Kolkata: The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, which was listed among the 4,470 NGOs barred by the central government from receiving foreign funds for not adhering to guidelines, on Friday claimed its inclusion was an error.
The Institute said the matter has been taken up with the concerned ministry. Of the 4,470 NGOs and institutes barred, as many as 679 are from West Bengal.
Prominent among them are the Academy of Fine Arts, Indian Institute of Technology -Kharagpur, the Meghan David Synagogue, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and St. Xavier’s College.
“The matter has been taken up with the concerned ministry. There has been an error on the part of the ministry since IIT-Kgp is not subject to filing of FCRA returns as per the Gazette.
“The ministry in control of FCRA will be making necessary changes to the erroneous listing in the site against the entry of Indian Institute of Technology under the list for West Bengal,” an IIT-Kgp official told IANS.
The matter will be further reported to the ministry of human resource development since the Institute is directly under that ministry, the official added.
After scrutinising the records of 9,000 NGOs, the home ministry has cancelled the licences of 4,470 NGOs for non-compliance with the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
According to the FCRA of 2010, which sets the guidelines for foreign contributions received by NGOs, any such transfer has to be reflected in the prescribed returns by the transferer and the recipient.
As per the FCRA website, as many as 679 NGOs, art, culture, religious establishments and educational institutes, in Bengal figure on the “registration cancelled” list.
