An NGO run by Olympic medalist and Rajya Sabha Member Mary Kom, the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and Nasscom are among 42 organisations being probed by the Union Home Ministry for violating norms under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the Centre told Parliament on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply that Mary Kom’s Regional Boxing Foundation and 20 other NGOs have been “served standard questionnaire in receipt of foreign contribution”.
Other NGOs include Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (Delhi), Asianet New Charitable Trust (Kerala), Amnesty International (India) Foundation and Bharat Swabhiman Nyas (Uttarakhand), the minister said in a reply to a written question in the Lok Sabha.
Bengaluru-based research organisation Centre for Internet Society, which claimed last year that 13 crore Aadhaar numbers had been leaked, has also been served a notice by Home Ministry for violating foreign fund laws.
Rijiju said the Home Ministry has completed audit and inspection against 21 other NGOs like Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, Nasscom, Catholic Church Welfare Society, Public Health Foundation of India and New Era Society which are based in Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi.
The minister said the NGOs have received foreign funding and the inquiry was initiated by the Home Ministry under FCRA 2010.
Mary Kom’s NGO, a pioneering initiative by the 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist, was registered and established as a charitable trust in 2006.
Mary Kom and her husband K. Onler set up the NGO to promote boxing among the underprivileged youth in Manipur and other parts of northeastern India.
The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust was established in 2002 to address the development needs of the underprivileged of the country, especially the rural poor. It is the largest social mobilisation programme for women’s empowerment in Uttar Pradesh with its work impacting 42 districts.
Nasscom, a not-for-profit industry association, is the apex body for the $154 billion Indian Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing industry.
Public Health Foundation of India is a public-private initiative that has collaboratively evolved through consultations with multiple constituencies including Indian and international academia, state and Central governments, multi and bi-lateral agencies and civil society groups.