In yet another crackdown on NGOs, receiving foreign funds, the government has cancelled the licences of nearly 9,000 such entities for violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
In an order, the Home Ministry said notices were issued to 10,343 NGOs for not filing annual returns for the year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. The notices were served on October 16, 2014, saying that the NGOs should file their annual returns within a month specifying amount of foreign funds received, sources of such funds, purpose for which it was received and the manner in which such foreign contribution was utilised, according to a Home Ministry notification.
Out of the 10,344 NGOs, only 229 replied. There was no reply from the remaining NGOs, leading to the cancellation of their registrations issued under the FCRA, the notification issued on Sunday said. Among the registration cancelled include 510 NGOs against whom notices were sent but returned undelivered.
The government had last week ordered that funds coming from the US-based Ford Foundation should not be released by any bank to any Indian NGOs without mandatory permission from the Home Ministry.