Many non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) operating in India receive foreign funds. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received a majority of seats in India’s Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) in May 2014 national elections. National elections in 2019 and 2024 have continued the BJP majority in Lok Sabha control.
The BJP worldview is that India will be a Hindu state with values called Hindutva. Any different belief system is not accepted. BJP government policy sees registered non-Hindu NGOs as hindering their Hindutva cause. One solution is to suspend government licenses for foreign currency sent to India and increase NGO financial reporting requirements to the central government in New Delhi. This central government action limits freedom of voluntary association for the Indian people inside and outside of the country.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) rules, mandating that NGOs will now have to submit details of movable and immovable assets created out of foreign contributions
They are also required to file annual returns, and they must not transfer the funds to another NGO.
“Those who want to change the demography of the country using FCRA funds cannot be allowed. We will not allow any foreign funds to destroy the country….”
The FCRA regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
It was reported in September 2023 that the MHA had cancelled the licenses of three NGOs: Save The Children, Srinivas Malliah Memorial Theatre Crafts Museum, and SEWA. In March 2023, the MHA had cancelled FCRA licences to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Oxfam India, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), and Centre for Equity Studies (CES).
CARE India ceased operation on February 29, 2024, resulting from the June 2023 suspension of the foreign funding license by the India Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for 180 days over alleged violations of the FCRA (2010). In October 2023, the India Income Tax department revoked the tax exemption status of the organization. CARE India operated with a different belief from Hindutva.
. . . there are 16,301 NGOs in the country with valid FCRA licences as of 17 July, 2023. FCRA licences of more than 6,600 NGOs have been cancelled in the last five years for violation of the law. Overall, FCRA licences of 20,693 NGOs have been cancelled as of September 2023.
This central government intervention suspending each foreign currency exchange license in the country is an example leading to a loss of freedom for each NGO operating in the country. Each NGO uses private funds provided from outside the country to address physical and social needs of its citizens not provided by the Indian central and/or state government. Each license loss leads to no money available where the NGO ceases operation in the country leading to a loss of individual freedom for the Indian people who have different beliefs from Hinduism.
The India MHA cancelling this number of FCRA licenses shows a clear purpose to remove non-Hindu NGOs from operating to help its citizens without use of Indian taxpayer money. This is not a subtle action by the current Indian government.