Meer Foundation, dedicated to supporting survivors of acid attacks, was officially granted the FCRA licence effective from May 31, 2024
Institute could not submit documents to govt due to 'minor technical issues', say sources
To accept foreign contribution/donation from a 'foreign source', obtaining prior permission or an FCRA registration licence from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is mandatory
The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the stand of the Centre on a petition by NGO Environics Trust challenging its order cancelling its registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice to the central government and asked it to file a reply to the petition within four weeks. "The petitioner has approached this court challenging an order dated March 4, 2024 cancelling the registration under FCRA. Issue Notice. Reply be filed in four weeks," the judge said. Senior counsel, appearing for the petitioner, said the cancellation order was passed by the Centre without hearing the NGO. "They have to give us a personal hearing before they pass the order of cancellation. There was no hearing given to us. For that every ground this order has to go," he said. He also urged the court to permit it to utilise the amount lying in its accounts for payment of salaries to its employees. The Central government counsel said the writ petition w
The Union home ministry on Thursday extended till June 30 the validity of all FCRA registered NGOs whose licences are expiring on March 31, in a relief to those whose renewal applications are still under consideration. The ministry has also given time till June 30 to all NGOs whose five-year validity period is expiring between April 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, so that they can apply for renewal before the expiry of their validity. According to the law, all NGOs receiving foreign contributions have to be registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. In a notification, the home ministry said the central government, in the public interest, has decided to extend the validity of FCRA registration certificates of the FCRA registered entities whose validity was extended till March 31, 2024, in terms of the public notice dated September 25, 2023, and whose renewal application is pending. The validity is now extended till June 30, 2024, or till the date of disposal of the rene
YWCA-Delhi's FCRA license was cancelled by the home ministry. However, YWCA, India's FCRA licence was renewed for five years till 2028
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