The State Congress on Friday dismissed the demand for amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) as a possible “whitewash” and questioned the trustworthiness of the National People’s Party (NPP) on matters concerning Meghalaya and the broader Northeast.
Congress leader Manuel Badwar said the FCRA demand, raised by eight United Democratic Party (UDP) members who recently joined the BJP, would amount to little unless it produced tangible change for regional institutions. “The demand for FCRA might be there, but then that’s just a whitewash. It’s just to show people that, look, we are making this demand,” he remarked.
Badwar accused the NPP of taking positions in the state that it does not always carry forward in Parliament. He cited the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the FCRA amendments, noting that initially there was no member from the Northeast on the committee. The position was only filled after objections when NPP leader and Rajya Sabha MP James P.K. Sangma was included.
He added that it remains to be seen whether Meghalaya’s concerns, and those of the wider Northeast, will actually be pursued in the Joint Parliamentary Committee. Badwar warned that FCRA-related problems could continue to affect institutions in the region and that the issue demands more than mere assurances.
