NEW DELHI — The Ministry of Home Affairs announced Tuesday that a new bill granting the state power to seize the assets of non-governmental organizations is designed to foster transparency and will not discriminate based on faith when dismantling independent civil society groups.

The 2026 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) Amendment Bill proposes the creation of a government-appointed "designated authority" to assume control of NGO assets once their registration lawfully ceases. "We want to be absolutely clear that we are not targeting any specific minority institution," a ministry spokesperson said. "Whether an organization is Christian, Muslim, or secular, we will apply the exact same rigorous democratic accountability when we cancel their registration and assign a custodian to take over their buildings."

Officials pointed to a consistent decade-long track record of expanding state control, noting that the 2020 amendments—which mandated that NGOs receive foreign funds exclusively through a specific State Bank of India branch in New Delhi—successfully caused a significant drop in operational capacity across all demographics. The ministry noted that the subsequent wave of administrative cancellations demonstrated a commitment to unbiased enforcement.

"This is simply about providing a legal framework for genuine charitable partnerships," the spokesperson added, neatly aligning a stack of blank asset-seizure notices on the podium. "Once we have total sovereign control over an organization's bank accounts and infrastructure, they will finally be free to operate in the national interest."