Changes made in FCRA rules

Further tightening the screws on NGOs, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has made it mandatory for all office bearers of such organisations to file an affidavit with a government identity card like the Aadhaar number or passport asserting that they are not involved in conversion, communal tension or sedition while seeking to register or renew their licence for taking foreign funds.

Till now, only the chief of an NGO seeking permission to receive foreign funds needed to file an affidavit but now all office bearers and key functionaries will have to file the affidavit. The MHA amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation (Rules), 2011 for the second time to include these changes and notified it on Monday.

The amendments also included a provision that individuals receiving a personal gift upto Rs 1 lakh need not inform the government about it anymore. So far, the limit was Rs 25,000.

Another amendment reduced the time limit for informing the government about accepting foreign hospitality in case of emergent medical aid during a visit abroad. While it was 60 days earlier, now it has been brought down to one month.