India has slammed the door on non-governmental organizations leaving many charities unable to accept foreign donations, including the one started by Mother Teresa.
Some 5,789 NGOs lost FCRA registration this past weekend in the move.
“FCRA stands for Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, and every organization that receives funds from outside India is required to be registered under this Act. Organizations were required to apply for renewal about three months [ago], and decisions were to be released by December 31,” John Pudaite of Bibles For The World explains.
“[The] government came out on January 1 with [a] list of 6,000 previously-registered organizations that now are deregistered.”
Oxfam India and Missionaries of Charity (a Catholic charity started by Mother Theresa) were among the thousands of NGOs and charities denied FCRA registration. “This continues what the BJP government has been doing [regarding religious persecution],” Pudaite says.
“Only about two percent [of the FCRA refusals] were Hindu organizations; three to four percent were Muslim organizations, and the bulk were Christian or Catholic organizations.”
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government rose to power in 2014, “there were over 30,000 registered societies and non-government organizations. This includes churches, ministries, and the like, that received foreign funds,” Pudaite says.
“They had gotten it down to about 19,000 [NGOs], and here in one fell swoop, they cut another 6,000.”
Vulnerable groups that the charities and NGOs supported now have nowhere to turn. Ask the Lord to help them. “Who’s gonna pick up all this work?” Pudaite asks.
“I don’t think the government is going to pick up all of the social and charitable work these organizations were doing.”
Bibles For The World built Sielmat Christian Hospital — a 70-bed, full service medical center — to serve people in poverty in northeast India.(Photo, caption courtesy of Bibles For The World)
Thankfully, Bibles For The World partners completed their renewal forms in time to continue Gospel work through 2026. “Our partner organizations have been working on this for the last nine months. This is pretty complicated stuff,” Pudaite says.
Pray Bibles For The World partners will have wisdom and understanding.
“When people are called into ministry, they’re not necessarily well-educated in accounting and these sorts of things. They find it very difficult to wrestle with these forms and the whole auditing procedure that goes on,” Pudaite says.
“We need to lift them up in prayer.”
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Written by Katey Hearth. This story originally appeared at Mission Network News and is republished here with permission.
Sat, Apr 20, 9:30 AM
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