Overview
- The Union government plans to introduce the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha next week, with Home Minister Amit Shah expected to table it and reply to debate.
- The bill would create a new 'Designated Authority' with power to provisionally or permanently vest, manage, supervise and dispose of assets created using foreign contributions when an organisation's FCRA registration ceases, is cancelled, surrendered or renewal is refused.
- Provisions cover 'mixed‑funded' assets built partly with foreign money, which critics say is impractical because physical assets cannot easily be apportioned between foreign and domestic funding.
- A broad exemption clause would let the central government exclude organisations or classes from the law on unspecified 'public interest' grounds, a change legal experts say risks unchecked executive discretion and possible Article 14 equal‑protection challenges.
- Regional political leaders, church bodies and opposition parties have united in demanding referral to a parliamentary committee and signalled plans to resist the bill, saying it could disrupt frontline services in the Northeast and trigger wider legal and social fallout.