New Delhi: Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) on the FCRA Bill, Sanjay Jaiswal, on Friday expressed confidence in submitting a report before the Winter Session of Parliament.
Speaking to reporters after the first meeting of the Committee, Jaiswal said, “The meeting was conducted very smoothly and in a well-coordinated manner. All the Members raised their questions.”
“Our objective, and the mandate given to us, is to submit our report before the Winter Session. We are confident that we will be able to meet that target,” said Jaiswal, a BJP MP from Bihar’s Bettiah.
He informed that the first sitting of the Committee also included a briefing by the Home Secretary, as there is a convention that the parent department addresses the members.
The 31-member Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) was formed earlier this month to examine the proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, as the next stage of legislative scrutiny of the contentious legislation.
According to a Lok Sabha bulletin issued earlier, the committee, constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, comprises 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.
The panel has been tasked with examining the provisions of the proposed FCRA amendment and considering changes before the Bill proceeds further through Parliament.
The Bill was referred to a joint committee on August 12 amid opposition parties’ allegations that the proposed changes could adversely affect minorities and non-governmental organisations.
The opposition parties had demanded that the legislation be withdrawn. The government, however, rejected the allegations, asserting that the proposed amendments do not discriminate against minorities.
The government also challenged opposition parties to identify any provision in the Bill that amounted to discrimination.
The committee includes 14 BJP members and five Congress members. The representation also includes two members each from the Janata Dal-United, the Trinamool Congress, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The Samajwadi Party, the Indian Union Muslim League, the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party, and the Telugu Desam Party have one member each.
Among the BJP members from the Lok Sabha are Bhartruhari Mahtab, Tejasvi Surya, Kamlesh Jangde, Mukeshkumar Chandrakaant Dalal, Nishikant Dubey, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ananta Nayak, and Arvind Dharmapuri.
The Congress is represented by Anto Antony, Captain Viriato Fernandes, Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed and Kali Charan Munda.
(IANS)
