Kottayam (Kerala) | A senior priest of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church on Thursday expressed concern over the union government's revised Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) rules.

Speaking on the latest notification issued by the Union Home Ministry, Yuhanon Mar Diascoros, Metropolitan of the Church's Kottayam Diocese, said measures affecting religious and charitable institutions should ideally be framed after consultations with those concerned.

Questioning what he described as "increasing restrictions" on the functioning of religious and charitable institutions under the revised FCRA rules, the priest said the repeated tightening of the rules appeared to create unnecessary pressure on organisations engaged in social service.

"When such measures are being formulated, it would be more appropriate to consult the stakeholders and seek their opinions. That would add greater legitimacy and value to the process," he told reporters here.

The Metropolitan said everyone knows that Christians form only a very small percentage of India's population, yet their contribution to the welfare of the nation is immense.

"A small community making such significant contributions makes its presence felt through service, not through numbers. It is hard to understand why there should be so much fear about it," Diascoros said.

The Metropolitan, however, said that all accounts of his Church were regularly audited and submitted to the competent authorities.

"There is no problem with examining the accounts. We were ready yesterday, we are ready today, and we will be ready tomorrow," he said.

Diascoros said that when questions were raised about where the Church should go, how it should function and how its activities should be carried out, it became difficult to understand the rationale behind them.

He also defended the Church's charitable funding, saying it was largely supported by contributions from members of the community working overseas rather than by foreign agencies.

"The charitable work we do is not funded by foreign agencies but largely by the money earned through the hard work of our own people living abroad and sent back home. Those funds are used for humanitarian activities," he said.

He maintained that all public, parish, spiritual and charitable accounts of the Church were regularly audited and submitted to the relevant authorities, adding that there was "nothing to fear" from official scrutiny.

The comments came after the Union Home Ministry tightened the rules and revised the compounding penalties for several violations under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.

According to a gazette notification issued this week, organisations that spend more than the permitted 20 per cent of foreign contributions on administrative expenses may face a penalty of Rs 1 lakh or 5 per cent of the excess expenditure, whichever is higher.