-The Hindu FCRA approvals take a lot of time, the government needs to urgently grant an exemption for all such donations, tax and legal experts said. Indian entities, including hospitals and charitable trusts, hoping to receive COVID-19 relief material from overseas individual donors or donor agencies, could be in trouble, unless they are registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) with a stated objective involving provision of medical care. On May 3,...

-The Indian Express The working group includes Joint Secretaries of the Financial Action Task Force division of Department of Economic Affairs as well as the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation Division/Combating of Funding of Terrorist Cell in the Ministry of Home Affairs. A NITI Aayog group is working on a national policy to regulate civil society organisations following directions from the Prime Minister’s Office. Constituted in September last year, the Working Group for...

-The Hindu New guidelines to banks on Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act rules. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has laid down a charter for banks which says that “donations received in Indian rupees” by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and associations from “any foreign source even if that source is located in India at the time of such donation” should be treated as “foreign contribution”. As per the existing rules, all banks have to report...

-Counterview.net Objecting to the use of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) against Amnesty International, forcing the top NGO to close its office in India, and the arrest human rights activists, especially 83-year-old Fr Stan Swamy, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has asked the Government of India to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs, and their ability to carry out their crucial work on...

-The Indian Express NGOs are specifically rattled by the proposed ban on transfer of foreign contribution from one FCRA-registered NGO to another. As the government pushes the Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill in Parliament amid criticism from the Opposition, its provisions have caused a lot of discomfort among NGOs, which argue that their space will increasingly shrink if it becomes law. NGOs are specifically rattled by the proposed ban on transfer of foreign...