FCRA Bill Update: Govt Yet To Take Final Call, Decision Likely This Evening | Parliament Session

The government has not taken a final decision on the FCRA Amendment Bill, with sources indicating that a call could come as early as this evening. Executive Editors Niranjan Narayanaswamy and Abhishek Kapoor break down what it means if the bill is tabled in Parliament and why the Joint Parliamentary Committee route now looks the most likely outcome, with the bill possibly introduced and then referred to a JPC with a cooling period of around three months before being taken up for passage in the winter session. Congress and Trinamool Congress are pressing for a complete withdrawal of the bill without any debate or deliberation, while Sharad Pawar's NCP, with eight MPs, is backing the JPC route instead. Numbers are not seen as a hurdle since FCRA needs only a simple majority, unlike delimitation which requires a special majority in both Houses along with ratification by more than half the states, and government sources maintain that the two are not linked and there is no trade-off. The Home Ministry's position is that the amendments modernise a law dating back to the 1960s in line with changes in technology, shadow banking risks and FATF norms, and the Home Minister has met Christian delegations to convey that the bill is not targeted at any community, pointing out that contributions to churches and missionaries account for only around 15-17% of the total. Meanwhile, the Speaker has announced that the government is ready for the Union Home Minister to make a statement on the Delhi protests, with the opposition being challenged to hear him out after days of disruption in the House. Watch the full analysis on the FCRA Bill, the JPC question and the political battle playing out inside Parliament. Subscribe and hit the bell icon for the latest updates from Parliament and Indian politics.