Sravasti Dasgupta 
New Delhi: Involvement in “anti-development activities”, “inciting malicious protests”, or involvement in “induced/forceful religious conversion” are some of the reasons listed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for denial of registration or renewal under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010.
According to a notice posted on the MHA’s website on Monday and dated November 8, the ministry has provided this list of reasons for the rejection of FCRA applications. The notice says that it is illustrating the list as it had received representations from some associations stating that the reasons for the denial of their applications were not clear.
Among the reasons listed, the notice states that applications for FCRA certification can be cancelled if it is found that the associations have been involved in “anti-developmental activities” or “inciting protests”.
“Association has diverted foreign contribution for carrying out anti-development activities OR inciting malicious protests,” it states in point 8.
In point 10, the notice states that certification can be cancelled or not provided if “field inquiry has revealed adverse inputs against the association [e.g., involvement in anti-developmental activities, inciting protests with malicious intentions, linkage with terrorist organisation / anti-national organisations etc.]”
Point 11 states that such denials can also be issued if “its office bearer(s)/member(s)/key association OR functionary(ies) entities having linkage(s) with radical/terrorist entities.”
It further adds that certification can also be cancelled if “field agency has reported adverse inputs against the association and acceptance of FC is likely to affect social/religious harmony OR association is involved in induced/ forceful religious conversion/proselytization OR association or its office bearers have linkage with radical organisations.”
According to the MHA’s dashboard on its website, there are at present a total of 16,026 associations with an FCRA license that are active, while a total of 20,711 have had their licences cancelled.
In recent years, there has been a concerning rise in the list of NGOs that have had their FCRA licences cancelled.
In December 2021, the Union government declined the FCRA renewal of Mother Teresa’s organisation, the Missionaries of Charity citing “adverse inputs”. It later renewed its licence a month later, following widespread criticism.
In April this year, the Union government cancelled the FCRA registrations of five NGOs, including three church-based charity organisations.
The CNI Synodical Board of Social Service, the Voluntary Health Association of India, the Indo-Global Social Service Society, the Church Auxiliary for Social Action and the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) were the five NGOs that lost their licence.
It may be noted that the EFI collects and publishes data on attacks against Christians and noted the increase in violence against the community under the Modi government.
In February, the MHA cancelled the FCRA registration of the Tamil Nadu Social Service Society, a Christian NGO under the aegis of the Tamil Nadu Catholic Bishops Conference, for allegedly violating FCRA rules. Just a month prior, the MHA had cancelled the FCRA registration of the Tamil Nadu-based Christian association World India Vision.
The Modi government has often wielded the FCRA to stifle the work of non-profit organisations.
In July, the FCRA registration of the institute that runs the Centre for Financial Accountability – a non-profit that critically analyses, monitors and critiques the role of national and international financial institutions and their impact on development, human rights and the environment.
Prior to that, in January, the government cancelled the FCRA registration of the Centre for Policy Research, a 50-year-old policy think-tank.
In February, the CBI conducted raids on former IAS officer and rights activist Harsh Mander. Since 2020, multiple investigative agencies of the Union government, including the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate, had investigated Mander and his Centre for Equity Studies (CES).
An FIR filed by the CBI alleged that the CES transferred more than Rs 32 lakh other than salaries or remuneration from its FCRA account to other accounts in 2020 and 2021 in violation of the Act.
According to Mander, the list of reasons the government cited in its notice points to its solidification of efforts in recent years to act against any form of civic dissent.
“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. It is really the civil society and sections of academia that have continued efforts to defend minorities against persecution and the constitution against the assaults, and so we have seen attacks on such organisations,” he said to The Wire.
“At one level, there is random fire – even against those who don’t even qualify against any of these stated reasons [in the list]. These 20,000 NGOs [that have had their licences cancelled] may not even be “guilty” of any of this. So there’s random fire even against apolitical and technical service-based organisations.
“Over and above that, there is attention to those who are standing against hate and the targeting of minorities and those who are opposing the entry of large corporations in tribal areas, for instance.”
In addition, the MHA notice also cites other reasons including prosecution pending against any office bearer, member, or key functionaries for not responding to clarifications sought, or for not providing requisite information or documents despite being given the opportunities to do so for cancellation of FCRA licences.