MHA data shows nearly half of fresh FCRA registrations under the religious category are for Christian NGOs

Over the past nine years, of the 407 non-government organisations that got the Centre’s nod to receive foreign funds for religious purposes, 194 showed they ran Christian programmes, according to data available with the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 2023, the four FCRA registrations cancelled on grounds of violation are all Christian organisations: Shekina Prophetic Mission Trust, Holy Berachah Ministries, Kashmir Evangelical Fellowship, Bethel Charitable Trust. In July, a group of former civil servants called the Civil Constitutional Group wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying, “It seems as though, using the FCRA, the Government of India seeks to deter civil society organisations from seeking funding from foreign sources, although such access to foreign funds, through other legally sanctioned means, is freely available to the private sector, digital and print media and political parties.” A senior functionary associated with a leading non-profit said, on condition of anonymity, that it has become more difficult for donors and NGOs that do not have the blessings of the government to survive. In 2020, had MHA granted FCRA registration to the Gurudwara Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple in Amritsar, enabling it to receive foreign donations.