T.N. CM Stalin writes to PM Modi over FCRA Amendment Bill, terms it ‘draconian’
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, April 3, 2026, expressing deep pain and concern over the Union government’s introduction of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) (FCRA) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament. Mr. Stalin argued that neither the Union government nor the States have the capacity to replace the educational, medical and charitable services provided by non-profit organisations.
Calling it a “draconian Bill”, Mr Stalin pointed out that the Union government was trying to break up India’s charities by allowing it, at its discretion, to cancel the FCRA registration of an organization and take over the assets of that organization (be it a church, school or hospital) “without any due process”.
He said the bill, therefore, was in “ex-facie” violation of Articles 25, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution of India and was nothing but a “legalized attack on minority-run institutions”.
“You attended various events organized by Christian groups and personally praised the philanthropic work done by them in India to provide education and healthcare to the most marginalized sections of society, including Dalits, tribals and the rural poor,” Mr. Stalin said.
The bill aims to “completely cut” funding for such charitable activities, posing an existential threat to charities reliant on foreign funding. Mr. Stalin emphasized that extending liability to “key officials” along with an implicit presumption of guilt would deter honest individuals who wanted to contribute to charitable causes in India.
‘It will affect sensitive groups’
“As a result, the direct victims will be not only the organizations themselves but also millions of vulnerable citizens who depend on these institutions for education and healthcare. Neither the Union government nor the States have the capacity to replace these educational, medical and charitable services offered by these organizations and the result will be a collapse of grassroots welfare infrastructure across the country,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said simply that this bill represented “a fundamental attack on religious freedom and charity by civil society.” He also said he was aware that the Union Home Ministry had “temporarily postponed the bill fearing disruptions in elections” in states with a sizeable Christian population such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam.
“However, the people are afraid that you will revive the bill in Parliament once the elections are over. If this bill becomes law, it will leave a permanent scar on India’s democratic, secular and humanitarian heritage. Therefore, I request you to immediately withdraw the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the strongest possible terms,” Mr. Stalin said.
Mr. Stalin said that the Christian community all over India is agitated and aggrieved by many provisions of this bill and stated some of them. One of these was the “default suspension” of FCRA registration, meaning that an organization’s registration can be automatically revoked even in the event of a procedural delay, administrative refusal, or failure to take timely action by the State.
Another practice was to transfer the entire balance of foreign contributions and every asset created from the funds, including schools, hospitals, hostels, lands and buildings, to an “Appointed Authority” appointed by the government, in case of registration being canceled or deemed suspended.
He said the renewal process itself remained opaque, opaque and fundamentally arbitrary, in which the FCRA Department denied organizations even basic principles of natural justice by refusing to report deficiencies or provide a fair hearing. He stated that the provision that assets created partly with foreign contributions and partly from domestic resources will be completely confiscated is even more worrying.
It was published – 03 April 2026 16:51 IST
