Licences of Gandhi family-run NGOs cancelled over violations of law: Centre

The Centre on Wednesday told Parliament that it cancelled the licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of two Gandhi family-run non-government organisations for alleged violations of the law.

The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) violated the law by allegedly using funds for personal gains, diverting them for “undesirable purposes”, and not keeping the government in the loop about their source and utilisation, it added.

Responding to Congress members Digvijaya Singh and Amee Yajnik’s question in the Rajya Sabha, Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said RGF’s license was cancelled under FCRA’s Section 14 due to violation of provisions under Section 11 and conditions of registration under section 12(4)(a)(vi). He added RGCT’s license was annulled under FCRA’s Section 14 due to violation of provisions under sections 8(1)(a), 11, 17, 18, 19 and conditions of registration under section 12(4)(a)(vi).

The provisions Rai cited involve informing the Union home ministry’s FCRA division about the source of foreign funds and specified usage. They provide for not diverting funds to any individual or account other than the work mentioned while receiving such funds and maintaining the record of utilisation and using a designated State Bank of India account for receiving them.

Rai said the Centre cancelled FCRA licences of 6,677 associations/NGOs between 2017 and 2021.

HT reported on October 23 that the RGF’s FCRA licence has been cancelled. A day later, the licence of RGCT was cancelled too. Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi heads both organisations.

The cancellation triggered a political row as Congress called it an attempt to divert public attention from the main issues plaguing the country.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the Gandhi family and organisations linked to them cannot be above the law.

RGF was set up in 1991 and it worked on issues pertaining to health, science, and technology, women and children, disability support, etc. till 2009. In 2010, the foundation began to focus on education, according to its website.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Union minister P Chidambaram, and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi are among RGF’s trustees.

The RGCT was established in 2002 to address the development needs of the underprivileged, especially the rural poor, its website says. Rahul Gandhi is among RGCT’s trustees.

BJP chief J P Nadda in June 2020 accused RGF of taking donations three times from the Chinese embassy amid a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh.

An Enforcement Directorate-led inter-ministerial committee verified the foreign funding of the two organisations and submitted a report to the ministry before the licenses were cancelled in October.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is empowered to probe cases pertaining to FCRA violations, was likely to probe into the violations. It has since 2018 investigated the foreign funding of Amnesty International India, Tablighi Jamaat, etc.

In May, the agency investigated a case of an alleged organised nexus between NGOs, government officials, and middlemen for “illegal clearance” of FCRA licences in lieu of bribes. At least 14 people, including six government servants, were arrested after the agency recovered ₹3.21 crore during raids at 40 locations the same month.