Parliament has passed the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 with Rajya Sabha giving its nod today. The bill amends the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 which regulates the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution by individuals, associations and companies. Foreign contribution is the donation or transfer of any currency, security or article by a foreign source.
The bill adds that the public servants will be prohibited to accept any foreign contribution. It provides that any person seeking prior permission, registration or renewal of registration must provide the Aadhaar number of all its office bearers, directors or key functionaries as an identification document. The bill states that foreign contributions must be received only in an account designated by the bank as an FCRA account as notified by the Central Government.
Replying to a discussion on the bill, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that the main objective of the bill is that foreign funds do not impact the social and political sphere of the country. He said that it will ensure transparency in the foreign funding mechanism.
Initiating the discussion, Arun Singh of BJP said that it is a very good step by the government which will ensure the strict monitoring of foreign fund spending and any violation of norms. He said, this bill was much needed as several NGO are misusing the foreign funds for spreading their religious propaganda. Prashant Nanda of BJD said that stringent measures have been taken to ensure the spending of the designated funds. He requested that genuine NGO should not be harassed by the agencies. Supporting the bill, RCP Singh of JD (U) said that monitoring mechanisms will be enhanced with the help of this legislation. S R Balasubramaniyan of AIADMK, Swapan Dasgupta, K. Ravindra Kumar of TDP also spoke on the bill.
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