Over the past nine years, of the 407 non-government organisations (NGOs) that got the Centre’s nod to receive foreign funds for religious purposes, 194 showed they ran Christian programmes, according to data available with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
However, there are several NGOs that have not listed religion as at least one of their purposes, but are perceived to be working in that space. For instance, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is registered as a social organisation in Maharashtra and a religious one in Delhi. Its affiliate, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, is an educational and social organisation. Seva Bharati, the NGO affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is a social, cultural, and educational organisation in different States. The Madrasa Ejazul Olum Duho Suho Education & Charitable Trust in Bihar is an educational and social institution.
Registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010, is mandatory to receive donations from outside of India. For this, the NGO or association must have a definite cultural, economic, educational, religious, or social programme, and can register under multiple categories. While the Act aims at regulating both the “acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality” by individuals, associations, and companies, it can also prohibit organisations from taking in these funds for “any activities detrimental to the national interest…”.
