Context:

  • The Union Home Ministry has recently cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of World Vision India (WVI).
  • WVI is a non­governmental organisation (NGO) which focuses on children’s issues.
  • Since 2011, the FCRA registrations of around 20,000 NGOs have been cancelled on various grounds of violation of provisions of the FCRA act.
  • Few days before, the Ministry cancelled the FCRA registration of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) which is a leading public policy think tank in New Delhi.
About FCRA registration: The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 was enacted mainly for 2 purposes which are:
  1. To regulate the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution by certain individual associations or companies.
  2. To prohibit the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution for any activities which are unfavourable to nation interest and for matters related to therewith or incidental thereto.
  • It is to be noted that the Charitable Trusts, Societies, Section 8 Company that receive foreign contribution or donation from foreign sources are required to obtain registration under Section 6(1) of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010.
  • Such a registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 is called as the FCRA registration.
  • Organizations seeking foreign contributions for definite cultural, social, economic, educational or religious programmes may obtain FCRA registration or receive foreign contribution through prior permission route.
  • It is preferable for an FCRA applicant to be a Trust or Society or a Section 8 Company for the registration of the same.
  • The not-for-profit entity must have also been in existence for a minimum of three years while making the FCRA application and should not have received any foreign contribution prior to that without the approval of the Government.
  • Apart from that, the entity seeking registration should have spent at least Rs.10,00,000/- over the last three years on its aims and objects, excluding administrative expenditure.
  • In case a newly registered entity would like to receive foreign contributions, then approval for a specific activity, specific purpose and from a specific source can be made to the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Prior Permission (PP) method.