Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of NGOs Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and Apne Aap Women Worldwide India (AAWWI), citing various violations of the Act.
CHRI’s licence was already under suspension since last year. “It has now been cancelled as the investigation has been completed and the ministry is of the opinion that given the violations, the NGO cannot be allowed to continue to receive foreign funding,” a ministry official said.
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had suspended CHRI’s licence for 180 days last year for alleged FCRA violations. In its suspension order, the ministry had said that the CHRI had not provided information about opening of a bank account in February 2016. It also accused CHRI of other violations of FCRA, 2010. “Further, one utilization account through which the association has been utilizing foreign contribution has not been intimated in ARs (annual reports) for FY 2016-17 and 2017-18,” the MHA order had stated.