New Delhi: More than a year after The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act licence of Oxfam India was cancelled in December 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs Thursday recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate alleged violations of the FCRA rules.
According to a government source, the probe was recommended after it was found that the organisation has “violated several norms” and has “illegally routed money”.
According to the source, it was during a recent survey by the Income Tax department where it was found that Oxfam India was “planning to circumvent provisions of the FCRA by routing funds to other FCRA-registered associations’ ‘. The CBI will now register a formal case in the matter, the source said.
Oxfam India, according to its website, is a member of the global confederation of 21 Oxfams across the world. The government registered Oxfam India as a “non-profit organization under Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act, 2013.”
The FCRA licence of around 6,000 organisations, including Oxfam India Trust, ceased to exist from 1 January, 2022 over “violations observed” in their functioning. An MHA official said 5,789 of the nearly 6,000 organisations did not apply for a renewal “despite several reminders”. Another 179 were denied renewal, the official added. The renewal request for Oxfam was also rejected.
‘Kept transferring money’
Among the allegations against Oxfam are that the organisation continued to transfer Foreign Contribution to various entities, including other NGOs even after the 2020 amendments in the act which prohibits these transfers. This, sources said, was a “violation of the Act”
Moreover, it is alleged that Oxfam India received foreign contribution amounting to Rs 1.50 crore directly into its account instead of receiving foreign contribution in a designated FCRA account, which is mandatory, the source said.
According to the source Oxfam India also routed funds to the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) through its associates in the form of “commission”, which is also reflected from the TDS data of the Oxfam India which shows payment of Rs 12,71,188 to the CPR in 2019.
In September 2022, The income tax department carried out surveys at over 100 locations across the country, including offices of prominent Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Bengaluru-based Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF), non-profit organisation Oxfam, and at properties of businessmen and private individuals.
Reacting to the survey Oxfam India, had released a statement that said it was “compliant with Indian laws and has filed all its statutory compliances, including income tax and FCRA returns, in a timely manner since its inception”.
Oxfam alleged in a statement that the income tax survey was conducted “without giving a reason”. It also stated that Oxfam India was compliant with Indian laws and “filed all its statutory compliances, including income tax and FCRA returns, in a timely manner since its inception”.It further said that in January 2022, a detailed week-long audit of FCRA accounts by auditors appointed by the FCRA division had been carried out.
“In times of growing inequality and greater need for action on poverty eradication, Oxfam India has been and will continue to work in public interest,” Oxfam had said.
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