Congress Raises Concerns Over JPCs Functioning on FCRA Amendment Bill
Congress urges intervention from Lok Sabha Speaker to ensure thorough review of the FCRA Amendment Bill by the Joint Parliamentary Committee.
New Delhi, October 1 (Daily Kiran) : Congress party leaders have voiced their concerns regarding the functioning of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) tasked with reviewing the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. On Thursday, they approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking his intervention to ensure that the committee fulfills its intended purpose.
K.C. Venugopal, Congress’s General Secretary (Organization), expressed on social media platform X that any bill passed by the JPC must be free of errors and should go through a rigorous consultation process. He emphasized that without such assurance, the JPC would be meaningless and a betrayal of parliamentary integrity.
In his letter to the Speaker, Venugopal made three requests aimed at enhancing the committee’s transparency. He urged that the JPC invite written submissions through public notice and listen to oral evidence from all affected stakeholders.
Venugopal also requested that the committee be allotted sufficient time for its tasks, including the possibility of extending reporting deadlines, rather than being rushed into a quick conclusion. He insisted that the committee members should have ample opportunity for detailed discussions on each clause, and that the bill should not be presented in the House until a fair and comprehensive investigation is completed.
He stressed that public trust in parliamentary institutions hinges on the assurance that laws affecting citizens’ lives are crafted after thorough deliberation. Venugopal expressed confidence that the Speaker would uphold the high traditions of his office to ensure the JPC meets its objectives.
The FCRA Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25 and subsequently referred to the 31-member JPC on August 12, following concerns raised by lawmakers. In his letter, Venugopal pointed out that the JPC’s mandate is clear: to conduct extensive consultations and present a well-considered and error-free bill to the House.
However, he raised alarms that there has been a lack of meaningful dialogue with stakeholders, and there seems to be an intention to hastily pass the bill during the upcoming winter session. If this occurs, it would undermine the very purpose for which the bill was sent to the committee and trivialize a significant parliamentary process.
