BENGALURU: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday said that it had cancelled the registration of Bengaluru-based NGO Infosys Foundation, based on a request made by the Foundation for the same.
“The Foundation was registered under the FCRA Act in January 2016. In May 2016, the Government amended the FCRA Act in the Finance Bill with retrospective effect from 2010 as a result of which Foundation no longer fell under the purview of the FCRA Act. The Foundation thereafter applied for its de-registration from FCRA with an additional request to cancel the FCRA registration in June 2016, and received an acknowledgement from the FCRA wing in the same month,” a statement from the Foundation said.
All NGOs are required to be registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), to receive foreign funding. Associations which do not receive foreign contributions during a particular year are also required to furnish a “nil” return for that financial year within the allotted time, FCRA guidelines state.
Last year, the MHA had served a show-cause notice to the Foundation along with at least 1,700 others for failing to submit annual income and expenditure statements on foreign funding for up to six years despite repeated reminders.
However, the Foundation statement disputed this and said that it had not received any notice to file returns, pertaining to the FCRA after April 2018. “The Foundation has submitted its annual returns for FY16, FY17 and FY18, though it did not fall under the purview of Act following its amendment. Additionally, the Foundation has also submitted the necessary paperwork to the Government in July 2018, to showcase that the Foundation has not received any foreign funding,” Infosys Foundation said. Infosys Foundation, which was established in 1996, supports projects in education, rural development, health care, arts and culture, and destitute care. According to the foundation’s website, its mission is to work in remote regions of India. Sudha Murty is the chairperson of Infosys Foundation.