New Delhi: Amidst the Union home ministry’s spree of cancelling, revoking, or suspending Foreign Contribution Registration Act licences of non-governmental organisations – which allow them to accept foreign grants – six prominent non-profits which work on disability and human rights have also lost their licences.
The Economic Times reported that Blue Cross Blue Crescent Society, Good Earth Education Foundation, India Eye International Human Rights Observer, Deaf Cricket Society, Bidirectional Access Promotion Society and Behaviour Foundation of India lost their licences ahead of the March 31, 2023 deadline. Officials informed the ET that the FCRA licences of these NGOs are “deemed to have ceased”.
According to the report, the FCRA licences of the organisations expired in March this year as the Union home ministry did not allow them the conventional six-month extension to apply for renewal. Usually, the ministry grants an extension to NGOs of “certain categories” so that they could apply for renewal of their FCRA licences. Every FCRA licence lasts five years before they need to be renewed.
The Blue Cross Blue Crescent Society is affiliated to United Nations-DESA and has accreditation with the European Union. The Good Earth Education Foundation is steered by the Eicher Group and imparts education to the rural poor, with special emphasis on the girl child. The Deal Cricket Society and Behaviour Foundation of India engage with differently-abled children and persons through various intervention activities.
Speaking with the ET, Mithilesh Kumar Karn, the founder director of the Blue Cross Society, said, “My FCRA licence was issued in the name of Blue Cross Blue Crescent while the NGO’s name is Blue Cross and Blue Crescent Society. I have been running from pillar to post and applied for a name change in January this year but, so far, have not received any updates from the ministry. I am not able to receive any foreign grants due to this.”
The Union home ministry has been cancelling or revoking the FCRA licences of several NGOs, including prominent non-profits like Oxfam India and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). Two NGOs headed by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi – Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation – also lost their FCRA licences last year.
Over the last three years, the Union home ministry revoked or cancelled FCRA licences of 1,828 organisations for allegedly violating the FCRA, which requires each licencee to submit annual audit reports and detailed balance sheets to the ministry. The Act empowers the government to inspect and carry out an audit of organisations which receive foreign grants.