Rajya Sabha: On Wednesday, the Center informed Parliament that it had suspended two Gandhi family-run non-governmental organisations’ licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) due to alleged legal infractions. According to the lawsuit, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) broke the law by allegedly using money for personal gain, diverting it to “undesirable objectives,” and failing to inform the government of their origin and use.
Nityanand Rai, the Union minister of state for home, stated in response to a question from Congressmen Digvijay Singh and Amee Yajnik in the Rajya Sabha that RGF’s licence had been revoked under FCRA Section 14 because of violations of Section 11’s rules and section 12(4)(a)(vi)’s requirements. According to Section 14 of the FCRA, RGCT’s licence was revoked because it had violated the terms of Sections 8(1)(a), 11, 17, 18, and 19 as well as the registration requirements under Section 12(4)(a) (vi).
The rules Rai referenced provide for disclosing the source of foreign cash and their intended use to the FCRA division of the Union interior ministry. They stipulate that when receiving such funds, cash may not be diverted to any person or account other than the job specified. They further mandate maintaining a record of usage and using a designated State Bank of India account.
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According to Rai, between 2017 and 2021, the Center revoked the FCRA licences for 6,677 groups and NGOs.
The cancellation resulted to a political controversy since Congress claimed it was an effort to deflect attention from the nation’s most pressing problems.
The Gandhi family and organisations connected to them cannot be exempt from the law, according to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
RGF was founded in 1991 and operated until 2009, focusing on topics related to science, technology, women’s and children’s issues, and support for people with disabilities. According to the foundation’s website, it started emphasising education in 2010.
Among the trustees of RGF are former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Union Minister P Chidambaram, and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi.
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History of Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust
According to its website, the RGCT was founded in 2002 to meet the development needs of the impoverished, particularly the rural poor. Among the trustees of RGCT is Rahul Gandhi.
In the midst of an altercation between Indian and Chinese forces in Ladakh in June 2020, BJP leader J P Nadda accused RGF of accepting money three times from the Chinese embassy.
Before the licences were revoked in October, an inter-ministerial commission under the direction of the Enforcement Directorate examined the two organisations’ foreign funding and provided a report to the ministry.
It was anticipated that the offences would be looked into by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has the authority to look into cases involving FCRA violations. Since 2018, it has looked into the foreign funding of organisations including Tablighi Jamaat and Amnesty International India.
The agency looked into a claim that NGOs, government agents, and middlemen had a coordinated plan to “illegally clear” FCRA licences in exchange for bribes in May. After the agency seized ₹3.21 crore during raids at 40 locations that same month, at least 14 persons, including six government employees, were detained.
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