The Voluntary Action Network India, an association of non-governmental organisations in the country, on Monday said that the amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, or FCRA, would be a “death blow” for non-profit units.
The Centre on Sunday tabled amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, or FCRA, in the Lok Sabha, making Aadhaar mandatory for all office bearers of NGOs that seek foreign contributions. The proposed stringent amendments also seek to bar public servants from receiving foreign funding. The Lok Sabha passed the bill on Monday.
The bill reasons there is a need to strengthen the Act because of several organisations’ “outright misappropriation or mis-utilisation” of the funds, which has led to the government cancelling 19,000 such registrations in the past few years.
“The new FCRA Bill throttles the spirit of cooperation that…