After the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the national level in 2014, many large Christian organizations that had been receiving funds from abroad came under government scrutiny and were charged with embezzlement and other corrupt financial practices.

Recently, the government stated that many of these organizations were involved in alleged illegal religious conversion activities, too. For the first time, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has listed illegal religious conversion activities as a reason for blocking foreign funding of certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in India.

Indian organizations that receive funds from abroad must have a clearance license under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The organizations now must submit their audited accounts annually to the central government, showing the expenditure of all foreign funds.

The new restriction became known after several organizations sought clarity on why their FCRA clearances were denied. According to media reports, several Christian and civil society NGOs had their FCRA licenses revoked for allegedly violating provisions of the foreign funding law.

Earlier this year, the ministry canceled the FCRA license of the think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR). In March, it also canceled licenses of five NGOs, including the Church of North India- Synodical Board of Social Service (CNI-SBSS), Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS), Church Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), and Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI).

According to official data, as many as 16,023 NGOs have FCRA licenses as of date, while licenses of 20,711 organizations have been canceled.

The FCRA unit of the ministry has tightened existing laws while introducing more stringent clauses to deter religious organizations from obtaining the license.