Two US-based charities linked to the wider RSS network received a combined $117.8 million, about Rs 926 crore, in contributions and grants between 2020 and 2024, according to an investigation by Bellingcat, the independent research group.
The investigation looked at the tax filings of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, known as Ekal USA, and Sewa International Inc., or Sewa USA. Both are based in Houston, Texas. It examined how they raised money, where they sent it and how donor-advised funds figure in their income.
Ekal USA reported receiving more than $48.4 million, about Rs 380 crore, over the five years. Its filings show it sent $33.7 million, around Rs 265 crore, to Ekal Vidyalaya in India. Sewa USA reported nearly $69.4 million, about Rs 545 crore. It sent $29.7 million, around Rs 233 crore, to India and South Asia, while about $622,613, roughly Rs 5 crore, went to recipients in the US. The rupee figures use an average exchange rate of Rs 78.58 to the dollar for 2020 to 2024.
The most notable finding concerns donor-advised funds. In these, donors give money to a sponsoring charity and recommend which groups should receive grants, and the original donor’s name may not appear in the recipient’s public filings. Ekal USA received at least $8.3 million this way, and Sewa USA at least $16 million. Together they got at least $24.4 million from 34 organisations that manage such funds, about 20.7 per cent of their combined income for the period. Bellingcat said the real figure could be higher, because its analysis covered only full calendar years.
Legal experts cited in the report said these funds can face lighter oversight than private foundations. Samuel Brunson of Loyola University Chicago said they are generally treated as public charities, which brings a different set of rules.
On Ekal USA’s roots, Shyam Tiwari, a spokesperson for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, told Bellingcat that the organisation began as a VHPA programme in the late 1990s and became independent in the early 2000s. The report also notes that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has appeared at Ekal Vidyalaya events in India, including one in May 2026. Critics have long alleged that the initiative’s schools promote Hindu nationalist ideology among children in rural and disadvantaged areas, and have raised concerns about how Muslims and Christians are portrayed. Ekal Vidyalaya in India did not reply to Bellingcat’s requests for comment.
Sewa USA describes itself as a Hindu faith-based humanitarian nonprofit. Its vice president of public affairs, Rakhi Israni, told Bellingcat the organisation “does not operate as a branch or affiliate of the RSS” and takes no part in political activity. The investigation looked at links between the wider Sewa network and Sewa Bharti, a group associated with the RSS, but it said the filings do not show which organisations received all of Sewa USA’s transfers to India and South Asia.
Bellingcat’s report builds on earlier work. A January 2026 report in People’s Democracy cited more than 2,500 RSS-affiliated organisations, about 260 of them in 39 foreign countries, including 107 in the US.
The findings arrive amid a continuing row in India over foreign funding. BJP leaders have often accused opposition groups and civil society of using overseas money to influence politics.
