FCRA certificate of 8353 NGOs not renewed in last 5 years: MHA

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) certificates of 8353 NGOs have not been renewed for the last five years, the Union Home Ministry informed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

New Delhi:The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) certificates of 8353 NGOs have not been renewed for the last five years, the Union Home Ministry informed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that FCRA certificates of 264 NGOs and related associations have been suspended under Section 13 of the FCRA in the last five years.

The actions taken by the Home Ministry over FCRA shows that the government is keeping a close watch on the foreign funds obtained by different NGOs and other organisations for cultural, economic, educational and social programmes.

According to Government statistics, the FCRA certificates of 5347 NGOs in 2016, 559 NGOs in 2017, 1010 NGOs in 2018, 974 in 2019 and 463 NGOs in 2020 have not been renewed by the government.

Similarly, FCRA certificates of 233 NGOs and associations have been suspended in 2018 followed by 25 in 2020, 5 in 2019 and 1 in 2016. Last year, the FCRA 2010 was amended to tighten the limit of 'administrative expenses' and exclude 'public servants' from the list of entities eligible to receive funds from abroad.

Under the new amendments, political parties have also been prohibited from accepting foreign funds. However, the Home Ministry has also received several representations seeking change in the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Rules, 2011.

Rai said that in order to facilitate a smooth transition to the amended regime under the FCRA, 2010, the government has provided several relaxations to NGOs and associations.

He said that the final date for submission of annual reports (under Section 18 of the FCRA, 2010) has been extended from December 31, 2020, up to June 30, 2021, adding that for the opening of FCRA account in the estate Bank of India, New Delhi main branch, the last date has been extended up to March 31.

He further said that the validity of FCRA registration certificates expiring during the period between September 29, 2020, and May 31, 2021, has been extended up to May 31, 2021.

The FCRA license is mandatory for organisations that intend to receive foreign funds. At the same time, NGOs seeking foreign funds must-have the existence of at least three years and spent Rs 15 lakh in voluntary activities prior to their applications.

As per reports, Rs 58,000 crore foreign funds have been received by NGOs between 2016-17 and 2018-19.