By Isaac Harold Gomes
Kolkata, August 11, 2026. According to a report dated August 10 in The Hindu, several Christian bodies — namely the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), and the Council of Churches in Mizoram — took to social media to appeal to the federal government and particularly to the Union Home Minister.
They urged the government to roll back the Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2026 (FCRA).
They also appealed that the proposed legislation be sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further deliberation. This is a standard norm before a serious bill is put up for legislation in parliament.
Since July 5, these groups including Lalduhoma (Mizoram Chief Minister) and Conrad K. Sangma (Meghalaya Chief Minister) have met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to express their reservation and concerns on certain provisions of the Bill.
The report further stated that the government might consider the appeal for JPC. The earlier plan was to discuss the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha on August 12, 2026. The monsoon session of parliament concludes on August 13.
The CBCI also sent a memorandum dated 10 August 2026 stating that there should be clear distinction between minor procedural lapses and serious offences. Isn’t that a giveaway?
On July 10, Shah assured the CBCI that the Bill was not against Christian NGOs (non-government organisations) as they receive a little under 15% of the total foreign donations which come into India through FCRA.
What the Joint Parliamentary Committee can do is retain the two clauses which (1) define the social service areas an NGO wants to work (2) the states or union territories one wants to work but do without the contentious clause ‘Designated Authority.’
This authority created in the proposed FCRA Amendment will have the right to take over, manage, or dispose of assets created from foreign funds when an NGO’s FCRA registration is suspended, cancelled or not renewed.
Retired Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay also wrote to the Union Home minister on August 8 appealing “the parliament not to rush with this matter but have a wider consultation with those concerned including the Christian Community and to send the matter to a parliamentary sub-committee for study.”
At the most in case of repeat violation of FCRA norms, especially 80:20 ratio of utilization of foreign donations, the union government can exercise its option to suspend or cancel the FCRA registration of the concerned NGOs, without confiscating their properties.
According the current FCRA rules, 80% of overseas donations (through the designated State Bank of India in Delhi) must be utilised on the earmarked projects and the balance 20% on administrative costs (salaries, rent, etc).
Several top NGOs were penalised for crossing this 20% threshold as the salaries of their top management were very high. The contention of the union government was that the FCRA money was for the declared welfare of target communities and not for well-cushioned lives of the managerial personnel!
During the meeting with CBCI delegation, the union home minister assured the delegates that this confiscation of properties, if at all, won’t be done with ‘retrospective’ effect.
So, this implies that the existing property rights remain and won’t be impacted. But how does one draw the timeline? Through audited accounts and Assets Register?
While the CBCI has appealed for “wider consultations,” it has kept all the FCRA matters close to its chest, without sending an open invitation to members of the laity for their input/suggestions on the matter. How many lay representatives did the CBCI delegates take when they met the Union Home Minister?