By Vijaita Singh
The Union Home Ministry has granted registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) to Baba Bageshwar Dham, a religious body led by Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, a Madhya Pradesh-based godman who seeks to establish ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
Mr. Shastri, 29, is often courted by politicians and is known for his provocative statements on religious matters. His website has a separate section to collect donations from within India. Despite repeated attempts, the religious body could not be reached for comments.
Registration under FCRA is mandatory if a non-government organisation (NGO) or an association wants to receive foreign donations.
NGOs can receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic, and cultural programmes and can be registered for at least one or multiple categories.
The Shri Bageshwar Jan Seva Samiti Gadha at Chhattarpur in Madhya Pradesh has been registered under the ‘Religious (Hindu)’ programme, other than cultural, economic, educational and social categories.
Till April 15, 38 NGOs have been granted FCRA registration, out of which six have stated ‘Religious (Hindu)’ as one of the programmes for which foreign funds are required. Other than Bageshwar Dham, the others registered under the category are Ramakrishna Missions at Bolpur in West Bengal and Purnea in Bihar, Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan in Delhi, The Institution at Dharmasthala in Karnataka, and Radha Soami Satsang at Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
An FCRA registration is valid for five years, after which the NGO has to apply for a renewal. Since 2015, the FCRA registrations of more than 18,000 NGOs have been cancelled. As on April 15, there are 14,538 FCRA-registered NGOs active in the country.
This story was originally published in thehindu.com. Read the full story here.
