The Ayodhya Ram Temple Trust obtains an FCRA license to accept donations from outside

The home ministry has given the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra permission to accept donations from overseas sources for the building of the Ram temple in Ayodhya notwithstanding the suspension of FCRA licenses for hundreds of NGOs. Such donations may be sent to the trust’s authorized bank account at the SBI’s Delhi headquarters branch, according to the organization’s general secretary Champat Rai.

“The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra has been approved by the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to receive voluntary contributions under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010,” he said in an article on X.

In a second press release, he said, “The FCRA section of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government of India, has registered the trust ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ to accept the voluntary contribution from the foreign sources.” “Kindly note that such contributions can be sent to only designated bank account …of the state Bank of India, Main Branch, situated at 11 Sansad Marg, New Delhi,” stated the official.

NGOs’ FCRA licenses
NGOs are given FCRA permits by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for a duration of five years. NGOs must register with the Act in order to obtain foreign financing or contributions. It is deemed a breach of the FCRA Act if any misappropriation or diversion of foreign money is reported inside the NGO.

Four well-known nonprofit organizations previously lost their FCRA licenses: the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Oxfam India, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), and the Centre for Equity Studies (CES). The organizations were well renowned for their efforts on behalf of underprivileged groups.

If an organization or person’s FCRA license is suspended, they are not permitted to accept any foreign donations until the suspension is removed. In a letter sent to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in July of this year, a group of government workers urged him to make the legislation less restrictive and more accommodating in light of the license suspensions of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Oxfam India, the Centre for Policy Research, and the Centre for Equity Studies.

“All of these organizations work to solve the issues affecting the most disadvantaged groups in Indian society. These organizations’ work “features prominently the rights to food, work, wages, health, and shelter as well as the right to lead a dignified life based on the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India,” the group stated.

The bottom floor of the three-story Ram temple in Ayodhya will be built by the end of December, and the consecration ceremony is scheduled for January 22, according to Nripendra Mishra, the chairman of the temple building committee.