CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic charities organization in India is being denied access to critical foreign aid by the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs due to alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
According to an AsiaNews report, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Tamil Nadu Social Service Society (TASOSS) that they would not be permitted to re-register for access to foreign funding on Saturday.
Fr. Devasagaya Raj of the Cuddalore-Pondicherry Archdiocese told AsiaNews that the decision to cut off TASOSS funding is “sad news,” since TASOSS benefits many “poor women and marginalized people, regardless of their religion.”
“People’s development does not depend only on the government. Stifling NGOs affects the poor the most,” Fr Raj continued. “What is more, for the first time this year a Dalit priest took over as TASOSS director, but as soon as he took office, he was handed this huge challenge as well.”
TASOSS is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Tamil Nadu’s official organization for justice, peace, and development.
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has also revoked registration rights for World Vision India (WVI), a children’s advocacy organization, in January.
The Home Affairs Ministry also attempted to revoke the registration of the Missionaries of Charity, or the Sisters of Mother Teresa, but public backlash prompted the government organization to grant the registration shortly after, as AsiaNews noted.
