The home ministry has cancelled or suspended the licences of four NGOs for alleged violations of the law that regulates foreign funding for NGOs
The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Delhi and three other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have lost their Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences after scrutiny by the Union home ministry. The FCRA licences are mandatory for any NGO or association to receive foreign funds for their work.
YWCA of Delhi: A century-old organisation
YWCA of Delhi is one of India’s leading NGOs that works for the empowerment of women and girls. It was established in 1912 and is affiliated to the World YWCA. It runs several working women’s hostels, vocational training centres, community development projects and advocacy programs across Delhi.
According to the audited report of YWCA for 2020-21, no foreign contribution was received by the association till March 2021. However, the home ministry cancelled its FCRA licence on June 19, 2023, without disclosing the reasons. The cancellation has made it difficult for the association to receive any foreign funds in the future.
YWCA of Delhi was instrumental in partnering with National Institute of Disaster Management, MHA, for organising an online training programme – Child Centric Disaster Risk Reduction – for Delhi, Assam and Nagaland during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The programme aimed to enhance the capacity of stakeholders to protect children from disasters and promote their participation in disaster management.
Cni Shishu Sangopan Griha and Program for Social Action: Two other NGOs that lost their licences
Cni Shishu Sangopan Griha and Program for Social Action (PSA) are two other NGOs based in Delhi that lost their FCRA licences in May and June this year. Cni Shishu Sangopan Griha deals with child adoption and PSA works in the areas of democratic governance, human rights, corporate accountability and social justice.
The foreign contribution statement filed by Cni Shishu Sangopan Griha revealed that as late as 2020, the organisation was receiving foreign contributions from American NGO – Holt International which were suspended by India in 2018, due to negligence in child adoption.
PSA, which was started in 1975, has been involved in various campaigns and movements on issues such as land rights, labour rights, environmental justice, communal harmony and peace.
Care India: The NGO whose licence was suspended
Care India is an NGO that works for poverty alleviation, women empowerment, health and education in India. It is part of Care International, a global humanitarian organisation that operates in over 90 countries.
Care India’s FCRA licence was suspended for 180 days by the home ministry in June this year. The suspension is a temporary measure that allows the ministry to conduct an inquiry into the alleged violations by the NGO.
Care India was granted renewal of its licence in October 2022 despite income tax surveys along with Oxfam India and the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in September 2022. It has been reported that the renewal of licence for Care India at a time when Oxfam was facing a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the recommendation of MHA while the CPR licence was suspended for alleged FCRA violations.
New FCRA licences issued to 122 NGOs
Meanwhile, the home ministry has issued new FCRA licences to 122 NGOs in the first six months of this year, including some prominent organisations such as International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST), Sikkim Manipal University, The Hyderabad Public School Society, The Yuva Ekta Foundation, among others.
The home ministry has been tightening its scrutiny of foreign-funded NGOs in recent years, alleging that some of them have been misusing foreign funds for anti-national activities or influencing policy-making. In 2015, it cancelled the FCRA licences of over 10,000 NGOs for failing to file annual returns. In 2020, it amended the FCRA rules to make it more stringent for NGOs to receive and utilise foreign funds.
