The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act that seeks to make it mandatory for office bearers of any NGO to provide their Aadhaar numbers at the time of registration and also bring various other changes.
Amid concerns raised by various Opposition members about the The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the legislation was not against any religion or NGO.
The Bill was passed after a discussion in the lower house.
Replying to the discussion on the bill, the minister asserted that the bill was necessary for an Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and that it will also help in curbing misuse of foreign funds.
Introducing the bill, Nityanand Rai said, "There would be no discrimination. The permission which was given earlier to religious institutions for foreign contributions under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 will continue. But these institutions should not deviate from their objective and not be a threat to the country's security."
The draft bill proposes that not more than 20 per cent of the total foreign funds received could be spent on administrative expenses. Presently, the limit is 50 per cent. Among other provisions, the bill proposes to enable the Centre to allow a NGO or association to surrender its FCRA certificate.
Manish Tewari of the Congress objected to the bill and made a request to the government to relax the provisions of the FCRA.
Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) also opposed the bill, saying it is an attempt to stop foreign contributions.
"The idea should be to deregulate and not over-regulate foreign contributions," he said.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states, "The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 was enacted to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or companies and to prohibit acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."
The draft says the Act came into force on May 1, 2011 and has been amended twice. The first amendment was made by section 236 of the Finance Act, 2016 and the second by section 220 of the Finance Act, 2018.
It says the amendment is required to enhance transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilisation of foreign contributions worth thousands of crores of rupees every year and facilitating "genuine" non-governmental organisations or associations that are working for the welfare of the society.
Any person who makes an application for prior permission or seeks registration under the FCRA or renewal of his FCRA licence will now have to mandatorily furnish the Aadhar numbers of all its office-bearers or directors or other key functionaries or in case of a foreigner, a copy of the passport or the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, the draft bill says.
It proposes to include "public servant" and "corporation owned or controlled by the government" in the list of entities, who are not eligible to receive foreign donations.
Over Rs 58,000 crore foreign funds were received by NGOs registered under the FCRA between 2016-17 and 2018-19. There are around 22,400 NGOs in the country.