Bill to tweak FCRA similar to UPA-era law: JPC chief

NEW DELHI: BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal, who heads the joint parliamentary committee examining Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, Tuesday said major provisions of the proposed legislation had the same clauses that were incorporated in the law enacted by UPA govt in 2010. He said this after a meeting of the committee, which interacted with Hindu, Christian and other groups and listened to their views on the proposed legislation facing stiff opposition from certain sections and opposition parties. Jaiswal said the 2010 Act had given power to the home secretary and the principal secretary of the state to confiscate properties of an NGO receiving foreign funding under FCRA if there were irregularities while the new bill proposed to give the same power to a designated authority. "The law brought by the UPA govt had decided that if irregularities were found under FCRA, all the assets would be handed over to the home secretary or principal secretary concerned of the state. However, today, there is a designated authority in place of that arrangement," he added. He said those who gave their views to the committee Tuesday included representatives of Syro Malabar Church, Ramakrishna Math and ISKCON among others. "Everyone presented their views. We listened carefully to what everyone had to say. When we sit in our committee meeting, we will discuss these matters. We have heard everyone out, and subsequently, we will deliberate on all these points during the committee meeting. We will take the decisions together," Jaiswal said. The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on March 25 and referred to the JPC on Aug 12 following consistent demands of the opposition parties, which alleged that certain provisions of the legislation were highly objectionable. Opposition parties allege that the FCRA Bill targets minorities as certain provisions will choke legitimate funding for Christian NGOs and minority-run social welfare and educational institutions. Govt has rejected the charges and challenged the opposition to identify even one provision that discriminates against minorities. It has also maintained that the proposed legislation is not religion-specific and is aimed at regulating foreign contributions. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines While introducing the bill in Lok Sabha, Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai had said the legislation aimed at ensuring proper utilisation of funds received from abroad. Countering the charges that the bill was "dangerous", Rai had asserted that it was "indeed dangerous" for those who engage in "forced religious conversion". pti