FCRA Bill: JPC hears NE groups in Shillong, gives 15 days for replies

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, held its first consultation outside New Delhi in Shillong on Monday, hearing church bodies and other organisations from the Northeast that receive foreign funds.

Committee chairman Sanjay Jaiswal told reporters after the sitting that the panel came to Meghalaya because Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had specifically asked it to listen to groups in the state that depend on foreign contributions, Hub News reported.

Who took part

Jaiswal said nearly 40 organisations from Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Assam deposed before the committee, along with the Archbishop of Guwahati. In all, 84 organisations have asked to be heard, he said. A separate Hub News report put the number of participating groups at more than 30.

Among the Meghalaya church representatives were Fr Richard Majaw for the Catholic Church, Rev Pastor H.L. Marshing and Dr D.R.L. Nonglait for the Presbyterian Church, Rev S.K. Syiemlieh for the Church of God, and Tony Marak for the Baptist Church.

The North East India Christian Council had earlier said it would use the Shillong hearing to raise its objections to the Bill and the new FCRA rules. Read our earlier report.

15 days to respond

The committee has asked the participating organisations for further clarifications and given them 15 days to send detailed replies. After that, it will prepare its recommendations and a final version of the Bill. The JPC also plans to hold hearings in Kochi and Chennai.

Jaiswal said committee rules did not allow him to make individual suggestions public before they are placed in Parliament. He said the panel wanted to understand the practical problems faced by organisations on the ground and promised a Bill that is "good for everyone".

Places of worship and the SBI account

Responding to criticism of the Bill, Jaiswal argued that the 2010 law it amends had allowed state officials to take over religious places, while the new Bill explicitly says temples, churches and mosques must be left as they are. He said only about 6% of foreign contributions go to religious bodies and the rest to NGOs and other recipients, and that India receives roughly Rs 22,000 crore a year in foreign contributions.

On concerns raised by smaller organisations about registration, he said the committee wanted a law that helps groups doing social good while deterring those who threaten national security.

He also said the mandatory State Bank of India account in New Delhi is only an entry point for tracking foreign remittances, and that money can then be moved to any bank in the country. Political parties will remain barred from receiving foreign contributions.

Presbyterian Church: ADC land cannot be taken

The Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) told the committee that church land in Meghalaya cannot be taken over without following the laws of the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs), Hub News reported after the sitting.

Rev Socratis Diengngan, who chairs the PCI's FCRA committee, said a three-member church team raised three issues before the JPC: delays in FCRA registration and renewal, the difficulty of complying with the rules, and the proposed provision on surrendering assets created with foreign contributions. He said the church's property comes partly or fully from donations and that it could not hand it over, adding that neither the Centre nor the state could take such land in Meghalaya, a Sixth Schedule area, without following ADC rules.

Diengngan described the FCRA Amendment Rules, 2026 as stricter than the Bill itself, said any changes should apply only prospectively, and said the church had asked the committee to repeal the Amendment Bill and reconsider the new Rules. He said other stakeholders had also raised the problem of registration delays.

Why it matters in the Northeast

Churches and church-run schools, hospitals and charities are a major part of social services in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, and many rely partly on foreign donations. Church bodies in the region have warned that tighter rules could disrupt that work, making the committee's final report closely watched across the Northeast.