The FCRA, or the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, is being widely discussed because, on the surface, it discusses regulation of foreign funding, but when examined in depth, it reveals the modern state’s relationship with organised civil society. It questions two ideas: one is stricter foreign funding controls as an essential tool for protecting national defence and increasing accountability, and the other is a strategy to silence and restrict civil society freedom. Ill

Since 2010, India has cancelled somewhere around 22,500 FCRA registrations, with a further 15,000 or so allowed to lapse without renewal. That is a lot of licences pulled. What almost never gets asked, in the noisier corners of the debate, is what actually happens to the buildings, trusts, and bank balances those licences left behind. Illustration by The Geostrata The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha on 25 March 2026 and now