DMK MP seeks FCRA Bill panel hearings in Goa and Bengaluru
P Wilson requested the Joint Parliamentary Committee to hold sittings in these regions to allow affected stakeholders to present their views.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson has written to Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) chairperson Sanjay Jaiswal requesting hearings in Goa and Bengaluru regarding the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. According to The New Indian Express, the request aims to allow affected communities and stakeholders to present their views in person.
The letter, which was also signed by Congress MPs Captain Viriato Fernandes, Christopher Manickam, and Hamdullah Sayeed, as well as Samajwadi Party MPs Zia-ur Rehman Barq and Javed Ali Khan, noted that many people impacted by the Bill lack the means to travel to Delhi.
Wilson highlighted that the proposed legislation would allow a specific authority to seize, control, and sell off assets produced from foreign funds if an association's registration is cancelled, surrendered, or ends. He stated that for religious groups and minority institutions, these rules extend beyond regulating funds to affecting the ownership and management of long-held property.
The MP cited Goa's 25.10 per cent Christian population and the high number of FCRA-registered associations in Maharashtra and Karnataka as reasons for the requested locations. He noted that a sitting in Goa could include stakeholders from the Konkan region and Mumbai, while a Bengaluru sitting would serve Karnataka.
The 31-member committee previously visited Shillong, Kochi, and Chennai on November 2, 3, and 4. Wilson has asked for public notices to be issued in English and regional languages to invite written memoranda and requests to testify.