The Lok Sabha on Monday approved amendments to the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act 2010 that seek to make Aadhaar mandatory for NGOs to receive foreign funds.
The amendments seek to simplify the provisions of the FCRA by strengthening the compliance mechanism, improving transparency and accountability in the receipt and use of foreign contributions worth billions of rupees each year, the government said on Sunday.
Once the bill is approved by the upper house and obtains the consent of President Ram Nath Kovind, public officials will not be able to receive foreign funding.
In addition, the Aadhaar card will be mandatory for all NGO position holders and other organizations seeking funds from foreign sources.
The amendments will limit the use of foreign funds received under the FCRA for administrative purposes from the current limit of 50% to 20%.
“The annual inflow of foreign contribution has almost doubled between 2010 and 2019, but many recipients of foreign contribution have not used it for the purpose for which they were registered or were granted prior permission under said Law. Many of them also they were found to be deficient in ensuring compliance with basic laws, such as filing annual returns and maintaining adequate accounts, ”states the proposed amendment.
“This has led to a situation where the central government had to cancel registration certificates of more than 19,000 recipient organizations, including non-governmental organizations, during the period from 2011 to 2019,” he added.
Upon obtaining authorization from Rajya Sabha and the president, the amended law will empower the government to ask the offender not to use the funds through a “summary investigation”.
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