNU and the All India Marwari Yuva Manch are also among these entities.

Home Ministry Revokes Manipal University’s FCRA License Over Nipah Study

An unnamed ministry official reportedly said the license had been cancelled in January 2020 and the university had been informed.

In a surprising move, the Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended Manipal University’s FCRA license, effectively stopping the institute from availing or using foreign funds, citing “unauthorised” research undertaken by the Manipal Institute of Virology, according to Hindustan Times.

FCRA stands for the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 2010, which regulates the use of funds transferred across the border.

The accusation pertains to the Manipal Centre for Virus Research’s (MCVR’s) actions during the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in 2018. The Indian Council of Medical Research and the Union health ministry had accused the lab of storing and studying Nipah samples in a lab that didn’t have the necessary safeguards to contain the virus, and going so far as to suggest the lab’s access to foreign funds had potentiated it to develop bioweapons.

However, MCVR has strongly denied these allegations, explaining that the ministry had explicitly approved the lab to handle Nipah samples as well as that the lab had inactivated the virus, thus nixing its ability to infect, before studying it.

An unnamed ministry official reportedly said the license had been cancelled in January 2020 and the university had been informed. Prior to this incident, the government had also terminated the Acute Febrile Illness Project, which the MCVR and the US Centres for Disease Control had been working on together to study numerous infectious diseases with no known treatment, including the Nipah and Ebola viruses, citing the same reasons.

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Additionally, Arunkumar Govindakarnavar, the director of the MCVR, told Hindustan Times, “The university has not used any foreign contribution for Nipah testing. In addition, the university has filed reports on the use of foreign funding every 15 days. All account details have been provided.”

So in both cases, the two ministries – of health and home affairs – appear to have acted based on a single episode whereas MCVR has said the government has always been in the loop. The Wire itself was able to verify that the health ministry had been receiving regular updates about MCVR’s activities vis-à-vis the Nipah virus. As Priyanka Pulla wrote,

From publicly available documents, it is clear that both ICMR and India’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), an institute under the Union health ministry, were aware of MCVR’s Nipah testing capabilities and the minutiae of the fever project. A 2018 paper published in the journal BMJ Global Health and coauthored, among others, by Balram Bhargava, director general (DG) of ICMR; Sujeet Singh, director of NCDC; Promila Gupta, principal consultant at the Directorate General of Health Services (a health ministry body); and Govindakarnavar stated that the Manipal centre’s ability to test the Nipah virus helped Kerala respond quickly to the unprecedented 2018 outbreak.

The government’s decision to suspend Manipal University’s FCRA license is doubly surprising because educational and research institutions are rarely subject to such punishment, especially on the back of singular events.

Former CBI Interim Chief Wants Ban on Foreign Funds for NGOs

The serving IPS officer wrote for RSS’s mouthpiece ‘Organiser’.

New Delhi: In a rare development, a serving Indian Police Service officer has superseded service rules to contribute an article for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece Organiser.

M. Nageswara Rao, who is currently posted as director-general of home guards, fire services and civil defence, is known to be close to key members of the RSS. He is a regular attendee of the events of the right-wing think tanks such as the India Foundation and Vivekananda International Foundation.

In fact, he had also lobbied for a ban on beef exports, to maintain the “cultural fabric of the country.”

Rao was given interim charge of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), when its director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana, were sent on leave pending an inquiry during the CBI crisis of 2018.

In the article titled “The Dangers of Foreign Funding”, Rao opined that there should be a complete ban on foreign funding of NGOs in India as it “colonise[s] our minds and subvert[s] our national discourse.”

“It is heartening to note that the present Central Government has been very sincere and proactive in enforcing the FCRA [Foreign Contribution Act]. Yet, it hardly has any impact on the quantum of remittances for the simple reason that the problem is FCRA itself. Therefore, no amount of tweaking of the law can mitigate the danger. Hence, the only way to save the country from this serious menace, which is endangering its unity and integrity by causing civilisational osteoporosis, is by banning all sorts of foreign ‘donations’, whatever may be their purpose,” Rao wrote.

He indicated that foreign organisations have a “sinister purpose”, because of which they are funding Indian NGOs instead of spending in their own country.

Also Read: M. Nageswara Rao: CBI Interim Chief Has Always Been on Right Side of the BJP

“Foreign funds have been the prime mover for changing the religious demography, interference in our indigenous religious traditions and practices, creating hurdles in our socio-economic progress, creating and aggravating various fautlines and the consequent unrest, colonising our minds and subverting our national discourse to suit certain sinister purposes.”

“Therefore, no self-respecting sovereign country much less a civilisational nation with aspirations of super power, can afford such blatant meddling in its domestic affairs,” he wrote.

However, he put forth an exception for Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). “Donations made by overseas citizens of India in their individual capacity from their personal funds, and not acting as agents or conduits for others, that too for the limited purpose of preservation, study, promotion and propagation of ancient Indian texts and traditional Indian knowledge, may be allowed,” he added in the article

According to the service rules for IPS officers, they are allowed to write articles only for scientific, cultural and literary purposes, that too, with a disclaimer specifying that opinions expressed are their personal views.

An Economic Times report said that Rao has been known to work with various organisations on causes such as “freeing temples from state control” and the scrapping of laws that “favour the minority and discriminate against Hindus”. The report says that Rao is also “particularly interested in areas of ‘Hindu renaissance’”.

To accommodate M. Nageswara Rao in his present DG post, the government downgraded the post to the ADG level.