Govt cancels Greenpeace's licence under FCRA

In a fresh crackdown on Greenpeace, government today cancelled its registration under Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) for allegedly working against the country's economic progress but the NGO said it will not be deterred by the attempt to "silence" its campaign.
The Greenpeace India's registration has been cancelled under FCRA, a senior Home Ministry official told PTI tonight.
The decision would mean that the NGO will not be able to receive from abroad the funds, which are upto 30 per cent of its overall cost of its operations.
The Home Ministry is likely to inform the Delhi High Court about its decision tomorrow when a case related to curbs on Greenpeace India is listed for hearing.

Greenpeace India has about 340 people working with it.
The decision of the Home Ministry came five months after it suspended its licence under FCRA for 180 days. It had also frozen its seven bank accounts, alleging the environmental group was working against the country's economic progress and public interest.

"The central government hereby suspends the registration under FCRA, 2010 of association Greenpeace India Society (including its branches and units) for a period of 180 days," a Home Ministry order had said on April 9.
The government had cited alleged violation of norms by the NGO by opening five accounts to use foreign donations without informing the authorities concerned.

While suspending its registration under the FCRA, government had also said the NGO under-reported and repeatedly mentioned inaccurate amounts of its foreign contributions.
Greenpeace termed the government action as an attempt to "silence campaigns" and said it will not be deterred.
"The cancelling of our FCRA registration is the government's latest move in a relentless onslaught against the community's right to dissent. It is yet another attempt to silence campaigns for a more sustainable future and transparency in public processes, said Vinuta Gopal, interim co-Executive Director of Greenpeace India, in a statement.
"Cutting access to our foreign funding may be a desperate attempt to get us to cease our work but the MHA probably didn't count on our having an amazing network of volunteers and supporters who have helped us continue our work despite the government crackdown.

"Since the majority of our funding comes from Indian citizens, most of our work can indeed continue," Gopal added.