APMAS, 25 years. Celebrations at Dr MCRHRD Institute, Hyderabad. CS Reddy is at the helm for this entire 25 years, amazing. And I am sure he will continue for some more time. The celebrations could bring many SHG movement doyens together. Al Fernandez, Nandita Ray, K Raju, T Vijay Kumar, R Subrahmanyam, Sukhwinder Singh Arora, Rukmini Rao, Narendar Kande, Narendranath, Shambu Prasad, Shailendra, Gouri, Trilochan Sastry, NV Ramana, SP Tucker, Anil Kumar et al.
FCRA is being amended. Currently, the Bill is on hold. The changes include: 1 A “Designated Authority” manages and supervises the foreign contribution and assets of NGOs whose licenses are surrendered, cancelled, or have expired without renewal; 2 If an organization ceases to exist or fails to secure/renew its registration, assets (including those partially created via foreign funds) permanently vest in the Designated Authority to be used for public purposes, or they may be transferred to government agencies; there is no judicial oversight provision for these; However, State governments have to take permission of the Central government before prosecuting an FCRA violator in the State; 3 A registration certificate automatically ceases upon expiry if renewal was not applied for, denied, or not obtained prior to expiration; 4 Registrations now specify exact declared purposes and the specific States or Union Territories of operation – separate fee for each activity category and state/UT; 5 State governments and law enforcement agencies must obtain prior approval from the Central Government before initiating any investigation into FCRA-related complaints; 6 Organizations are required to disclose their official websites and social media accounts in registration forms and annual returns, as well as disclose any publications produced.
7 Foreign funds can be used for worship, religious education, heritage preservation, and community kitchens, but cannot be used for proselytisation (religious conversion); 8 Associations having foreign nationals (other than Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) ) as key functionaries will “ordinarily not be considered” for registration or prior permission to receive funds; 9 NGOs must utilize at least 75% of previous funds before receiving further instalments and spend at least Rs 10 lakh on approved activities over two years for renewal eligibility; 10 Mandatory disclosure of the ultimate donor, official websites, social media accounts, and publications to strengthen accountability; 11 No transfer or sub-granting of foreign funds.
It may be noted: Individuals can receive up to Rs.10 lakh per year from relatives abroad without notifying the government. Barring this, no person or organisation can legally accept a foreign contribution without either a permanent FCRA registration or a “Prior Permission” certificate for a specific grant from the Central Government. An organisation must be legally registered – Society, Trust, Company. Organizations engaged in cultural, economic, educational, religious, or social activities can receive foreign contributions after obtaining FCRA registration (valid for 5 years) or prior permission for specific projects. More than 20% of their foreign funds cannot be sent to administration. FCRA prohibits election candidates, MPs/MLAs, political parties, judges, government servants, employees of state-owned corporations, and publishers, editors, or cartoonists of registered news media from receiving foreign funds.
16,000 organisations are active under FCRA; receiving ~Rs.22,000 crore annually. 22,000+ registrations were cancelled so far – for not submitting annual returns; unapproved diversion of funds to other organizations; engaging in activities deemed detrimental to national interest.
Can we get the vibrancy back? Supporting authentic CSOs to be FCRA compliant; domestic funds for responsible Civil society, community and support organizations; and self-reliant support organizations.
Yes, we can. If we coexist, flowing. Vibrant for vikasit. In N? jeevantayoga for 7L.