Home Ministry has cancelled the registration of five NGOs for alleged violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The NGOs whose registrations have been cancelled are CNI Synodical Board of Social Service, Voluntary Health Association of India, Indo-Global Social Service Society, Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action, and Evangelical Fellowship of India, it was learnt.
With the cancellation of their Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration, these NGOs will no longer be able to receive foreign contributions nor utilise the existing available funds.
Sources said the home ministry cancelled the FCRA registration of the NGOs for allegedly utilising funds for works that were not in their mandate. The NGOs violated the laws by being involved in activities that are contrary to the provisions of the FCRA, they said.
There were 16,301 NGOs with valid FCRA licences as on July 17, 2023. The Centre has cancelled the FCRA licences of more than 6,600 NGOs in the last five years for violation of the law. Overall, FCRA licences of 20,693 NGOs have been cancelled in the last decade.
According to data disclosed in Parliament last year, Rs 55,741.51 crore was received in foreign contributions by 13,520 FCRA-registered associations or NGOs between the 2019-2020 and the 2021-2022 financial years.
The Centre has tightened the FCRA since 2020 by making several amendments and even cancelling licences of various NGOs, including Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), and Centre for Policy Research (CPR), in the last few years accusing them of violating the law.
The FCRA unit of the MHA carried out inspections or audits of at least 335 NGOs and associations registered or granted prior permission under FCRA between 2019 and 2022 to see if foreign funding rules were being followed by them.
The FCRA Act, which was amended in September 2020, barred public servants from receiving foreign funding and made Aadhaar mandatory for every office-bearer of the NGOs.
The amended law also bars organisations from using more than 20% of foreign funds for administrative purposes. The limit was hitherto 50%.
