The latest amendments to the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act(FCRA), 2026, has fomented a huge hue and cry not just within the country, but beyond the borders. These protests are predominantly surrounding one specific clause mentioned in the latest FCRA notification, which is outright exclusion of proselytisation from faith-based activities. Proselytisation, simply means, to attempt to convert people to another religion. Thus, the government under the latest amendments aim to consolidate its radar on such activities, under the veil of development or civil society work. The amendment has exclusively mentioned that proselytisation cannot be considered under the clause of faith-based activities.
This move of the government has rattled many foreign funding entities, who fuel millions of dollars into India, under the veil of development and other philanthropic work. These funds in reality, are derouted and utilised for various backchannel acts which includes proselytisation & other hidden agendas. Now that the government has exemplified scrutiny on the FCRA sources and its intended activities, the global dark webs, who aim to drain millions of dollars into India, to seek illicit goals are under panic. Thus, they are labelling the FCRA amendment as non-legal, non-transparent, antithetical to philanthropic activities and anti-societal. However, the reality and true intentions behind the amendment speaks differently!
What does the latest FCRA amendments entail?
The latest FCRA amendments reiterate that NGOs or any civil society networks operating in India, should exclusively & precisely declare the objectives of the organisation, original donors/sources of foreign funds and their social media handles. Prolesytisation is strictly thwarted from the clause of religious work or faith-based activities. Meanwhile, stringent rules & protocols will be enforced on foreign staff, key functionaries of the organisation, license renewal process and the channels in which the received foreign funds are utilised.
This means that the organisations operating in India, are still eligible to receive foreign funds, for schools, hospitals, charity, worship, relief work and other philanthropic activities. However, under these veils, if the received funds are diverted for conversion related activities, it will attract stringent scrutiny, penalty and punishment from the government, which may include the cancellation of licence. Thus, the government aims to draw a clear red line between genuine humanitarian or philanthropic work and other hidden agenda including forced conversion.
In this backdrop, government intends to tighten the rope on proselytisation, while foreign funding for genuine causes is still allowed. As fake narratives circulate in the social media and by vested interests, about the government’s iron fist on foreign funding, the centre has not imposed a complete crackdown on the FCRA. Foreign funding is indeed allowed in the country. However, if organisations and funding sources try to evade government scrutiny and flow the funds to illicit channels that are antithetical to sovereignty, national security and civilisational ethos, such entities face severe penalties. The FCRA amendments are thus formulated to legally channelise the funds for valid causes & thwart anonymous activities, thereby protect national interests.
Origins of FCRA
FCRA was first brought into the public landscape in 2011 by the then UPA government. During the initial days, registered organisations were flexibly allowed to receive donations from foreign entities for social, cultural, educational and religious purposes with little scrutiny. Basic disclosures about the channels of fund utilisation and filing of annual returns was sufficient. Most importantly, there was no clear mention of what constituted religious activities, for which millions of dollars are inflicted into India. This vacuum or lack of clarity in the law was exploited by vested interests & the funds were derouted for acts of proselytisation under the blanket of development or philanthropy.
Latest structural amendments to seal national security amid misuse of funds
The current FCRA amendment, thus, aims to bridge this structural gap in the law to seal national security & thwart foreign channels of influence in domestic affairs. The latest notification, demands precise sources of funds and exact channels in which it is utilised, to insulate the nation from illicit activities. The amendment is pivotal, because tracing the history of foreign donations to philanthropic, developmental and educational activities in India, exposes the extent to which FCRA is negatively exploited.
For example, since a decade, more than 20,000 FCRA registrations have been cancelled or suspended for evidently indulging in forced conversions. Intelligence Reports assert that in places such as Jharkhand, Manipur, Mumbai and other places organisations indulged in religious conversion of tribal communities under the veil of welfare activities. The aggressive conversion racket was haunted on the economically disadvantaged groups under the guise of prosperity and social well-being.
Similarly, a 2014 Intelligence Bureau(IB) report, submitted to the PMO reiterated that foreign-funded NGOs are protesting against the coal and mining projects in India, thus running a systematic campaign on behalf of vested interests to derail & halt the developmental and economic prospects of India. For example, Greenpeace India, a Netherland-based environmental NGO, fuelled protest against the Kudankulam nuclear project in Tamil Nadu, thus debunking the civil nuclear & energy security ambitions of India.
In 2015, India cancelled the FCRA registration of Greenpeace India for working against the country’s economic progress. However, despite the cancellation of license, the organisation kept running in India, through a shadow entity called DDIPL, which was set up in 2016. Greenpeace, derouted its funds to India, via DDIPL, to fulfill its vested agenda. However, the organisation was raided by the Enforcement Directorate(ED) in 2018. This is the structural gap. Despite suspending the license, the organisation, its funding sources, star networks, infrastructure and anti-India campaign remains intact & the latest FCRA amendment aims to exactly seal this vacuum/void, thereby consolidate national security.
This is the sole reason why US lawmakers, foreign entities are rattled and panic. Their funding channels to fuel anti-sovereign activities in India are aimed to be shut by the government. For example, Senator James Risch from the United States, who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has called India’s FCRA amendments as “deeply concerning”. “FCRA is an excuse to expand persecution or harassment of US-linked christian ministries by seizing their funds or property”, James Risch further added.
India is accelerating its national security, sovereignty and civilisational fabric and how can that be manipulated as a persecution or harassment of US-linked christian entities, while wWashington DC adopts a similar stringent FARA law to establish solid oversight over the foreign contributions entering the United States?
