Oxfam India's foreign funding license was rejected last year.
India's refusal to renew the registration of NGO Oxfam India under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FRCA) was raised by the United Kingdom in a bilateral meeting last month, the government has said.
Informing Lok Sabha about the matter, the Home Ministry has said that the NGO did not fulfil the eligibility criteria specified in the law.
"The government of United Kingdom (UK) raised the issue of the status of the Oxfam India under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 during the bilateral dialogue held on February 10, 2022. The status of the Oxfam India was shared with the UK side during the dialogue," Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai stated.
"The registration, renewal and cancellation of registration are done based on the criteria specified in the FCRA, 2010 and rules made thereunder," Mr Rai stated in a written reply, adding that Oxfam India has applied to have the refusal order revised.
The government had cancelled the registration under FCRA of Oxfam India on December 31, 2021, along with 5,932 other NGOs after they lapsed.
"Decision on such extension of validity is taken based on assessment of situation and feedback of stakeholders," the minister informed the Lok Sabha.
A total of 1,811 certificates have been cancelled in the three previous years - 2019, 2020, 2021.
The UK objected to the Oxfam rejection during the UK-India meet in which the Indian delegation was led by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, and the UK delegation was led by Permanent Secretary, Home Office, Mathew Rycroft.
The Oxfam India website in its response has said that cancellation will harm their humanitarian work in 17 states.
The NGO calls itself "a movement of people working to end discrimination and create a free and just society". It says it "works to ensure that Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, and women and girls have safe-violence free lives with freedom to speak their mind, equal opportunities to realise their rights, and a discrimination-free future.