MHA grants FCRA licence to BJP leader's 'Bharat Scouts and Guides' NGO

The Union home ministry has granted Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) licence to Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG India) headed by former Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, Dr Anil Kumar Jain. He was a member of the Upper House from the BJP between 2018 to 2024. The FCRA licence was granted early this month for five years till 2029, officials confirmed to ET.

The BSG India is a registered society under the Societies Registrations Act. It is a voluntary, non-political and secular organisation. It also runs BSG - Yuva Aapada Mitra Volunteer in which the youths volunteer during any disaster coordinated among central and state agencies, officials added. The organisation first came into existence in 1909 and was reorganised post-Independence, as per the BSG India website. An email query sent to BSG India remained unanswered till the filing of the report.

The licence has been granted under the education and social category. NGOs with FCRA licence are required to apply for renewal, but the deadline was extended from September 2020 when amendments to the FCRA law were introduced. The extensions have been granted to NGOs till December 31, during which some prominent NGOs' FCRA licences were renewed. According to the ministry data, there are 16,047 NGOs with FCRA licences active in India as of today, of which fresh registration for 368 trusts has been approved in 2024 so far.


As per the MHA, more than 20,000 FCRA licences have been cancelled till now.