Announcements/Wikimedia India Chapter receives FCRA Prior Permission

Hi all,

We are very happy to announce that the Ministry of Home Affairs has granted us prior permission under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) to receive funds from the Wikimedia Foundation, USA for Chapter programs.

Through this development, we pass the first hurdle of acquiring limited funds from the foundation for running programs and enabling volunteers across the country.

The application was made to the Government on 4 September 2011 and was granted on 13 February 2012.

This would not have been possible without the persistent efforts of Arjuna Rao Chavala, the President of Wikimedia India. He worked tirelessly over months properly following up with the government and did not leave any stone unturned to ensure that we received the permissions in time.

On this occasion, we would also like to thank our consultant M Narsimha Rao, Gautam John, Asaf Bartov and Barry Newstead, for their help and guidance throughout.

We are working out the modalities of actual implementation of getting funds into Chapter Bank account and will keep you updated.

On behalf of the Wikimedia India,

Anirudh Bhati Treasurer, Wikimedia India