John Brittas slams government for treating FCRA data as ‘National Secrecy’; says all his queries were disallowed in RS

Senior CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas accused the Union government of blocking attempts to seek elementary information on the government’s policy decisions regarding the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), saying routine parliamentary questions on the issue are now treated as “secret in nature”.

Parliament Budget Session LIVE

In a detailed post on X, Mr. Brittas, said that since 2024 he has submitted eight questions seeking clarity on FCRA suspensions, cancellations, non‑renewals, fresh registrations, and the removal of public access to NGO‑wise data from the FCRA dashboard. “Yet, none of those questions elicited any response,” he wrote.

According to him, all questions relating to FCRA licence cancellations were disallowed under Rule 47(2)(XXII) of Rajya Sabha procedures, which bars queries seeking “secret” information. The MP added that his most recent question, submitted on March 11, 2026, during the ongoing Budget Session and just weeks before the government circulated the contentious FCRA Amendment Bill, specifically sought reasons for restricting public access on the FCRA portal.

Mr. Brittas said even “elementary queries” on how many organisations have lost their FCRA licences, the grounds for denial or non-renewal, their state-wise distribution, and the rationale behind limiting access to public regulatory data have been blocked over the past two years.

“Are basic parliamentary queries on the number of FCRA licences cancelled, the reasons for denial or non-renewal, and the withdrawal of access to public regulatory data to be treated as classified information?” he asked, adding that the reason for disallowing his latest question has still not been published on his member’s portal page.

Mr. Brittas said, “When transparency itself becomes “secret”, accountability becomes the first casualty. One is compelled to ask: what is so confidential about regulatory decisions affecting public charitable institutions that even Parliament is denied access to the information?”