Nearly 6,000 institutions, including IIT Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian Medical Association and Oxfam India, have expired for registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). These institutions either did not apply for renewal of their FCRA license or their applications were rejected by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
(Symbol Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: About 6,000 institutions, including IIT Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Oxfam India, have expired for registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
Please note that FCRA registration is necessary for funding from abroad.
Officials say that these institutions either did not apply for renewal of their FCRA license or their applications were rejected by the Union Home Ministry.
According to the official website related to FCRA, organizations and institutions whose registration under FCRA has expired or has expired include Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi College of Engineering and Oxfam India.
Officials of the Union Home Ministry, which regulates the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and its affiliates registered under the FCRA, said that the registration under the Act is deemed to have ended on January 1.
As of December 31, there were 22,762 FCRA registered NGOs. At the same time, it came down to 16,829 on January 1, as 5,933 NGOs stopped functioning.
According to the Indian Express report, the registration of these NGOs ended on 31 December 2021 due to failure to apply for renewal before the due date or because their applications were rejected by the Union Home Ministry.
Sources said that FCRA registration of 5,789 NGOs has been canceled due to failure of these institutions to file renewal applications before December 31. The remaining institutions had applied for renewal, but the Union Home Ministry rejected their application for violating the FCRA norms.
An official of the Union Home Ministry said, NGOs who had not applied for renewal were sent several reminders by the ministry, but still these institutions did not apply.
According to sources in the ministry, 12,989 NGOs had applied for renewal of registration between 30 September 2020 and 31 December 2021, out of which we rejected the applications of more than 170 NGOs due to various irregularities.
Among the NGOs whose renewal applications were rejected by the ministry are Oxfam India and the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Sources close to Oxfam India confirmed that he had applied for renewal of his FCRA registration, but was rejected by the ministry.
Dr. Jayesh Lele, Honorary General Secretary, IMA said, ‘IMA has already applied for renewal of its FCRA registration, but we are yet to know what happened to the application.’
During the second wave of COVID-19, the IMA had on several occasions criticized the government for its alleged lack of action.
Due to various reasons, the Ministry could not complete the process of NGO registration applications satisfactorily. One of these reasons includes the amendments made in the FCRA by the government in 2020. In view of this, the ministry had extended the date of registration three times.
First it was extended to 31 May 2021, then 30 September 2021 and later this deadline was extended to 31 December 2021. At the same time, on 31 December 2021, this deadline has been extended once again to 31 March 2022.
“This extended deadline is for those NGOs who applied for renewal before the expiry of their registration limit, but those NGOs which did not apply for renewal before the deadline, their registration is over,” the official said. will be considered.
Overall, 12,580 NGOs have lost their FCRA registrations over the years either due to failure to apply or due to rejection of applications by the ministry.
According to the report, from Delhi alone these include Oxfam India, Jamia Millia Islamia, Times of India Relief Fund, Times Foundation, Vishwa Dharmayatan (founded by Chandraswami), Maharishi Ayurveda Pratishthan, Indian Medical Association, Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Medical Council of India. India, whose FCRA registration has expired.
The list includes India Islamic Cultural Centre, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, India Institute of Technology (Delhi), Indian Press Institute, Delhi Public School Society, JNU’s Center for Nuclear Science, India Habitat Centre, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi College of Engineering and Tehelka Foundation is also involved.
Earlier on 27 December 2021, the Union Home Ministry had said that the Missionaries of Charity’s application for renewal of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was rejected on 25 December 2021 due to non-fulfillment of eligibility conditions.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, in a statement, also said that it has not stopped transactions from any account of Missionaries of Charity, rather the State Bank of India has informed that the institution itself has requested the bank to freeze the accounts.
Prior to this statement of the Home Ministry, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that the central government has banned transactions from all bank accounts of the Kolkata-based institution founded by Mother Teresa.
The Missionaries of Charity was officially founded on 7 October 1950 by Mother Teresa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for ‘helping suffering humanity’.
(with input from news agency language)
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