FCRA licence cancelled: The Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled on Saturday the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), a non-government organisation headed by Sonia Gandhi, for alleged violations of the law, officials said.
Investigation
The action came after investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the home ministry in 2020. “Yes, the FCRA license of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has been canceled after an investigation against it,” an official was quoted as saying.
While former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of RGF, other trustees include former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P Chidambaram, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
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Notice sent
A notice informing about the cancellation of the FCRA licence has been sent to the respective office-bearers of the NGOs.
RGF was set up in 1991 and its areas of work includeed health, science and technology, women and children, disability support, etc., from 1991 till 2009. It also worked in the education sector, according to its website.
Why this action?
In 2020, the donation pattern of RGF was under the political spotlight. BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda had on 25 June alleged that RGF had accepted a donation of $300,000 from China during 2005-06.
“I was surprised to see that Rajiv Gandhi Foundation had received a donation of $300,000 from People’s Republic of China and Chinese embassy. These donations were then used to carry out studies and promote free trade in the country. There are many ways of corruption and Congress party should explain what studies were carried out using these donations,” Nadda had said.
The investigation came against the backdrop of border troubles with China, on which the BJP and the Congress had accused each other of dereliction of duty.
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