The Home Ministry has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) for alleged violations, news agency PTI reported on Sunday.
The two are non-government organisations associated with the Gandhi family, whose chairperson is former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while other trustees include ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P Chidambaram, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Suman Dubey and Ashok Ganguly.
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“The FCRA licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust have been cancelled after investigations against these NGOs,” an official said, as quoted by PTI.
The investigators covered alleged manipulation of documents while filing income-tax returns, misuse of funds and money laundering while receiving funds from foreign countries, including China.
The development follows a probe by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the home ministry on July 8, 2020.
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“MHA sets up inter-ministerial committee to coordinate investigations into violation of various legal provisions of PMLA, Income Tax Act, FCRA etc by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust & Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. Spl. Dir of ED will head the committee,” a tweet from MHA spokesperson in 2020 read.
Another organisation, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust was also under the scanner, however, no action has been taken so far.
The RGF was set up in 1991, and works on sectors like health, science and technology, disability support, etc. from 1991-2009. The RGCT was established in 2002.