The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s relentless zeal in over-regulating civil society organisations is on display again in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which it had sought to push through Parliament. After strong protests, it has now been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). In 2020, the government got amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA, passed that barred a registered body from passing funds to another, even one registered under the same Act, and cut the share of foreign funds that could be spent on administration from half to a fifth, among other restrictions. It now proposes to go further still by taking over the assets that the money built, even on the mere lapse of a certificate. Under the Bill, a donee organisation can lose its registration not only when the government cancels it, but when renewal is refused, not applied for, or not granted before the old certificate runs out. As soon as this happens, the organisation’s foreign funds and what was built with them will pass to a government-designated authority automatically. The property returns only if the organisation re-registers within a period the government has yet to specify, failing which it is lost for good. According to the Bill, a building put up only partly with foreign money will be taken over in full. The organisation must then apply to get back the share not paid for with foreign money. The Bill does allow for an appeal to a district judge, but only against what the authority does with the property later. The refusal to renew cannot be appealed against, and the organisation will not be entitled to be heard before the refusal is made. In essence, because the authority acts on the Centre’s instructions, the Centre can use opaque reasons to withdraw a licence, take over the property, and then direct the body now holding it.
It is not surprising that minority religious institutions have been the most alarmed. This is true of Christian organisations, which run thousands of schools, colleges and hospitals built and sustained with money from churches and congregations abroad. Hundreds marched in Aizawl, Mizoram, under a newly formed council of churches; organisations in Kerala have objected to the Bill; Nagaland’s Chief Minister wrote to the Home Minister seeking a parliamentary review; and the Tamil Nadu Assembly has also unanimously resolved that the Centre should withdraw the Bill. The Home Minister has assured church leaders that the Bill will not apply retrospectively, but the text of his own Bill says otherwise. A hospital built decades ago can still be taken over today because a certificate has been allowed to lapse. The JPC, to which the Bill has been sent, should redraft it to provide organisations with an opportunity to be heard before renewal is refused, as well as a right to appeal against such a refusal, among other changes that would make the regulation fair and transparent.
Published – August 13, 2026 12:20 am IST
