Sanjay Agarwal says: “First, all political parties are generally against foreign contribution to nonprofits—this is explicit in government policy also. For instance, foreign-funded nonprofits have found it difficult to work on sensitive issues in the states of West Bengal and Kerala, during Left rule. Some have argued that the current government follows a populist ideology, and therefore the crackdown on foreign-funded organisations, and on activists who may be associated with FCRA nonprofits. The government has done four things around FCRA: 1. Created a targeted crackdown on FCRA nonprofits that may be engaged in prohibited activities or in political activities (even if indirectly). 2. Initiated a wide-ranging administrative tightening to weed out inactive FCRA nonprofits. 3. Slowed down the process by which nonprofits are granted FCRA registration or prior permission. 4. Enlarged the list of prior-referral donors to about 22 international players. Bulk cancellation of inactive FCRA registrations is seen by some people as politically motivated. It has also been hyped up by the media, even though this has been going on for about 25 years. The nonprofit sector has also added to this debate. There is also a perception in the social sector that there has been a sharp drop in FCRA funding— when in fact, foreign funds have mostly been rising in the last 3-4 years, despite the so-called crackdown. Overall, there has been little openness or intelligent dialogue on these issues between the regulator and the regulated. The media’s role has been to either politicise or sensationalise the issue.”