31-member joint panel formed to examine FCRA Amendment Bill; BJP’s Sanjay Jaiswal named chairperson

A 31-member joint committee of Parliament has been constituted to examine the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal appointed as its chairperson.

The panel, constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday, comprises 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

The committee has 14 BJP members and five from Congress. It also includes two members each from JD(U), TMC and DMK, and one member each from SP, IUML, Shiv Sena, NCP (SP), NCP and TDP.


Parliament had on August 12 referred the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill to a joint committee amid opposition protests. Opposition parties had alleged that the proposed legislation targeted minorities and NGOs and demanded its withdrawal.

The government rejected the allegations and challenged opposition parties to identify even one provision that discriminated against minorities.

Who is on the joint committee

Along with Jaiswal, the BJP members from the Lok Sabha include Bhartruhari Mahtab, Tejasvi Surya, Kamlesh Jangde, Mukeshkumar Chandrakaant Dalal, Nishikant Dubey, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ananta Nayak and Arvind Dharmapuri.

Congress members from the Lok Sabha on the panel are Anto Antony, Captain Viriato Fernandes, Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed and Kali Charan Munda.

Other Lok Sabha members include Zia Ur Rehman of SP, Kalyan Banerjee of TMC, A Raja of DMK, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu of TDP, Naresh Ganpat Mhaske of Shiv Sena, Kaushalendra Kumar of JD(U), Supriya Sule of NCP-SP and E T Mohammed Basheer of IUML.

From the Rajya Sabha, BJP members on the committee are C Sadanandan Master, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Ujjwal Deorao Nikam, Alka Gurjar and Sat Paul Sharma.

The other Rajya Sabha members are Praful Patel of NCP, Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD(U), Christopher Manickam of Congress, Menaka Guruswamy of TMC and P Wilson of DMK.

Panel gets deadline for report

The committee has been asked to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of the Winter session of Parliament.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25 and seeks tighter government oversight of non-governmental organisations and foreign funding in the country.

Among its provisions, the legislation proposes creating a designated authority to manage and dispose of assets if an organisation loses its FCRA licence.

Opposition parties have argued that certain provisions could affect legitimate foreign funding for Christian NGOs and minority-run social welfare and educational institutions.

The government has maintained that the proposed legislation is not religion-specific and is aimed at regulating foreign contributions.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma had earlier urged the Centre to refer the Bill to a joint committee for detailed examination. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had also raised concerns over its provisions with the Centre.

(With PTI inputs)