The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued new guidelines explicitly outlining grounds for cancellation of licenses under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), marking a significant expansion of government oversight over non-governmental organisations receiving foreign funding.
In a notice dated November 8, MHA Director K Sanjayan detailed several conditions under which NGOs could face FCRA registration cancellation. These include involvement in “anti-developmental activities”, “inciting malicious protests”, and participation in “induced or forceful religious conversion”. The ministry stated that organisations whose acceptance of foreign funding might affect social or religious harmony would also face scrutiny.
The announcement follows a recent directive from October 25, requiring all FCRA-registered NGOs to report changes in key functionaries within 45 days, regardless of pending licence applications. This systematic tightening of regulations has already impacted several prominent organisations.
According to MHA data, while 16,023 NGOs currently maintain active FCRA licences, a substantial 20,711 organisations have had their registrations cancelled. Notable cases include the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a respected think-tank whose licence was revoked earlier this year for alleged violations of foreign funding laws.
The ministry's crackdown has particularly affected church-based organisations. Earlier this year it was reported that five NGOs, including the Church of North India-Synodical Board of Social Service, Voluntary Health Association of India, Indo-Global Social Service Society, Church Auxiliary for Social Action, and Evangelical Fellowship of India, lost their FCRA certification.
Former IAS officer and rights activist Harsh Mander criticised the new guidelines, telling The Wire: “The state looks at organised civil society as its principal adversary. The judiciary, media, parliament [and] opposition have all been substantially weakened in their capacity to resist the ideological project of the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]-BJP in its unconstitutional move to the right.”
The updated guidelines also specify additional grounds for licence cancellation, including concealment of facts in application forms, pending prosecutions against office-bearers, and failure to conduct “reasonable activity” for two to three years. For renewal applications, the MHA can reject cases where funds weren’t utilised according to stated objectives, annual returns weren't uploaded, or financial documents show discrepancies.
The government's oversight of NGOs has intensified since 2020 when the FCRA underwent significant amendments. These changes prohibited public servants from receiving foreign funding, made Aadhaar mandatory for NGO office-bearers, and reduced the cap on administrative expenses from 50% to 20% of foreign funds.
Between 2019 and 2022, the FCRA unit conducted inspections or audits of at least 335 NGOs to ensure compliance with foreign funding rules. High-profile cancellations during this period included the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in 2022.
