Oxfam India also refused FCRA renewal by MHA; CEO says commitment to serve society will not reduce

New Delhi, January 3, 2022: Oxfam India has also claimed that its application for renewal of FCRA registration was refused by Ministry of Home Affairs which has now placed the organisation in the list of NGOs which are neither eligible to receive foreign funding nor can utilise the existing foreign funds.

Oxfam India is among the growing list of major NGOs which are claiming that their FCRA registration is now invalid because Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused their FCRA renewal application.

The government has also not come up with any separate list clearly stating the number of NGOs for which application have been rejected by MHA.

Earlier, Oxfam India was part of the new list of NGOs, released on January 1, 2022, for which FCRA registration is no longer valid.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the NGOs have lost FCRA registrations either because they have not applied for renewal or their renewal applications have been refused by the government.

However, the MHA has not cited clear reasons behind refusing renewal for such application. For example, in case of Kolkata-based Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, the FCRA renewal application was refused by MHA as it received ‘adverse inputs’ regarding the organisation.

Collaborations will be affected not commitment

Putting a brave face, Oxfam India, which has been working on humanitarian & social work in 16 states across the country, has said that it will continue with its social mission despite the funding crunch that govt's FCRA refusal may bring to the organisation.

“The MHA’s refusal to renew Oxfam India’s FCRA registration will not reduce Oxfam India’s commitment to serve the vulnerable communities in country and uphold values enshrined in the Indian Constitution,” said Amitabh Behar, CEO, Oxfam India.

He, however, said that the MHA’s decision to deny renewal of FCRA registration will severely hamper its collaborations which were providing relief to those who needed it the most during times of crisis.

He also said that Oxfam India will reach out to the MHA and will urge to lift the funding restrictions to ensure vulnerable communities keep receiving the support they need at this critical time of pandemic.

According to Oxfam India, its international affiliates in more than 20 countries recently mobilised significant resources to combat the second wave of COVID and mitigate sufferings of the people in India.

The organisation has worked on several disaster relief work in the past. Through its Mission Sanjeevani,  focussed on COVID relief, the organisation joined hands with health departments, district administrations and ASHA workers across the nation to provide life-saving equipment and support. Under the initiative, it provided Oxygen generating plants and distributed lifesaving medical equipment among other relief activities.

After the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act 2020, FCRA rules have become more stringent with government keeping a close tab on the source of funding. The new rules mandates that each FCRA NGO has to compulsorily open an 'FCRA account' in SBI, Main Branch, New Delhi for initial remittance/receipt of foreign contribution (FC) from a foreign source.

As per the government data, the NGOs aligned to Christian programmes constitute more than 70 % of NGOs belonging to religious nature which are now out of FCRA list as made available by Ministry of Home Affairs.