Over 12,500 Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) have lost their permission to collect foreign donations – 5,933 of them losing it on the last day of 2021 – as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) either refused renewal of their licence or the outfits did not file applications for one.
These organisations include Oxfam India, Biocon Foundation, Azim Premji Foundation, Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru and Kolkata, Indian Institute of Technology, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, state-run Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre in Uttarakhand and Tuberculosis Association of India. The refusal to renew Mother Theresa-founded Missionaries of Charity’s licence last week had triggered a controversy.
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Among the states, Tamil Nadu (1,453), West Bengal (1,382) and Maharashtra (1,282) had the highest number of NGOs whose nod to collect foreign funds expired as of December 31. Karnataka was placed seventh with 736 of its organisations losing the licence.
The MHA had earlier extended the validity of licence under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 to collect donations from abroad from September 30 to December 31 and then extended it to March 31. NGOs whose applications were rejected were not covered under this.
An analysis of the FCRA database showed that the MHA on late Friday had put at least 5,933 organisations among NGOs whose licence to collect foreign donations in a list of outfits whose licence has expired. However, the break-up of NGOs whose applications were rejected and those who did not apply for renewal.
With this, only 16,829 NGOs have the permission to collect foreign funds and this number could come down if the MHA finds discrepancies in the applications filed by them. On early Friday, this number was 22,762.
Altogether, licences of 12,580 organisations expired on December 31. This would mean that there were 29,409 organisations that had the FCRA licence earlier.
According to the database, Andhra Pradesh (973), Uttar Pradesh (872), Odisha (840), Karnataka (736), Kerala (700), Delhi (662) and Bihar (629) were in the top ten list of NGOs whose licence expired.
In Karnataka, the Karnataka Central Diocese, Citizens Action Group and HD Kumaraswamy Sahrayalaya Trust are in the list of organisations that lose the licence.
The VV Giri National Labour Institute considered the government’s think tank on labour and employment issues, based in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida was another prominent organisation that cannot collect foreign funds for its research programmes.
In West Bengal, Satyajit Ray Film and TV Institute and School of Women Studies in Jadavpur University are among those who are not allowed to collect foreign funds from now on.
The Times of India Relief Fund, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, Bachchon ka Ghar, Common Cause, Children's Book Trust, Subhash Chandra Foundation, Sulabh, Habitat Centre, Lady Shriram College for Women and Delhi Public School Society are among those who have lost the licence to collect foreign funds.
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