Lok Sabha Refers Foreign Contribution Amendment Bill to JPC

The Lok Sabha referred the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Wednesday. The decision followed intense protests from opposition members, including K C Venugopal and Akhilesh Yadav, who demanded the bill's withdrawal and characterized the legislation as an anti-minority design by the BJP.

Kiren Rijiju, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, defended the legislation as a measure to bolster national security and denied that any minority community was being targeted. The bill, originally introduced on March 25, proposes stricter government oversight of NGOs and foreign funding, including the creation of an authority to manage the assets of organizations that lose their licenses.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati accused both the government and the opposition of politicizing the bill. She criticized opposition members for disrupting parliamentary proceedings rather than debating the legislation's shortcomings and urged a focus on public interest issues, such as alleged irregularities in donations to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The JPC, comprising members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, is expected to submit its report by the first week of the winter session. Separately, the House passed a bill to amend laws on mines and mineral development without debate before adjourning.