Two Officials Held for Bribery over FCRA Registration

The correct answer is the Foreigners Division. One of the two officials apprehended is presently posted there, and the other, now working in a Pay and Accounts Office, had served in the same division at an earlier point. That is the wing of the Home Ministry through which foreign contribution registration files pass, which is why both men were in a position to offer an association that its pending application would be pushed along. Option B deals with matters of internal security and not with registration of associations receiving funds from abroad. Option C looks after the management of the country’s borders, a different subject altogether. Option D is concerned with modernising police forces. Aspirants should tie the subject to the ministry and then to the division, because papers often test the second step after testing the first.

The correct answer is the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, which acted in coordination with central agencies after receiving specific information from the Ministry of Home Affairs and apprehended the two officials in New Delhi. Option B is a wing that investigates economic offences at the state level, but it was not the unit named in this action. Option C works on smuggling and customs-related intelligence and had no part in the case. Option D guards railway property and passengers and is unconnected with it. The two men held are a Senior Accountant and an Accountant, and they are alleged to have approached an association and demanded money for facilitating its pending registration. The ministry has said that legal as well as departmental action is being taken and that further investigation is still in progress.

The correct answer is that the services are delivered online through the FCRA portal, and that no intermediary, agent or individual has been authorised to facilitate any such service. The ministry made this point while announcing the action against the two officials, because the pair had allegedly offered an association that it could get a pending registration cleared for a payment. Option A is the exact opposite of the ministry’s statement, since no private agent has any authority in the matter. Option C is wrong because the process is not run through district offices and does not require a personal visit. Option D is wrong because the subject rests with the Union Home Ministry and its Foreigners Division, not with state home departments. Remembering the online-only route is also the practical protection an applicant has against a demand for money.