NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order on Thursday extending the validity of all FCRA registered NGOs whose licenses are expiring on March 31 until June 30. This provides relief to those whose renewal applications are still under consideration.Additionally, the MHA has granted an extension until June 30 for all NGOs whose five-year validity period is expiring between April 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024. This extension allows them to apply for renewal before the expiration of their validity.The law mandates that all NGOs receiving foreign contributions must be registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).In its notification, the MHA stated that, in the public interest, the central government has decided to extend the validity of FCRA registration certificates for registered entities whose validity was extended until March 31, 2024, as per the public notice dated September 25, 2023, and whose renewal application is pending. Their validity is now extended until June 30, 2024, or until the date of disposal of the renewal application, whichever is earlier.Furthermore, the MHA mentioned that the validity of registered entities whose five-year validity period is expiring from April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, and who have applied or will apply for renewal before the expiry of the five-year validity period will be extended until June 30, 2024, or until the date of disposal of the renewal application, whichever is earlier.As of July 17, 2023, there were 16,301 NGOs in the country with valid FCRA licenses.Over the past five years, the central government has cancelled the FCRA licenses of more than 6,600 NGOs for violating the law. In total, the FCRA licenses of 20,693 NGOs have been cancelled in the past decade.According to data disclosed in parliament last year, FCRA-registered 13,520 associations or NGOs received Rs 55,741.51 crore in foreign contributions from the financial year 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.
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