India's Foreign Contribution Regulation Bill Dropped Amid Opposition Pushback
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, listed for discussion and passage in Lok Sabha, was not taken up Wednesday amid intense pushback from Opposition parties and concerns raised by Christian organisations and even BJP leaders of poll-bound Kerala . The Bill was dropped from the initially-announced List of Business for the day during an intervention by Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju. He said the Bill was on the day’s agenda of legislative business since it had already been tabled but would not be taken up for consideration. He said he had informed Opposition leaders about this during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee. Rijiju accused Congress and Left MPs of “misleading” the House and the “people of Kerala about the FCRA… for the sake of elections”. The Bill seeks to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 which regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution and foreign hospitality to “ensure that such inflows do not adversely affect national interest, public order or national security”. To be able to accept foreign contributions, NGOs and similar associations have to obtain registration or prior permission under the FCRA, 2010. Such contributions are divided under five broad heads: cultural, economic, educational, social and religious purposes. The FCRA 2010 came into force on May 1, 2011 and has been amended in 2016, 2018 and 2020. According to the Bill, there are approximately 16,000 associations currently registered under the Act and receive around Rs 22,000 crore every year. At the core of the Opposition objection to the new amendment Bill is the introduction of “a comprehensive statutory framework” for vesting, supervision, management and disposal of foreign contribution and assets through “a designated authority”, including provisional and permanent vesting. This, according to the Opposition and Christian organisations, will allow the government-appointed “designated authority” to take over, manage or dispose of assets created with foreign funds, including churches and educational institutions, if an organisation’s FCRA registration is suspended or cancelled. According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), among the first to express concern over the new Bill, it “threatens the operational survival of minorities, and civil society organisations that depend on foreign contributions for essential social, educational, and charitable work”. The CBCI has objected to the Bill’s “alarming provisions”, saying it empowers the government to “deny licence renewals and subsequently assume control over the institutions, funds, properties, and assets of minority organizations and NGOs “by the proposed designated authority in the Bill.” “Allowing the Union Government to take over foreign funds and assets of the NGOs or its institutions, upon cancellation, surrender, and the mere expiry or delay in the renewal of an FCRA registration is undemocratic, unconstitutional, and contrary to the principles of natural justice” the CBCI said. The Opposition has called it a “draconian” attempt to exercise control over minority institutions by seizing their funding channels. The Congress said the proposed legislation aims to “arm-twist honest philanthropic institutions”, especially those operated by minority entities, and will eventually “destroy NGOs and community organisations”. The CPM, which leads the ruling coalition in poll-bound Kerala, has called it a “direct assault on the functioning of civil society” through “sweeping powers to seize assets over technicalities” and a “tool for arbitrary control against those serving the poor”. Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, whose party has been reaching out to Christians in the state during the countdown to the elections, has even clarified the party position on the Bill. “When we found that even when there were some misgivings, some misunderstanding caused by this propaganda by the Opposition parties, I strongly requested yesterday that the Bill be discussed first with the people, explained properly to the people who it will impact, before the Bill is passed. The Government of India has agreed to that,” he told reporters.
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