New Delhi: The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act licence of around 6,000 organisations, including Oxfam India Trust, ceased to exist from 1 January, it is learnt. This means that these organisations, which include several NGOs, can no longer receive foreign funding.
The organisations are among a cumulative 12,580 whose FCRA licence has ceased to exist over the past few years.
According to a list on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) website, these 12,580 organisations include several cultural, economic, educational, social, and religious organisations.
These include the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, a government-funded arts organisation, Jamia Millia Islamia, India Islamic Cultural Centre, India Youth Centres Trust, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Indian Epilepsy Association, charity Missionaries of Compassion, orphanage Bachhon ka Ghar, Medical Council of India, D.A.V. College Trust and Management Society, St Paul’s Church, Young Men’s Christian Association.
Lady Shri Ram College, Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, the Tehelka Foundation, IIT-Delhi Alumni Association, and Common Cause, a civil society group, are among other organisations listed.
This list doesn’t specify a date so it couldn’t be determined which of these organisations are among the latest to lose their licence. However, sources in the government confirmed to ThePrint that Oxfam India Trust, an NGO working to support child education, empowering women and fighting against inequality, is one of those whose licence ceases to exist 1 January.
An MHA official said 5,789 of the nearly 6,000 organisations did not apply for renewal “despite several reminders”. Another 179 were denied renewal, the official added.
These 5,968 organisations were among 18,778 whose FCRA licences were expiring between 29 September 2020 and 31 December 2021.
The applications of the remaining are still under scrutiny, the MHA official said, adding that the validity of their licence has been extended till March.
Referring to those organisations whose application was rejected, the MHA official cited the cause as “violations observed” in their functioning.
Once FCRA registration is granted, it is valid for a five-year period. An organisation has to subsequently apply afresh for grant of registration.
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Nearly 17,000 organisations with FCRA licence
According to the dashboard on the MHA website, 16,829 organisations currently have an active FCRA license.
Among the 12,580 organisations whose licences have ceased to exist are 1,800 Christian NGOs, 250 Hindu NGOs and over 250 Muslim NGOs, according to the list on the MHA website.
On 25 December, the MHA refused to renew the FCRA licence of the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) after it allegedly “received adverse inputs”.
The renewal application was refused for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRA) 2011, a statement by the MHA said.
The MHA also said no request or revision application was received from the MoC.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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