- Sunday, March 02, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s elite investigating agency, has been asked to probe the Indian arm of global non-profit Oxfam for allegedly violating the Foreign Funds Act.
According to a report by NDTV, sources in the country’s home affairs ministry said Oxfam India transferred foreign funds to various entities even after the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment (FCRA) Act, which prohibits such transfers, came into force.
The report further cited the sources as saying that emails found during an income-tax survey last year show that Oxfam India was planning to evade FCRA by channelising funds to other associations.
One of them is the Centre for Policy Research think tank whose FCRA license was suspended by the Indian home ministry in March 2022. Such suspension means an organisation cannot receive foreign funding.
The opposition Indian National Congress slammed the government move and it was raised by the UK at a bilateral meeting.
According to the NDTV report, sources said the income-tax survey also “exposed” Oxfam India as a profitable instrument of foreign policy of foreign bodies that have funded it liberally over time.
The report added that Oxfam India received foreign funds to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore (£147,438) directly into its FC utilisation account, instead of getting foreign contribution in designated FCRA account.
Oxfam’s FCRA licence was suspended in January 2022, following which the organisation had filed a revision petition with India’s home ministry.
