Govt: No FCRA for NGOs associated with radical groups

Involvement in anti-development activities and religious conversions, inciting protests with malicious intentions, and the existence of links with radical organisations are some of the reasons listed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for denying the clearance needed by NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to receive funds from abroad.

In a notification dated November 8, the MHA said it was putting out “consolidated reasons” after receiving a representation from several NGOs seeking clarity on why their clearance under FCRA was denied. Interestingly though, the ministry has not named the NGOs which fall under such categories.

The ministry added that other reasons for refusal of clearance include concealment of facts in application forms; pending prosecution against any office bearers of the NGO; if a field enquiry reveals that no reasonable activity has been carried out by the NGO for two to three years; refusal to provide clarifications; and absence of details of the addresses of office bearers or members.

In cases of renewals, the notification said that MHA can reject the application if it finds that the funds received by the organisation in the past five years have not been used as per aims and objectives; if annual returns are not uploaded; or if there is any discrepancy in financial documents. According to MHA data, as many as 16,000 NGOs have FCRA licences, while licences of 20,711 organisations have been cancelled.