{"id":39268,"date":"2024-03-30T11:59:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T06:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=39268"},"modified":"2025-10-07T15:53:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:23:34","slug":"fcra-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/fcra-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Validity of FCRA registration of NGOs extended"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in news?<\/li>\n<li>What is the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA)?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<p>The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) extended the validity of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/fcra\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA)<\/u><\/a> registration of non-government organisations (NGOs) and associations till June 30.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry has extended the validity of NGOs at least nine times since 2020 as the applications could not be processed within the stipulated time frame.<\/p>\n<p>Registrations of many NGOs are up for renewal since September 29, 2020. The registration, mandatory to receive foreign funds, is renewed every five years.<\/p>\n<h2>What is the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA)?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Background:\n<ul>\n<li>During the Emergency in\u00a01976, the FCRA was enacted in response to concerns that foreign powers were interfering in Indian affairs by pumping money into the country through independent organisations.<\/li>\n<li>The law sought to regulate foreign donations to individuals and organisations in order for them to function in accordance with the values of a sovereign democratic republic.<\/li>\n<li>In 2010, the FCRA was amended to consolidate the law on the use of foreign funds and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules (FCRR), 2011, were notified.\n<ul>\n<li>It is implemented by the\u00a0Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),\u00a0which canprohibit the use of foreign funds for any activities detrimental to national interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The law was amended again in\u00a02020, giving the government tighter control and scrutiny over the receipt and use of foreign funds by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Salient features:\n<ul>\n<li>The FCRA requires every person or NGO seeking to receive foreign donations to be:\n<ul>\n<li>Registered under the Act.<\/li>\n<li>To open a bank account for the receipt of the foreign funds in State Bank of India, Delhi.<\/li>\n<li>To utilise those funds only for the purpose for which they have been received and as stipulated in the Act.<\/li>\n<li>To file annual returns and must not transfer the funds to another NGO.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The Act prohibits the receipt of foreign funds by\n<ul>\n<li>Candidates for elections,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Journalists or newspaper and media broadcast companies,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Judges and government servants,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Members of legislature and political parties or their office-bearers, and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Organisations of a political nature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Registration under FCRA:\n<ul>\n<li>NGOs seeking foreign funding must submit an online application in a prescribed format, along with the necessary documentation.<\/li>\n<li>Individuals or organisations with specific cultural, economic, educational, religious, or social programs are eligible for FCRA registration.<\/li>\n<li>Following the NGO&#8217;s application, the\u00a0MHA conducts background checks on the applicant through the Intelligence Bureau and processes the application accordingly.<\/li>\n<li>The MHA must approve or deny the application\u00a0within 90 days.<\/li>\n<li>FCRA registration is valid for 5 years\u00a0after it is granted. NGOs are expected to apply for renewal within 6 months\u00a0of their registration expiry date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cancellation of registration:\n<ul>\n<li>The government reserves the right to revoke any NGO&#8217;s FCRA registration if it discovers a violation of the Act.<\/li>\n<li>Registration can be revoked if &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>The NGO has not engaged in any reasonable activity in its chosen field for the benefit of society\u00a0for two consecutive years or if it has become defunct.<\/li>\n<li>In the opinion of the Central Government, it is necessary in the public interest to revoke the certificate, etc.<\/li>\n<li>An audit uncovers irregularities in an NGO&#8217;s finances, such as the misutilisation of foreign funds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>No cancellation order can be issued unless the person or NGO involved has been given a reasonable opportunity to be heard.<\/li>\n<li>Once an NGO&#8217;s registration is cancelled, it is ineligible for re-registration for 3 years.<\/li>\n<li>The ministry also has the authority to suspend an NGO&#8217;s registration for 180 days pending an investigation and to freeze its funds.<\/li>\n<li>All government orders can be challenged in the\u00a0High Court.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What are non-governmental organisations (NGOs)?<\/h3>\n<p>Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are independent organizations that are not established by the government. They are also known as civil society organizations. They are typically non-profit institutions that focus on social, cultural, environmental, and educational issues. They can be established on community, national, and international levels to serve a social or political goal.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2)\u00a0What is Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)?<\/h3>\n<p>The Ministry of Home Affairs, or simply the Home Ministry, is a ministry of the Government of India. It is mainly responsible for the maintenance of internal security and domestic policy. It is headed by Minister of Home Affairs.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/validity-of-fcra-registration-of-ngos-extended-till-june-30\/article68006164.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Government extends validity of FCRA registration of NGOs till June 30<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/everyday-explainers\/what-is-fcra-explained-7911173\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FCRA is a law that regulates foreign donations to individuals and organizations in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}