Changes will be made, says the Congress, to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill, 2006. What kinds of changes are being envisaged? And do they go far enough to ensure that the functional autonomy of institutions is not cramped in the guise of regulating foreign funding? M.R. Madhavanexplains

• What is the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill, 2006? This bill proposes a law to replace the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976 (FCRA).

• What does FCRA contain? This act regulates all donations, gifts and grants made by any foreign entity to an Indian entity. It prohibits the acceptance of foreign donations by legislators, election candidates, political parties, judges, bureaucrats and PSU employees, and journalists. The law was amended in 1984 requiring that all others must register themselves with the home ministry in order to receive such donations. Students receiving scholarship or stipend from foreign sources (above a certain sum notified by the government) have to report such receipt.

• What is the objective of the act? The main objective is to regulate the use of foreign donations by parliamentary institutions, academic and other voluntary organisations etc so that they “may function in a manner consistent with the values of a sovereign democratic republic”. FCRA was enacted in 1976, during the Emergency, a couple of years after other acts controlling foreign currency, such as FERA and COFEPOSA, were enacted.

• How many organisations are registered to receive grants in this way? The number of registered organisations rose from 16,740 in 1995 to 30,321 in 2005, of which 60-65 per cent reported accepting foreign contributions.

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