The Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) licence of Sadbhavana Trust for alleged violations of FCRA rules, officials said, adding that the Delhi-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) will not be able to receive or utilise any foreign grants.
The NGO is working for the upliftment of marginalised and minority communities, especially women, and is among the second-women centric NGO to lose its FCRA licence within a fortnight after Young Women’s Christian Association of Delhi.
Among the violations cited was non-opening of FCRA bank accounts in designated State Bank of India in New Delhi, said officials. ET’s queries emailed to the trust remained unanswered till press time.
The trust says it aims to develop leadership among marginalised and minority groups of girls and women who are faced with restricted mobility and poor socio-economic conditions. It has been registered since 1990 by a group of social activists and works in and around Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Its donors include American Institute, Inlingua and TCS.
The Union home ministry grants FCRA licence to NGOs for five years and reviews their applications based on annual returns and foreign grants received for the purpose they were meant for. The Act was amended in 2020. Any misuse or diversion of foreign funds by NGOs is considered a violation of the FCRA Act. Recently, the ministry cited diversion of funds by YWCA of Delhi to cancel its licence. The NGO, set up in 1912, plans to appeal against the home ministry’s order. The YWCA runs several working women’s hostels across Delhi.
In the past six months, more than 100s NGOs, including Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, headed by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Oxfam India, Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Care India have had their FCRA licences cancelled, suspended denied renewal or deemed to have expired.
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