Why government has tightened FCRA rules, and put religious conversion in focus

📌 Summary:

• Union Home Ministry issued two notifications sharply tightening the foreign funding framework for NGOs under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA)
• Notification 1 amends the FC(R) Rules, 2011: every FCRA registration must now specify both the purposes (chosen from a government Schedule of 105 permissible purposes) AND the States/UTs where activities can be undertaken — geography is now part of the licence
• Existing associations get one year to indicate purposes and areas they wish to retain; any later expansion needs fresh approval
• 'Key functionary' is broadened (company directors, firm partners, trustees, Karta of an HUF, office-bearers, anyone with control over management); organisations with foreign nationals in key positions ordinarily barred from registration
• New minimum utilisation requirement for renewal, tighter conditions for release of fund instalments, more disclosures (activity reports, social media accounts, ultimate donors)
• Notification 2 revises compounding penalties for excess administrative spend, speculative investment, diversion and out-of-purpose/area use
• Religious activities permitted (religious education, theological study, preservation of traditions, gatherings) but 'excluding proselytisation' — conversion-oriented work explicitly excluded
• Constitutional backdrop: Article 25 guarantees freedom to profess, practise and propagate religion — raising debate on the conversion exclusion

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — regulation of NGOs and foreign funding, government oversight vs civil society space; Article 25 and the propagation-vs-conversion debate; transparency-accountability of associations

📝 Prelims Facts:

• FCRA is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs
• New Schedule lists 105 permissible purposes for foreign contribution
• Article 25 guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion

🔑 Key Term: Proselytisation — actively seeking to convert someone from one religion to another; now explicitly excluded from FCRA-permitted religious activities.