New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday complained about the “problematic functioning” of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, and sought Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s intervention to ensure that it fulfils the purpose for which it was constituted.
“We believe that any Bill that emerges out of a JPC should be flawless, and Parliament should be assured that it has passed through a rigorous consultation process. Without ensuring that, a JPC is a meaningless exercise, and a fraud about the Parliament,” Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal said in a message on social media platform X.
In his letter, the Congress leader, who also heads the Public Accounts Committee, made three requests to the Lok Sabha Speaker, asking him to ensure that the JPC invites written memoranda through public notice and hears oral evidence from all affected stakeholders.
Venugopal asked Birla to make sure that the Committee is given adequate time for this exercise, including an extension of its reporting deadline if required, rather than being bound to an accelerated timeline.
He also sought the Speaker’s intervention to ensure that Committee “members have full opportunity for clause-by-clause deliberation, and the Bill is not taken up in the House until the Committee has completed a genuine and comprehensive examination”.
“Sir, the confidence of the people in our Parliamentary institutions rests on the assurance that laws affecting their lives are made after due deliberation. I am confident that, in keeping with the high traditions of your office, you will ensure that the Joint Parliamentary Committee fulfils the purpose for which it was constituted,” Venugopal said.
The FCRA (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25 and referred to the 31-member JPC on August 12, following concerns raised by the MPs.
In his letter written on Thursday, Venugopal said, “A reference to a JPC carries a clear meaning: wider consultation and deeper scrutiny. Its purpose is to hear from every stakeholder, including NGOs, charitable institutions, religious bodies, voluntary organisations, legal experts and state governments, and to bring before the House a well-considered and flawless Bill.”
“It has, however, been learnt that no meaningful consultation with stakeholders is taking place, and that there is an intention to have the Bill passed hastily in the forthcoming Winter Session. If this is so, it would defeat the very purpose for which the House referred the Bill to the Committee, and reduce an important parliamentary process to a mere formality,” the Congress leader added.
In a message on X, Venugopal said, “Wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker regarding the problematic functioning of the JPC on the FCRA (Amendment) Bill, 2026. As is well known, this is a highly sensitive Bill with wide-ranging ramifications on the Constitutional rights of minorities and civil society groups.”
The Congress leader added, “The JPC was intended to seek inputs from all relevant stakeholders, and do a thorough scrutiny of the draft Bill before it is finalised for re-introduction. Today, we are concerned whether a comprehensive feedback and scrutiny process has been undertaken, and have written to the Speaker flagging the same.”
–IANS
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