Union Minister Kiren Rijiju speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

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Sansad TV/ANI

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a motion brought in by Union Home Ministry to send Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 to a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament amid uproar. Opposition parties in Lok Sabha was against the motion to send FCRA Bill to JPC and demanded that it be withdrawn altogether as it was against minorities.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, challenged opposition members in the House to cite a single provision in FCRA Bill that is against minorities.Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday brought in a motion in Lok Sabha for referring the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a 21-member Joint Parliamentary Committee for a detailed scrutiny of the legislation and submit a report in the next winter session.The move comes, a day before parliament breaks into recess, as the opposition was against a discussion over the FCRA bill as it found some of the proposed amendments controversial and targeting at minority religion. The government, as indicated by sources on Tuesday, mentioned it in the Supplementary List of Business for the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, clearing the ambiguity surrounding the fate of the bill.As per the motion, the joint committee of the houses will consisting of 21 members of Lok Sabha to be nominated by the Speaker, while there will be another 10 MPs of Rajya Sabha be declared by its Chairman. The Lower House recommended to Rajya Sabha that they join the joint committee and communicate to this House names of the members to be appointed by Rajya Sabha to the Joint Committee.“..In order to constitute a sitting of the Joint Committee, the quorum shall be, as near as may be, one-third of the total number of Members of the Joint Committee; that the Committee shall make a report to this House by the last day of the first week of the Winter Session 2026,” the motion read. The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Lok Sabha relating to parliamentary committees shall apply with variations and modifications, if any, as the Speaker may make.The NDA does not want to pass the legislation without proper discussion given the international interest in the proposed amendments sought to the FCRA Act. Key among them, which are being opposed by religious bodies and opposition, is that the bill seeks to make amendments applicable retrospectively and that a government entity would take over the possession of an institution if its FCRA registration is over or it fails to get renewed. However, the organisation will get ownership back on the renewal of the registration.Congress MP KC Venugopal sought withdrawal of Bill, his opposition to the bill also found support from SP MP Akhilesh Yadav.In Reply Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the opposition should welcome the Government’s decision to refer the bill to a JPC and added that there was nothing in the bill to target minority institutions.The Congress has maintained its firm stance against the legislation, seeking a complete withdrawal of the Bill, given the fear that the proposed amendments could be used to target civil society and minority institutions.Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram urged the government to completely withdraw the contentious bill, instead of referring it to a JPC, as he described it “mischievous” and “intended to target minorities”.Union Home Minister Amit Shah in his previous interactions with religious leaders had emphasised that out of approximately ₹17,000 crore in total annual foreign donations received under the FCRA, Christian bodies receive about ₹3,000 crore which works out to be less than 15 per cent.Published on August 12, 2026