Farmers' protest | Foreign funds received by Bharatiya Kisan Union faction under FCRA scanner

Due to the ongoing farmers’ stir against the Centre’s agricultural reforms, the movement of goods to industrial units located on the northern outskirts of Delhi have come to a screeching halt.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), one of Punjab's largest farmer organisations protesting against the Centre's recent agriculture reform laws, on December 20 said it has been asked by a central agency to submit its registration details which allow it to receive foreign funds.

“BKU is being targeted by the central authorities for evoking a massive response from Indians and NRIs. What wrong is there if our supporters working as truck drivers or pursing other labour works send donations from overseas,” said union president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, reported Hindustan Times.

According to the report, in the last couple of months, the organisation has received roughly Rs 8 lakh but the donations from Indians and the diaspora have not been calculated separately.

“A department under the Centre has sent an email which we received through our bank’s branch in Punjab,” General Secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said, according to PTI. “In the email, it was stated that we should give registration details in respect of these donations from abroad otherwise they will be sent back. The bank manager showed me the email which has been sent by the Forex Department.”

Kokrikalan’s bank account is reportedly not registered as per Foreign Contribution Regulation (FCRA) rules.

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) stipulates mandatory registration of any outfit receiving foreign funds.