The Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), a non-government organisation associated with the Gandhi family, for alleged violations of the law, officials said. The decision was made after an inter-ministerial committee set up by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in July 2020 conducted investigations.
The license was cancelled as the Gandhi family-affiliated non-governmental organisation allegedly violated the foreign funding law.
"Yes, the FCRA licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has been cancelled after an investigation against it, an official said.
The institution was set up in 1991. RGF is known for its work in a number of critical issues such as health, science and technology, women and children, disability support in a span of more than 20 years. It also worked in the education sector, as per its website.
Former Congress president and Rajiv Gandhi’s wife Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of RGF. Other trustees include former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P Chidambaram, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The MHA had reportedly set up an inter-ministerial committee headed by an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer to investigate three Gandhi family foundations — Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust — for possible violations of the money laundering act, Income Tax act and FCRA.
The committee reportedly investigated whether these trusts run by the Gandhi family and other Congress leaders manipulated any documents while filing income tax or misused and laundered money received from foreign countries.
In June 2020, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda had said the People’s Republic of China gave funds to RGF between 2005 and 2009 to carry out studies that were not in national interest. Since then, RGF’s activities have been under scanner.