- The Union Home Ministry cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of the parent entity of the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA).
- The CFA critically analyses the role of financial institutions and their impact on development, human rights, and the environment.
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act:
- It is compulsory to register under the Act, first enacted in 1976, if an association, group or NGO intends to receive foreign donations.
- The 1976 Act was repealed and replaced with a new legislation in 2010. It was further amended in 2020.
- The registration is valid for five years, after which the NGO has to apply for a renewal.
- Registered groups can receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural programmes.
- Publishing of current affairs programmes using foreign funds is prohibited under Section 3 of the FCRA.
- Recently, the CFA reported that additional projects in a Special Economic Zone operated by the Adani Group in Gujarat’s Kutch region would increase environmental hazards and health risks, further polluting and degrading the ecology.
- In December 2023, the CFA organized an online meeting with the All-India Bank Officers Confederation to discuss public sector banks’ issues.
- CFA was informed online about the FCRA registration cancellation due to incorrect filings for financial years 2018 and 2019.
- CFA to continue their work through innovative means, including domestic donations.
- The Ministry also cancelled the FCRA registration of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
- Since 2015, over 16,000 NGOs have had their FCRA registrations cancelled for violations.
- As of now, 15,946 FCRA-registered NGOs remain active.
Dig Deeper: Read about banking rules and regulations to receive foreign funds for NGOs registered under FCRA.
