31-Member Parliament Panel Formed To Examine Foreign Funding Bill

A 31-member joint committee of the two Houses of Parliament was constituted on Thursday to examine the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal named as its chairperson.

The panel, which was constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

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

On August 12, Parliament had sent the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill to a joint committee amid protests by opposition parties, which alleged that the proposed law targeted minorities and NGOs, and demanded its withdrawal.

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

While BJP's Jaiswal is the chairperson, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Tejasvi Surya, Kamlesh Jangde, Mukeshkumar Chandrakaant Dalal, Nishikant Dubey, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ananta Nayak and Arvind Dharmapuri are the members from the ruling party in the Lok Sabha.

Congress' Lok Sabha members who are part of the panel are Anto Antony, Captain Viriato Fernandes, Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed and Kali Charan Munda.

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

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

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

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 proposes tighter government oversight over non-governmental organisations and foreign funding in the country.

It seeks to create a designated authority to manage and dispose of assets if an organisation loses its FCRA licence.

Opposition parties have alleged that certain provisions of the Bill 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, while Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had also raised concerns over its provisions with the Centre.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)