The Union government on Wednesday introduced the 2026 Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking in Parliament, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the amendments would enable the government to act against organisations using foreign funds for activities such as forced religious conversions or actions “against the spirit of the Constitution, the law and the interest of the country”.
Three Opposition MPs opposed the proposed law, describing it as “dangerous” and “draconian”.
Registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive foreign funds.
The amendment bill seeks to address “operational and legal gaps” in the 2010 Act, particularly in cases where an organisation’s registration is cancelled or expires, Bar and Bench reported.
Among its key provisions is one that allows the government to take control of an NGO’s foreign funds and assets if its FCRA registration lapses. Under the proposed framework, such funds and assets will provisionally vest in a government-appointed “designated authority”. If the organisation fails to regain registration, this control would become permanent. The authority would then be empowered to use, transfer or dispose of these assets for “public purposes”.
The bill also imposes stricter restrictions during the suspension of registration. NGOs will not be allowed to transfer, sell or otherwise deal with assets created out of foreign funds without prior approval from the central government.
Between 2016-’17 and 2021-’22, over 6,600 NGOs lost their FCRA licences, the government had told Parliament in December 2022. In 2023, it informed Parliament that 13,520 registered non-profit organisations had received Rs 55,741.5 crore in foreign contributions between 2019-’20 and 2021-’22.
On Wednesday, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the amendment bill grants “sweeping and disproportionate powers” to the executive without adequate constitutional safeguards.
His party colleague GK Padavi argued that it would further shrink democratic space, leaving civil society operating under “regulatory uncertainty and fear of punitive action”.
Trinamool Congress MP Pratima Mandal claimed that the bill concentrates excessive power in the hands of the Union government.
Also read: How India’s crackdown on NGO funds has crushed key grassroots services and ended livelihoods
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