Breather for NGOs

FCRA relaxations offer only partial relief

The raft of modifications announced Friday to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), which governs the funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), are welcome after the escalating restrictions on the sector since 2015. After the licences of some 6,000 NGOs lapsed on January 1 this year, the bulk of them voluntarily, on account of stringent restrictions on donations and spending rules, the government extended to September 30 the validity of FCRA entities whose five-year permits would lapse between July 1 and September 30 and had applied or would apply for renewal in this period.

The home ministry has also raised the limit