FCRA registrations of over 1800 organisations have been cancelled between 2019 and 2021: MHA in Lok Sabha

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration certificates of 1,811 associations have been cancelled from 2019 to 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) instructed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai shared the enter in a written reply to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Ray.

“During the last three years from 2019 to 2021, the FCRA Registration Certificates of 1,811 associations have been cancelled under section 14 of The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA, 2010) due to violation of provisions of the FCRA, 2010,” the Minister talked about within the reply.

Whenever any inputs pertaining to using overseas contributions to unfold terror actions are obtained by the MHA, Rai mentioned applicable motion underneath the FCRA, 2010 and different extant legal guidelines and guidelines is taken.

Asked whether or not the FCRA licence cancellation brought on a scarcity of funds for humanitarian help within the nation, the Minister mentioned “No, Sir.”

The FCRA was enacted throughout the Emergency in 1976 amid apprehensions that overseas powers have been interfering in India’s affairs by pumping cash into the nation via impartial organisations. These considerations have been, in truth, even older, that they had been expressed in Parliament as early as 1969.

The regulation sought to control overseas donations to people and associations in order that they functioned “in a manner consistent with the values of a sovereign democratic republic”.

An amended FCRA was enacted underneath the UPA authorities in 2010 to “consolidate the law” on the utilisation of overseas funds, and “to prohibit” their use for “any activities detrimental to the national interest”.

The regulation was amended once more by the present authorities in 2020, giving the federal government tighter management and scrutiny over the receipt and utilisation of overseas funds by NGOs.

Broadly, the FCRA requires each individual or NGO looking for to obtain overseas donations to be (i) registered underneath the Act, (ii) to open a checking account for the receipt of the overseas funds within the State Bank of India, Delhi, and (iii) to utilise these funds just for the aim for which they’ve been obtained and as stipulated within the Act.

They are additionally required to file annual returns, they usually should not switch the funds to a different NGO. 

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