More than 6000 non-governmental organizations registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) have either not applied for renewal of license or have been denied for failure to comply with the FCRA rules. This includes controversial organizations like Oxfam, Jamia Milia, etc.
Out of the 22832 FCRA-NGOs with active registrations, nearly 20,000 FCRA-NGOs had to apply for renewal by December 31, 2021. The Ministry of Home Affairs in a notification issued on 31 December 2021, permitted those NGOs who had applied for renewal who applications were not rejected to continue to use the FCRA till March 31, 2022.
This comes just days after the Home Ministry did not give clearance for the application submitted by Missionaries of Charity, the Kolkata-based NGO established by Mother Teresa.
Other organisations and entities whose registration under the FCRA have expired include the Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts, Indian Institute Of Public Administration, India Islamic Cultural Centre, Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, and Delhi College of Engineering.
Earlier, several complaints were filed against Oxfam India for their activities in contravention to the FCRA rules. In March 2021, Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) had written to the Centre to take action against Oxfam for running a campaign against Assam’s tea industry.
Oxfam had run a campaign asking countries to stop purchasing tea grown in Assam’s gardens, alleging that the tea workers in the state had deplorable working conditions and scant workers’ rights.
Thanks @narendramodi for directly naming enemies of #Assam Tea! Since yrs, @OxfamIndia headed by CEO @AmitabhBehar (treasurer of @harsh_mander NGO @CEStudies) running defamatory campaign against #AssamTea using #Bollywood. Hope @himantabiswa @sarbanandsonwal fully crush them pic.twitter.com/LUQ8CZtnXI
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) February 7, 2021
In June 2020, legal activists collective Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) and Legal Rights Observatory had written to the Centre seeking stringent against Oxfam India after they ran a campaign claiming there were no beds in the country in the wake of the 2nd wave of the corona virus pandemic.
Oxfam India's FCRA registration has ended!
Earlier we wrote to MHA seeking action for its smear campaign against IndianPublicHealthCareSystem, aiming to destabilize Public Order by Fundraising Campaign promoting nefarious narrative & panic among masses during the COVID19 crisis. https://t.co/gJhyTe3TIS pic.twitter.com/LKaPEjKDea— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) January 1, 2022
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