The FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) licences of more than 6,000 NGOs and other organisations expired overnight, the Home Ministry stated on the morning of Saturday, 1 January.
This announcement comes a few days after MHA refused to renew the FCRA license of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity.
Before Saturday, under the FCRA, 22,762 NGOs were registered, according to PTI.
The website of the Ministry of Home Affairs shows that the number has now reduced drastically to 16,829.
On 1 January, 5,933 names were added to the MHA's list of NGOs whose registration was "deemed to have ceased."
This list already contained the names of 6,587 NGOs.
Therefore, while almost 6,000 NGOs lost their FCRA licenses within the span of a few hours, the licenses of 12,580 NGOs in total, according to data from the MHA website, have expired in the past few months, thereby losing their FCRA licenses.
Some of these NGOs are the Oxfam India Trust, Jamia Millia Islamia, the Indian Medical Association and the Leprosy Mission.
Institutions like the Tuberculosis Association of India, the Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts, and the India Islamic Cultural Centre are also on the list.
The new MHA numbers, therefore, show that only 16,829 NGOs in India have an FCRA licence today.
The validity of these licenses were extended till 31 March 2022, which is also the date on which NGOs renewal applications are decided upon.
Sources in the MHA said that the NGOs whose licenses had expired overnight had not applied for a renewal in the first place.
Officials also said that Friday, 31 December, had been the deadline for renewal, NDTV reported.
"How can permission be given?" an official asked.
Controversy Surrounding Missionaries of Charity
While it was initially reported that the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation set up by Mother Teresa, were frozen by the central government, the organisation later clarified on 27 December that "no freeze was ordered by Ministry of Home Affairs", but it had been denied a renewal of their FCRA registration.
It was denied FCRA registration on Christmas day, 25 December.
The MHA has stated that MoC had failed to meet "the eligibility conditions under the FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011."
An FCRA renewal is necessary for the organisation to accept and utilise foreign funds via donations.
(With inputs from PTI)
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