New Delhi: over 12,000 NGOs including Oxfam and Jamia Milia Islamia will no longer be able to receive any foreign donations as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has not cleared the renewal of their Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) license.
The NGOs, which also include the Indian Medical Association and the Leprosy Mission, whose licenses had expired over the past few months and now have lost their FCRA licenses as of Saturday.
Oxfam India is in the list of NGOs whose FCRA certificates have expired and not those whose registrations have been cancelled.
The Centre’s move comes days after it, on December 25, refused to renew the FCRA license of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, which runs orphanages and shelters for the poor, sick and destitute across India “for not meeting eligibility conditions under FCR Act and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules” and due to “some adverse inputs”.
The Ministry on Friday extended the December 31 deadline for validity of FCRA registration of NGOs to March 31, 2022 or till the date of disposal of the renewal application, whichever is earlier, “in respect of only those entities who fulfil certain criteria”.
Sources in the Ministry said that around 6,000 NGOs have not applied for the renewal of the FCRA license.
According to a sources, now there are only 16,829 NGOs in India which still have a FCRA license, while a total of 22,762 NGOs are registered under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act as of now.
IANS