Assam Christian Forum urges Centre to drop 'draconian' FCRA amendments

The Assam Christian Forum has opposed the proposed amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), urging the Centre and Members of Parliament from the eight northeastern states to abandon what it described as "draconian" provisions. The forum said the proposed amendments pose a severe threat to civil society organisations, churches and institutions that serve the poor, Dalits, tribals and marginalised communities across Assam and the northeast. It said the amendments should instead be made to the existing FCRA 2010 in accordance with the norms of natural justice.

According to the forum, the proposed amendments include forfeiture of all movable and immovable assets built in whole or in part with foreign contributions since the original 1976 Act. The amendments also propose the creation of a Designated Authority empowered to take over such assets and dispose of them under undefined norms, and the transfer of remaining funds of deregistered organisations to the Consolidated Fund of India.

The forum argued that such an Authority, permanently vested with the assets, may hand the transferred funds over to any government body or sell them. "These measures reverse the earlier position under which organisations denied or surrendering registration retained their assets (with remaining funds merely frozen). They go far beyond regulation and amount to punitive confiscation," the forum said.

Allen Brooks, the forum's spokesperson, said on Saturday that natural justice demands punishment be proportionate to the offence. "Studies show that of more than 15,000 organisations denied permission to receive foreign contributions in recent years, only about a dozen faced denial for corruption-related offences. The vast majority lost registration for minor technical issues such as delayed reporting or accounting errors," he said. "Depriving organisations of assets built since 1976 for such lapses is grossly disproportionate and violates basic principles of fairness. The most that can justly be accepted is the takeover of a specific asset after a transparent process proves corrupt acquisition or construction of that particular asset."

The forum warned that the consequences for beneficiaries would be severe. Many schools, health centres, dispensaries and other institutions in remote tribal areas of the northeast, including Assam, were built partly or wholly with foreign contributions because state infrastructure remains inadequate. In large parts of the hills and remote regions, two-thirds of the population depends on traditional healing systems because government health centres often lack staff, medicines, testing facilities and electricity. Schools frequently operate with a single irregular teacher, and mid-day meals exist largely on paper. Poor rural transport further isolates communities from the few better institutions concentrated in places such as Guwahati and Shillong.

Civil society groups, including church-run institutions, have stepped in to fill these gaps, providing accessible education and healthcare that the state has a constitutional duty to ensure as fundamental rights. They often charge low fees or none, keep teacher salaries modest, and rely on foreign contributions and local charity because Indian public funding for such work remains extremely difficult to access.

If the Designated Authority takes over their assets, the forum said, these organisations will be forced to discontinue services. Poor patients, students and communities will lose access to the very facilities that currently prevent further land alienation, impoverishment and the ethnic tensions that arise from it.

The forum also raised concerns about freedom of religion. It said the amendment Bill includes provisions allowing the state to manage churches, mosques and temples "while maintaining religious character" under government oversight, which threaten the autonomy of places of worship. The forum argued that such oversight could interfere with the internal administration of religious institutions and their ability to serve their communities.

The forum has called on the Centre and MPs from the northeastern states to reconsider the amendments and ensure that any changes to the FCRA uphold principles of natural justice and do not undermine the work of civil society organisations serving vulnerable populations.