New Delhi, Sept. 3 -- A 31-member joint parliamentary committee has been formed to examine the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal appointed as its chairperson.

Constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday, the committee has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The panel includes 14 BJP members and five from the Congress, along with representatives of JD(U), TMC and DMK, which have two members each. SP, IUML, Shiv Sena, NCP (SP), NCP and TDP have one member each.

From the Lok Sabha, BJP members include Bhartruhari Mahtab, Tejasvi Surya, Kamlesh Jangde, Mukeshkumar Chandrakaant Dalal, Nishikant Dubey, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ananta Nayak and Arvind Dharmapuri. Congress is represented by Anto Antony, Captain Viriato Fernandes, Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed and Kali Charan Munda.

Rajya Sabha members include BJP's C Sadanandan Master, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Ujjwal Deorao Nikam, Alka Gurjar and Sat Paul Sharma. Congress has Christopher Manickam, while Kalyan Banerjee, A Raja, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Naresh Ganpat Mhaske, Kaushalendra Kumar, Supriya Sule, E T Mohammed Basheer, Praful Patel, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Menaka Guruswamy and P Wilson are among the other members.

Parliament referred the Bill to the panel on August 12 following opposition protests. Opposition parties have alleged that the proposed changes could hurt minorities, NGOs and legitimate foreign funding for Christian organisations and minority-run welfare and educational institutions. The government has rejected the allegations, saying the legislation is not religion-specific and is intended to regulate foreign contributions.

Introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, the Bill proposes greater government oversight of NGOs and foreign funding. It also provides for a designated authority to manage and dispose of assets when an organisation loses its FCRA licence.

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. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma had earlier sought a joint committee review, while Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had also raised concerns with the Centre.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.