DMK MP P Wilson on Tuesday urged the chairperson of the joint committee of Parliament examining the FCRA amendment bill to allow stakeholders not only to make suggestions but also to flag objections in the draft law.
In a letter to joint committee chairman Sanjay Jaiswal, Rajya Sabha member P Wilson also underlined that the seven days' time granted to people to make suggestions was too less. He suggested that at least four weeks should be given.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat had in Monday issued a statement on behalf of the committee inviting suggestions on the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill.
Referring to the statement, Wilson said, "Objections, and not merely suggestions, should be invited ... the press communique invites only 'views/suggestions' on the specific clauses of the Bill."
He said the bill will have wide-ranging and far-reaching implications for charitable organisations, educational institutions, hospitals, religious institutions of every denomination, and numerous other stakeholders across the country.
"I submit that the committee should explicitly invite objections as well as suggestions. Many stakeholders who are affected by a proposed statutory provision may not necessarily wish to suggest an alternative drafting formulation. Such stakeholders may, instead, wish to place before the committee a fundamental objection to the provision itself," he said.
The DMK MP noted that a seven-day period places the burden of responding within an extremely compressed timeframe upon precisely those stakeholders who may have the greatest difficulty in mobilising legal and institutional resources at short notice.
"Further, it does not allow experts, institutions and other stakeholders sufficient time even to study the Bill carefully, let alone to consult internally and prepare considered, clause-wise submissions. Therefore, I submit that a period of not less than four weeks should be granted," he said The joint panel is holding its second meeting on Tuesday.
(With inputs from PTI)