FCRA Amendment Bill: JPC Hears North East Groups in Shillong

The Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 held its first meeting outside Delhi in Shillong on Monday, 2 November, and heard nearly 40 organisations from Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. Committee chairperson Sanjay Jaiswal, a BJP MP, told reporters that churches and other faith-based organisations receive about 6 per cent of the roughly Rs 22,000 crore in foreign contributions that come into India, according to PTI and Meghalaya Monitor. The committee has given stakeholders 15 days to answer its questions.

Fifteen Days to Reply

Organisations that deposed in Shillong, among them the Archbishop of Guwahati and a Presbyterian Church of India team led by Rev Socratis Diengngan, must now send written replies within 15 days. Jaiswal said the committee will go through them before drafting the final Bill. He declined to share individual suggestions and said they would first go before Parliament. The hearing was held at the request of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who had invited the chairperson to the state.

What the Chairperson Said About Places of Worship

Jaiswal said the 2010 Act gave state officials vetting powers and allowed takeovers of religious property, and that the new Bill protects places of worship. He said the panel wants “practical solutions to the practical problems being presented before us” and is listening to all stakeholders before reaching a conclusion. The government says the Bill is not specific to any religion.

Opposition and Church Objections

Opposition parties say some provisions could hit legitimate foreign funding for Christian NGOs and minority-run schools and hospitals, and have demanded that the Bill be withdrawn. Church bodies and civil society groups have also raised the proposed power to take over foreign-funded assets and the possibility of retrospective effect. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal has alleged that the Bill targets minorities and NGOs. Leaders from Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, the DMK and the NCP (SP) have also objected.

Kochi and Chennai Next

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 25 March and referred to the 31-member committee on 12 August. At a meeting on 18 September, the Home Ministry told the panel that active FCRA-registered NGOs fell from 29,022 in 2015 to 14,466, while foreign contributions rose from Rs 17,832 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 22,974 crore in 2024-25, according to Free Press Journal. Shillong was the last North East sitting. Hearings in Kochi and Chennai follow, and no date for the committee’s report has been announced. Related coverage is in Daily Updates.

Source: Based on reporting by The Tribune (PTI), Meghalaya Monitor, National Herald and Free Press Journal.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.