No Annual Returns For 2015-16 From Over 4,000 Institutes, Data Shows

Indian Institute of Management-Kolkata, Aligarh Muslim University and Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College for Women are among 4,739 institutions and non-profit organisations that have not disclosed their funding and expenditure details for 2015-16, according to the Home Ministry.

According to documents accessed by PTI, the 4,739 institutions and voluntary organisations have not filed annual returns for 2015-16 -- and so the government does not know their annual income and expenditure details for this period.

All these institutions and voluntary organisations are registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, or FCRA and it is a must for them to file returns every year.

Other institutions that have not filed returns for 2015-16 include IIM-Lucknow, Delhi College of Engineering, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts, both in Delhi.

Vivekananda Foundation in Mysuru, Islamic University of Science and Technology in Jammu and Kashmir, and Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Himachal Pradesh also appear in the list.

The government has tightened the rules for foreign funding of non-profit organisations and has cancelled the registration of over 10,000 NGOs in the last three years. The government has alleged these organisations have not filed annual returns as is required under FCRA.

The licences of over 1,300 NGOs have not been renewed for allegedly violating the funding transparency law. The Home Ministry has asked some 6,000 NGOs to open accounts in banks having real-time banking systems so that security agencies can immediately access their details if needed.

In November 2016, the government had told over 11,000 NGOs to renew their registration by February 28, 2017. But many of them did not do so.