Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)
The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) governs foreign funding of nonprofit organisations in India.
Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for its implementation.
The laws make sure that recipients of foreign contributions follow the stated objectives for which they were obtained.
It ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
First enacted in 1976, it was amended in 2010.
The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.
It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.
The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.
Why it is used?
The FCRA is a regulatory mechanism to ensure that foreign vested interests are not unduly influencing the domestic politics of India.
The FCRA sought to consolidate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by individuals, associations or companies.
It sought to prohibit such contributions from being used for activities detrimental to national interest.
Recently in news
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has withdrawn the permit under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for U.K.-based NGO Save The Children’s Indian offshoot, Bal Raksha Bharat.
Save The Children is a leading child rights organisation that focuses on health, education, hunger and vulnerable children in conflicts. It is present in 116 countries.
In India since 2008, Bal Raksha Bharat is spread across 16 States.
Last year, it had come under the government’s radar for a fundraising campaign on malnutrition, which was objected to by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on the ground that the issue was being “vigorously pursued” by the government through its schemes.
The organisation’s request for renewal of its FCRA licence was rejected according to an order uploaded on the MHA’s website earlier this week
The NGO’s name also doesn’t appear in the list of organisations with valid FCRA registration displayed on the MHA’s website.
COMMENTS