FCRA licence of 2 NGOs headed by Sonia cancelled

New Delhi: The Centre cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, for alleged violation of laws.

This followed a probe team, set up in 2020 with officers from the ministries of home and finance, CBI, and ED, finding alleged manipulation of documents while filing income-tax returns, misuse of funds and money laundering while receiving funds from foreign countries, including China, an official said.

The trustees of the RGF are former prime minister Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram, Rahul Ga-ndhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former journalist Suman Dubey and Dr Ashok Ganguly, industry expert and former MP.

The trustees of the RGCT are Rahul Gandhi, Dr Ganguly, Bansi Mehta, former head of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. and Deep Joshi who works to bring social change at the grassroot level.
The Congress said the move was aimed at defaming the party and diverting attention from issues facing the country.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the home ministry’s action had exposed corruption.

RGF worked on health, women and children and disability support. The RGCT addressed the needs of the rural poor.