The Union government on Monday amended the rules for non-profit organisations seeking foreign funds, requiring them to choose from a pre-defined list of purposes and to specify the states or the Union Territories where they will operate.
The home ministry issued a notification amending the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules to this effect. Registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive funds from abroad.
The pre-defined list of purposes for non-governmental organisations encompasses a range of faith-based activities, but explicitly excludes religious conversions. Among the religious activities for which foreign funding can be sought are constructing places of worship, documenting and preserving religious philosophy, carrying out religious education and facilitating inter-faith dialogue and peace initiatives.
“Every application for registration shall mention…the purpose or purposes for which registration is sought, chosen only from such list of purposes as specified in the schedule appended to these rules; and…the states or Union Territories in which the association proposes to undertake the activities,” the amendment states.
All organisations that are already registered under the Act have been given one year to inform the government about their specific purpose, and the states and Union Territories in which they operate. The amended rules also state that a fee of Rs 300 will be charged for every additional state of operation.
The government also introduced a minimum spending limit of Rs 10 lakh of foreign contribution on its chosen activities in the course of the last two financial years.
The home ministry also stated that any organisation with foreign citizens, other than those of Indian origin, as its key functionaries will “ordinarily not be considered” for registration to receive foreign funds.
However, the Union government can specify cases or circumstances in which foreign citizens can be permitted to be key functionaries of non-governmental organisations.
The rules also widened the definition of a “key functionary” to include company directors, partners in firms, trustees, the karta, or head, of a Hindu Undivided Family.
Earlier this year, the Centre amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to allow the government to take control of an NGO’s foreign funds and assets if its registration under the law lapses.
Under the proposed framework, such funds and assets will provisionally vest in a government-appointed “designated authority”. If the organisation fails to regain registration, the government’s control would become permanent. The authority would then be empowered to use, transfer or dispose of these assets for “public purposes”.
Between 2016-’17 and 2021-’22, more than 6,600 NGOs lost their FCRA licences, the government had told Parliament in December 2022. In 2023, it informed Parliament that 13,520 registered non-profit organisations had received Rs 55,741 crore in foreign contributions between 2019-’20 and 2021-’22.
Also read: How India’s crackdown on NGO funds has crushed key grassroots services and ended livelihoods
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