Picture : ANI/X
A 31-member joint committee of the two Houses of Parliament was constituted to examine the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sanjay Jaiswal named as its chairperson.
The panel, which was constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.
It comprises 14 members of BJP and five of Congress. It also has two members each from JD-U, TMC and DMK, and one member each from SP, IUML, Shiv Sena, NCP-SP, NCP and TDP.
On August 12, Parliament had sent the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill to a joint committee amid protests by opposition parties, which alleged that the proposed law targeted minorities and NGOs, and demanded its withdrawal.
The government rejected the charge and challenged the opposition parties to identify even one provision that discriminated against minorities.
While BJP’s Jaiswal is the chairperson, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Tejasvi Surya, Kamlesh Jangde, Mukeshkumar Chandrakaant Dalal, Nishikant Dubey, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ananta Nayak and Arvind Dharmapuri are the members from the ruling party in the Lok Sabha.
Congress’ Lok Sabha members who are part of the panel are Anto Antony, Captain Viriato Fernandes, Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed and Kali Charan Munda. –
