The action comes after an inquiry conducted by an inter-ministerial committee constituted by the MHA in 2020
The action comes after an inquiry conducted by an inter-ministerial committee constituted by the MHA in 2020
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has canceled the FCRA registration of two NGOs linked to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi due to irregularities, a senior government official said on October 23, 2022.
Registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act is mandatory for receiving foreign funds. The cancellation makes the two NGOs ineligible to receive foreign funding.
Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose FCRA registration has been cancelled.
Following the Galwan incident of June 15, 2020, when 20 soldiers were killed in clashes with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), when Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attack accusing the government of surrendering China, the ruling The BJP had accused two NGOs affiliated to the Congress. Regarding receiving foreign funds from the Chinese government in 2005-06. The MHA constituted an inter-ministerial inquiry committee on July 8, 2020, to probe the allegations.
Two years after the committee was formed, the home ministry recently deregistered two NGOs.
“Several irregularities were committed by the two NGOs in the manner in which FCRA registration was being used, the registration was canceled after investigation,” the official said. Annual returns filed in December 2021 show that NGOs did not receive any foreign donations in FY 2020-21, but the account balance was ₹11.5 crore for RGCT and ₹13.5 crore for RGF.
RGCT, a registered, non-profit organization, was established in 2002 and is located at Jawahar Bhawan on Rajendra Prasad Road, a prime location in Central Delhi. Ms. Gandhi is the chairperson of the trust and Rahul Gandhi is a member of the board. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest donors to RGCT.
RGF was established in 1991. Ms. Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson, and the Board of Trustees includes former Prime Ministers Dr. Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Suman Dubey, Rahul Gandhi, Dr. Ashok Ganguly and Priyanka. Gandhi Vadra. It is also located in Jawahar Bhawan.