India bans another Christian NGO from receiving foreign funds

World Vision India becomes latest Christian organization to lose its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act registration

Close to 3,000,000 Indian children are beneficiaries of humanitarian services by World Vision India. (Photo: World Vision India website)

By UCA News reporter

Published: January 24, 2024 08:00 AM GMT

Updated: January 24, 2024 10:32 AM GMT

The Indian government has banned World Vision India, one of the country's largest Christian voluntary organizations, from accepting foreign funds.

“The federal government has indeed revoked our registration to receive foreign funds,” said an official attached to the Christian NGO.

The ban will not adversely affect the agency's projects in the country that "are supported by the funds generated from within the country,” added the official who did not want to be named.

The official of the child-focused NGO with a footprint in India spanning seven decades, however, refused to divulge details.

The government's decision to cancel Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration will cripple World Vision India’s work in the country as domestic funds are insufficient to meet the cost of its country-wide operations, sources said.

According to World Vision India, “close to 3,000,000 children and their families in 22 states “are benefiting from its humanitarian services.”

The NGO has inked pacts with many state governments.

The home ministry has not given reasons for canceling the NGO’s FCRA registration nor has it cited the date of the cancellation.

The sources said the decision was taken this month.

When UCA News contacted World Vision India's headquarters in the southern city of Chennai, senior officials refused to share details.

World Vision India’s registration was suspended in November 2022, a year after it applied for the renewal of its FCRA license. The government suspended the registration for 180 days. The suspension was extended in May 2023.

The suspension in 2022 affected its operations in the country, forcing the NGO to curb its projects supported by foreign funds.

A proposal by the Christian NGO to access 25 percent of its foreign funds to settle liabilities is pending before the home ministry, the Chennai-based Hindu newspaper reported.

The home ministry this month also canceled the FCRA registration of the New Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Policy Research.

Since pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the FCRA licenses of more than 16,000 NGOs have been canceled. As of January 2022, there were 16,989 FCRA-registered NGOs in the country.

Modi’s right-wing government has started a campaign against Christian NGOs that mainly work among marginalized people, critics say.

They include Mother Teresa’s organization, the Missionaries of Charity, which has had its FCRA license revoked.

The Church in India, barring a few exceptions, has been silent on the government campaign against Christian NGOs.

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13 Comments on this Story

NAZI HIMMLER

Ha ha… service! What service? Converting the Hindus to X’ianity is their agenda! We have enough funds to take care of our children! Keep this NGO WORK in Afghanistan and Syria

ANDY

Definetly u have enough but r u giving is the question please look at the statistics on underprivileged children and wake up buddy don't be a dog in the manger world vision works for children across the nation at least try sponsoring one kid to start with how many like minded individuals like u have supported chk before u blabber

TAPAN

What is the meaning of pro Hindu Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi....Prime minister is for the whole country and every community is benefitting from Prime Minister's work. Stop such propaganda's. We Indians have had enough of such conversion NGOs.

GOPAL K

Exactly

अन्धभक्त

The day you stop gaumutra and visiting gufa then you'll see the real plight of India.

Reply to tapan : pm is supposed to be pm of whole country. but he himself has forgotten that n has become pm of only hindus. dats y attacks on christians have increased post his coming to power.

GOPAL K

Its not becos it's Christian NGO, but when these NGOs mususe the foreign funding its banned. If you are that truthful approach courts

MATHAI P L

Approach Court ? Is there really a court ? Are you serious , or are you simply bluffing ?

GOPAL K

Why you felt my comment buffing. If there is genuine grivence, people approach court of law. Why no courts in India

MATHAI P L

It is only tip of the iceburg ! Christian Associations are going to suffer if the present government wins the election once more !

GOPAL K

https://youtu.be/NdsIbVXjVyU?si=kzY9YbjXep1zH_nN

ISAAC GOMES

With reference to Ucan report, it’s very sad that World Vision India’s FCRA registration has been cancelled after staggered suspension since November 2022. Though the exact reason is not known, the cancellation could be on technical grounds - FCRA norms being very exacting. One of the stipulations is a cap of 20% on salary and administrative costs. 80% of FCRA donations must be spent on actual projects/ beneficiaries The impact of this cancellation has been a big blow for World Vision India, its employees, volunteers and lakhs of children and their families from the peripheries of our society. During my association with World Vision India as its empanelled translator, I was witness to the year-round welfare activities of World Vision Kolkata Office, benefitting more than one lakh children in West Bengal. One of the key features was Impact Study/Analysis of most projects to assess how much they helped to promote Sustainable Growth in the beneficiary communities. I particularly recall the meticulously planned relief (dry ration, non-food items of daily necessity, sanitary kits and cash transfer to beneficiaries’ bank account) distribution drive in the slums of Kolkata (Topsia, Mazdoor Para, Girish Park Lohapatty, etc) during peak Covid-19 period. Several World Vision members of staff got Covid-infected in the process but that did not deter them from their Mission of Service. Indeed cancellation of World Vision’s FCRA registration has been a big body blow to many. Without FCRA, I wonder how much domestic donations World Vision will be able garner, to sustain its huge scale of operation and in view of the fact that most CSR funds go to PM CARES Fund. Regarding cancellation of FCRA Registration, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a website on state-wise list of NGOs, including several church-run ones, whose registrations have been cancelled. The website is: https://fcraonline.nic.in/fc8_cancel_query.aspx The website also has templates on various facets of FCRA Registration.

M SOLOMON

Very bad news because 3000000 people are loosing help.Hope God bless those families.what God says sometimes mother can forget her child but God will never forget you.

Asian Bishops