FCRA licence of Sardar Patel-founded VS Hospital cancelled

Ahmedabad: The Union government has cancelled Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of Sheth Vadilal Sarabhai General Hospital & Sheth Chinai Maternity Hospital, the trust founded in 1927 by the first deputy prime minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Centre has cancelled the licences of 130 other trusts in Gujarat for violating the FCRA rules.

According to the details available on FCRA portal run by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), the licences of 131 trusts in Gujarat, which also include the one running the VS Hospital, were cancelled in 2017.

After seeking help from nagarsheths (sheriffs), Vadilal Sarabhai and Chunilal Chinai, for construction of VS Hospital, Sardar had written to the provincial government for a grant of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in April 1927. It was then that Vadilal Sarabhai and Chunilal Chinai contributed for constructing a new hospital and a 21 acre plot was earmarked for it.

When contacted, Dr Sandip Malhan, superintendent of VS Hospital, said that the cancellation of FCRA licence will not make any impact on the functioning of the hospital. “The hospital account was lying dormant for around 10 years and we did not prefer to put proposal for renewing its licence last year, so ultimately its licence got cancelled,” Malhan told TOI.

According to the portal, over 10,000 NGOs had not filed their annual returns for six financial years from 2010-11 to 2015-16 in the country. In all, 5,922 NGOs were served notices last year across the country, which included over 150 from Gujarat, for their failure to file annual returns. Later registrations of 4,867 NGOs were cancelled.

Gandhi Labour Institute and Apang Manav Mandal are among the other well-known organizations in Gujarat who have lost their licences for allegedly flouting FCRA norms.