Over 6,000 Indian NGOs, including Oxfam and Jamia to lose foreign funding licence

As many as 6000 NGOs – including entities like IIT Delhi, Jamia Millia University, Nehru Memorial Museum and Indian Medical Association – will stop receiving funds from abroad.

This is because they have ceased to be registered under the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act). The registration is mandatory for any association or NGO to receive foreign funds. The decision has come days after the Home Ministry refused to renew the registration of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, which operate orphanages and shelters for the poor, sick, and destitute across India.

All these entities either did not apply for renewal of their FCRA licence or the Union home ministry rejected their applications,” officials said. Ministry officials told NDTV reminders had been sent to the NGOs, asking them to submit their renewal application before the deadline - Friday - but many had not done so.

Those organisations whose FCRA licence validity had expired include the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), Indian foreign funding Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi College of Engineering and Oxfam India. There were 22,762 FCRA registered NGOs till Friday. On Saturday, the number came down to 16,829, as 5,933 NGOs ceased to operate.

Among those organisations whose FCRA registration ceased were Medical Council of India, Emmanuel Hospital Association, which runs over a dozen hospitals across India, Tuberculosis Association Of India, Vishwa Dharamayatan, Maharishi Ayurveda Pratishthan, National Federation of Fishermen’s Cooperatives Ltd.

The Hamdard Education Society, Delhi School Of Social Work Society, Bhartiya Sanskriti Parishad, DAV College Trust and Management Society, India Islamic Cultural Centre, Godrej Memorial Trust, The Delhi Public School Society, Nuclear Science Centre in JNU, India Habitat Centre, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi College of Engineering and All India Marwari Yuva Manch are also among these entities.