On Thursday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the formation of a 31-member Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) tasked with reviewing the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. This decision comes more than three weeks after the proposal to refer the contentious legislation to a parliamentary panel was approved in the Lower House.
First introduced in the budget session but held back at the time, the bill triggered major controversy with the Opposition, several church delegations and three CMs of Christian-majority states raising concerns. A Lok Sabha bulletin added that Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Sanjay Jaiswal, a four-term MP from Bihar, is the chairperson of the panel. The Telugu Desam Party, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party have one member each, and the Janata Dal (United) has two members. Three nominated members who had joined the BJP – C Sadanandan Master, former external affairs secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and criminal lawyer Ujjwal Deorao Nikam – are part of the panel. Also Read I FCRA amendments: What the new bill proposes, and why it has sparked pushback The Congress has five berths. The Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Indian Union Muslim League have one member each. The Trinamool Congress – both of them loyal to Mamata Banerjee – and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have two members each in the panel. No member of the rebel TMC group found a place. Jaiswal thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Birla.
The panel has 14 BJP MPs, including Jaiswal and a total of 19 National Democratic Alliance lawmakers. Also Read I FCRA bill sent to JPC amid Opposition uproar, Amit Shah’s debate offer rejected: ‘We are ready vs man lacks courage’ Earlier reporting noted: Sanjay Jaiswal to head 31-member JPC examining FCRA Amendment Bill 2026 BJP Lok Sabha MP from Bettiah, Bihar, Sanjay Jaiswal has been appointed chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) set up to examine the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026.
“Heartfelt thanks for this important responsibility,” he said. Earlier reporting noted: The JPC, which includes members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, was constituted to conduct a detailed review of the proposed legislation, according to a notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Earlier reporting noted: Also Read: ‘Transparency, better governance, clearer rules’: India’s US ambassador Vinay Kwatra debunks ‘myths’ on FCRA bill
