SHILLONG, July 7: Meghalaya’s push for a review of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) has cast the spotlight on a wider trend across the Northeast, where Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) data show that only about one in five organisations registered to receive foreign funding continue to hold active licences.
The figures come as Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to revisit provisions of the law, saying they have affected religious and charitable institutions that depend on overseas contributions for education, healthcare and community welfare.
According to MHA records, of the 2,313 organisations granted FCRA registration across the seven northeastern states since 2010, only 463 currently have active licences.
The remaining 1,850 registrations have either been cancelled (1,224) or classified as “deemed ceased” (626), reflecting the impact of stricter compliance and renewal requirements introduced in recent years.
Manipur has the highest number of FCRA registrations in the region, with 989 organisations. However, only 113 remain active, while 633 have been cancelled and 243 have been classified as deemed ceased.
Assam follows with 599 registered organisations. Of these, 169 hold active licences, while 254 have been cancelled and 176 are deemed ceased.
Meghalaya, where the issue has gained renewed political attention, has 207 registered organisations. Official records indicate that 81 have active FCRA licences, while 77 have been cancelled and 49 are deemed ceased.
“I don’t know about such reports, if it comes to my notice I will take up the case with the centre,” BJP leader A.L. Hek told The Shillong Times.
Notably, Nagaland has 269 registered organisations, with only 45 active, alongside 147 cancelled and 77 deemed ceased. Mizoram has 78 registrations, of which 19 are active, 35 cancelled and 24 deemed ceased.
In Arunachal Pradesh, 21 of the 94 registered organisations continue to hold valid licences, while 49 have been cancelled and 24 deemed ceased. Tripura has 15 active organisations out of 77 registrations, with 29 cancelled and 33 deemed ceased.
The figures indicate that in every northeastern state, active FCRA registrations account for less than one-third of the total organisations that have at some point been registered under the law.
The FCRA regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions by associations, NGOs and charitable institutions. The Ministry of Home Affairs says the law is intended to ensure transparency, accountability and ensure that foreign funding does not adversely affect national interests. Over the past few years, the Centre has tightened compliance requirements, leading to a large number of cancellations and non-renewals across the country.
Church bodies and several civil society organisations in Meghalaya have argued that the stricter regulatory framework has affected institutions involved in education, healthcare, community development and humanitarian work, particularly in remote tribal areas. They have sought greater flexibility and procedural reforms while maintaining transparency.
The Union government, meanwhile, has maintained that robust oversight of foreign funding is necessary for national security and financial accountability, and says recent reforms are aimed at making compliance more transparent and efficient.
With Meghalaya formally taking up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the future of FCRA regulations—and their impact on faith-based and charitable organisations—is once again set to become a major policy issue in the Northeast.
