FCRA Licence

After Centre cancelled FCRA of RGF, Cong MP Jairam Ramesh called it a move to divert public attention from the crisis caused by spiralling prices, unemployment, falling rupee

The Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), a non-government organisation associated with the Gandhi family, for alleged violations of the law, officials said. The action came after investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the home ministry in 2020. Yes, the FCRA licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has been cancelled after an investigation against it, an official said. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of RGF while other trustees include former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P Chidambaram, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Set up in 1991, RGF worked on a number of critical issues including health, science and technology, women and children, disability support, etc., from 1991 till 2009. It also worked in the education sector, according to its website.

In a notification, the home ministry, however, made it clear that those NGOs whose renewal application has been rejected will not be able to receive foreign fundings

This came in a reply to the question of whether the government has cancelled licenses of NGOs which failed to comply with revised guidelines.

About 5,8000 NGOs, which did not submit their applications for renewal of FCRA registration, deemed to have ceased to exist according to law. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said in Lok Sabha that FCRA registration of a total of 1,811 NGOs have been cancelled during the last three years - from 2019 to 2021. "About 5,800 FCRA registered associations had not submitted their applications for renewal within stipulated time in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. FCRA registration of these associations has thus been deemed to have ceased as per section 12 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010," he said in a written reply to a question. Rai said in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has given certain relaxations to NGOs so that welfare programmes and Covid-related relief works are not affected. The relaxations include extension till December 31, 2021 the validity of registration certificate of NGOs

The Union government has granted a Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence to Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar in Punjab for five years

FCRA registration of these organisations were cancelled mostly due to their failure to submit annual income and expenditure statement on foreign funding for up to six years

Business Standard looks at FCRA and compiles information about people who can take foreign funding

The exercise of reviewing the working of the NGOs was started about a year ago