The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA registration of nearly 6,000 non-government organsations ended on Saturday, The Hindu reported, citing information from the Union home ministry’s website.
The registrations ceased as either the NGOs did not apply for renewal, or the home ministry refused to sanction their applications. FCRA registration is a mandatory requirement to receive foreign funds.
Oxfam India Trust, Indian Youth Centres Trust, Jamia Millia Islamia and Tuberculosis Association of India are reportedly among the prominent NGOs whose registrations became void on Saturday.
The development came days after Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, asked all its centres on Monday to not operate the organisation’s foreign contribution accounts after the home ministry refused to renew the permission to receive funds from abroad.
The organisation runs more than 240 homes for orphans, the destitute and AIDS patients across India.
On Friday, the home ministry had extended the FCRA registration validity by three months of NGOs whose certificates were expiring between September 29, 2020 and March 31, 2022. Their registrations will now remain valid till March 31, 2022, or till the date of disposal of the renewal application, whichever is earlier, the ministry said in an order.
However, only those NGOs whose renewal requests have not been refused, or have applied within six months of the expiry date of their registrations will get the benefit, the ministry said.
The nearly 6,000 NGOs whose registrations ceased on Saturday did not meet either of the criteria.
An updated list on the home ministry’s website named 5,933 organisations whose registrations were “deemed to cease”, according to The Hindu. Till Friday, the total number of active FCRA organisations on the website was 22,762, which now stands at 16,829.
Missionaries of Charity FCRA registration row
In a press release, the home ministry said that Missionaries of Charity’s application was refused for failing to meet the eligibility conditions under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules 2011.
Meanwhile, the Missionaries of Charity said that its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act registration had not been suspended or cancelled. The organisation said that it had asked its units not to operate any accounts that receive foreign contributions “until the matter is resolved” as it wanted to “ensure there is no lapse”.
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