Government derecognises 11,000 NGOs for not complying with guidelines

Government has derecognised more than 11,000 NGOs after they failed to renew their registration by June-end, preventing them from receiving foreign funds.       

The Union Home Ministry said it has cancelledregistration of 11,319 organisations that had not applied for renewal of registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act by the June 30 deadline this year.       

"Their validity of registration is deemed expired fromNovember 1, 2016," it said. In the list are about 50 orphanages, hundreds of schoolsand institutions such as the Indian Statistical Institute andreputed NGOs that works for street children. In 2015, the Home Ministry cancelled FCRA registration of10,000 non-government organisations because they did not filetheir annual returns for three years in a row. Many of these organisations were defunct or did not wantthe FCRA registration in any case.       

The Centre's decision brings down the number ofnot-for-profit organisations permitted to receive foreignfunding to 20,500, less than half of what it was two years agowhen 42,500 were registered under the FCRA 2010. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010--whichreplaced a 1976 law by the same name--ended the system ofpermanent registration, and required NGOs to seek renewal oftheir licence every five years.       

The validity of FCRA registration of the NGOs was extended till October 31, 2016 but they were required to submit applications for renewal of registration by June 30.       

The Home Ministry also said it had closed the application for FCRA licence renewal in 1,736 cases due to "non-submissionof documents or deficient documents or other statutoryshortcoming within the stipulated time".       

These 1,736 NGOs include some branches of the Ramakrishna Mission,Mata Amritanandamayi, Math as well as the Krishnamurthi Foundation of India, and they had applied onlinefor renewal of their registrations before June 30, 2016.       

The Ministry has now asked these 1,736 NGOs to submittheir representations in support of deficiency in theapplication, through designated email usfcramha@gov.in byNovember 8 failing which no representation will be accepted.       

In its original form, the FCRA was enacted apparently torestrict flow of foreign funds to civil society groups duringthe 1975-77 Emergency.       Parliament had passed a stringent version of the FCRA in2010, with the Congress-led UPA government insisting that NGOsthat rely on foreign funds had to be prepared for greaterscrutiny.       

The Modi government has so far cancelled registration ofmore than 22,000 NGO for various alleged lapses.