In its ongoing efforts to stifle dissent, the Bharatiya Janata Party has further tightened the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) requiring nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to "share more information when applying for or renewing their licenses to obtain foreign donations,” states The Economic Times of December 30, 2024. "The chief functionary of a trust running such NGOs must sign on each page of key documents like the memorandum of association, trust deed and constitution, and submit the entity’s year-wise activity report to the authorities instead of presenting a general report. The non-profits have to also share their receipt and payment accounts with the government along with the audited accounts.
"Several NGOs whose licenses under the FCRA — a stern and oft-invoked law — expire on December 31, have learnt about the new compliance requirements...
Stringent rules for receiving foreign funds
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"The FCRA license is given for five years and the NGOs can only receive foreign funds subject to government clearance in a specified account with a particular New Delhi branch of State Bank of India…
"FCRA was originally enacted during the Emergency years (1975-1977) to block disruptive foreign influences. It was made sterner in 2010 as the government of the day faced activists opposing nuclear plants and allocation of telecom spectrum. The FCRA license, till then issued in perpetuity, had to be renewed every five years.”
Parsiana asked Center for Advancement of Philanthropy’s chief executive officer Noshir Dadrawala for his comments on the development, "Yes it is true that compliances are being made more and more difficult,” he noted. "What’s worse, it seems from anecdotal information we have that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is now even asking NGOs why they have large foreign contribution amounts in the corpus or why large funds are in the bank account or in FDs (fixed deposits). The "corpus is for sustainability and as directed by donors. Sometimes funds are received late in the financial year and hence appear to be unused large balances. Putting funds not immediately required in FDs is prudent financial management.
"But MHA seems to be questioning all this,” Dadrawala noted.
The Georgian Parliament has also passed a bill last June at the behest of the Kremlin that requires NGOs who receive over 20% of their funding from abroad to register as "organizations acting in the interest of a foreign power.” Thousands of Georgians protested against the legislation, many waving Georgian and European Union flags.