U.S. Representative Riley Moore said on Tuesday that proposed amendments to India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) could allow the government to take control of churches and religious charities, warning that the legislation could strain ties between Washington and New Delhi.
The proposed changes, introduced in Parliament during the Budget Session in March, have yet to be passed by either house. Registration under the FCRA is required for non-profit organisations seeking to receive foreign funding.
“Christians have been in India since St Thomas the Apostle travelled to the Malabar Coast just decades after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Moore said on social media.
He said that despite this history, India’s Parliament was considering amendments “to permit government takeovers of churches and religious charities”.
“This is a clear attack against Christians,” said the Republican representative from West Virginia. “If this bill proceeds in this way, it would be a point of major concern in our bilateral relationship with India.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately comment on Moore’s remarks.
A central provision of the proposed amendments would allow the federal government to assume control of an NGO’s foreign-funded assets if its FCRA registration expires or is revoked.
Under the draft law, such funds and assets would temporarily be placed under a government-appointed “designated authority”. If the organisation fails to restore its registration, the transfer of control would become permanent, allowing the authority to use, transfer or dispose of the assets for “public purposes”.
The provision would apply to all organisations covered under the law, not only churches. The draft legislation states that the religious character of any place of worship would be maintained.
Opposition lawmakers have criticised the proposed amendments as “dangerous” and “draconian”, while civil society organisations have argued that the changes would increase government control over non-governmental organisations.
The government told Parliament in December 2022 that more than 6,600 NGOs had lost their FCRA registrations between the 2016-17 and 2021-22 financial years. It later informed lawmakers that 13,520 registered non-profit organisations received more than 557 billion rupees ($6.4 billion) in foreign contributions between 2019-20 and 2021-22.
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