MHA recommends CBI probe on Harsh Mander's NGO for FCRA 'violation'

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended a CBI inquiry over an alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) by Aman Biradari, an NGO run by former IAS officer and activist Harsh Mander.

According to sources, the ministry wing that monitors foreign funding to NGOs operating in India has detected non-compliance by the NGO. As per norms, all NGOs operating in India that receive foreign funding need to register under the FCRA guidelines, follow certain disclosure norms and obtain clearance from the home ministry.

Sources said Aman Biradari received crores of rupees in overseas funding from organisations including a well-known UK-based donor and a leading international organisation working for poverty alleviation and social injustice. There were alleged non-compliance and disclosure nonadherence to the requisite norms.

Mander, who was a member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council during the previous UPA government, has established Aman Biradari -- "a people's campaign for a secular, peaceful, just and humane world."

Mander had faced a probe by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in September 2021 for alleged financial irregularities The ED action was initiated following a probe in October 2020, when the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights detected serious violations by two children’s homes run by Mander’s NGO.

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