FCRA needs ‘drastic overhaul’ to make it more accessible, ex-bureaucrats urge Amit Shah

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, or FCRA, needs to be “drastically overhauled” to make the law more facilitating than restrictive, a group of 86 former civil servants told Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an open letter on Tuesday.

Under the provisions of the law, non-profit organisations operating in India can receive foreign funds only after they are registered under the FCRA. The suspension of the licence makes nonprofits in the country ineligible to get fresh donations from abroad or use the existing foreign donations without the home ministry’s clearance.

Last year, the Centre had told Parliament that it has cancelled the foreign funding license of 6,677 non-governmental organisations between 2017 to 2021. This includes cancellation or suspension of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Oxfam India, Centre for Policy Research, and Centre for Equity Studies.

“These are all institutions whose activities are aimed at addressing the problems of the most marginalised sections of Indian society,” the former bureaucrats said in an open letter addressed to Shah. “Rights to food, work, wages, health and shelter and the right to lead a dignified life based on the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India feature prominently in the work of these organisations.”

The signatories of the letter include AS Dulat, KP Fabian, HS Gujral, Mira...

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