FCRA Amendment Bill: Joint Parliamentary Committee visits Northeast; 22 organisations appear before panel

SHILLONG: Over 20 NGO and civil society bodies that receive funds through foreign contributions, mostly Christian- and Islamic-faith-based voluntary organisations from the Northeast, met a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) reviewing the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, in Shillong on November 2. The groups appealed to the panel about their objections, reservations and suggestions on the proposed amendment of the FCRA law. This is the first meeting of the JPC outside Delhi to consult with the stakeholders. To be precise, a total of 22 organisations appeared before the panel. Members of the JPC asked the volunteer organisations to clarify certain points in writing and set a 15-day deadline for the responses. The hearings were held as part of the committee’s tour of the Northeast region. Read More: Manipur marred by fresh violence; CM appeals for peaceful coexistence Talking to the media after the meeting, committee chairman Sanjay Jaiswal said the panel wanted to take in views from all sections and regions before drawing its conclusions. “We are taking a holistic approach by consulting with all the stakeholders of the region”, Jaiswal said. Chennai and Kochi will be the next stops on its itinerary. Defending the need for amendment of the FCRA, Chairman Jaiswal said unchecked foreign funds could become a threat to national security. He put the annual inflow of foreign contributions into India at around Rs 22,000 crore. “But only 6 percent of these funds goes to the religious organisations while the rest goes to other NGOs”, he said. However, that split may not tell the whole story, since certain NGOs are said to be managed indirectly by religious institutions. The committee came into being after Christian groups and others objected to the Bill. Their main concern is a provision under which a designated authority could take charge of an organisation’s assets once its FCRA registration is no longer valid. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25 and aims to bring NGOs and foreign funding under stricter government supervision. In August, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai moved a motion to send it to a 31-member JPC, comprising 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. The Opposition protested and sought withdrawal of the Bill. The panel must submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the end of the first week of the upcoming Winter Session. Opposition to the Bill has been especially strong in the Christian-majority Northeast states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. It should be mentioned that, Christian organisations account for 12 percent of the FCRA licence holders in the country, but they receive around 60 percent of the foreign funds regulated under the FCRA act.