New Laws by Modi Government creating major hurdles to reach beneficiaries gasping for help

India is battling a devastating second wave of Covid pandemic but due to poor healthcare infrastructure and a lackadaisical approach by the Central Government in combatting the huge crisis it has left lakhs of people gasping for help. This is the time when good samaritans and local NGOs swing into action to help citizens in their woes.

This has been the trend whenever there is an Earthquake, Floods, Cloudbursts, Tsunami or the numerous riots (usually engineered by right-wing politicians to polarise votes). Since the local small NGOs depend on crowdfunding or by dipping into the savings of individuals who form these organiations, many need funding from local businessmen or from Foreign Aid Organisations.

However, in September 2020 there was an amendment passed by the Narendra Modi government which limits international charities that channel funds to local NGOs, which is choking off thousands of crores of foreign aid already collected from being utilised in these desperate times.

World citizens after going through news in foreign media on India, which has created a perception of the present PM caught fiddling like Nero while the country’s teeming millions are in misery, poured millions of dollars apart from praying and putting pressure on their governments to send Aid.

The Governmental Aid which poured into Delhi from various countries including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UK, Singapore, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, France, etc was not distributed for more than weeks after they had landed. It was only after pressure was built up, like a reporter checking with US administration on why the aid of US taxpayers was still lying unutilised after more than week of reaching, that these medicines, oxygen cylinders, plants and other emergency material was directed to those who needed them.

World Citizens, Business corporations and Foreign NGOs in such desperate times came together to collect thousands of crores of foreign aid and other medical and emergency supplies. Now the same is being barred to reach those who need it desperately due to these hastily drafted amendments passed without any warning.

These small NGOs required to have affidavits, notary stamps and bank accounts in State Bank of India among other requirements. Also FCRA clearances and other such requirements which practically was not possible for those who only had compassion and no other financial or administrative employees. Hurdles like 20% overheads bands, every 6 months renewal, barring of those who are found to be present in communal unrest (a way in which most minority individuals in India are being targeted), or attended demonstrations against governmental policies, etc practically killing all secular voices from manning these NGOs.

The move was to encourage to divert all fundings through official charities like PM CARES, which especially lacks any sort of transparency in its utilisation. As it is people are averse to funding Indian governmental charities due to the wide perception of it being utilised only for the favoured few and not reaching those who especially need it like the minorities or the underpriviledged, now more so under the present BJP-led government then ever or for the fear of being embezzled.

These small NGOs which have a dedicated team of volunteers on the field cannot utilise the money which has been collected for the very same reason. In dearth of organised governmental action and these local NGOs which had to drastically curtail their operation came as a double whammy to those who needed help.

The Aid organisations in various countries, usually by NRIs, had a completely different set of problems. Those which had already collected tens or hundreds of crores did not know how to transfer it to those who really needed it to further funnel it to the final beneficiaries.

A case in point, is that of American India Foundation which has collected around 200 crores and wanted to send around 20 crores to a local NGO to build a 2500 bed hospital for Corona patients where funds took weeks to reach, while the citizens continued to die due to paucity of facilities.

India today which spends only around 1% of its GDP on healthcare, vis-à-vis other developed countries who spend around 20%, is in a very precarious situation - there is well over 25 million infections and over 2.5 lakhs death due to covid - which is highly underreported, (sources insist the factor can be anything between 140 times to 20 times of the official data), not even 3% of the population is vaccinated and the government seems to be in complete inaction.

In such a situation, the thousands of crores already collected could have easily helped in people being supplied with vital medicines, emergency supplies, food, ration, oxygen and such lifesaving help.

Earlier too various governments have tried to regulate the flow of foreign aid in India. FCRA was passed in 1976 by Indira Gandhi with the aim of limiting foreign involvement in domestic politics. Again in 2010, the law was amended to put further curbs on foreign investment. But starting 2015, Modi government which feels scared has been tightening restrictions on NGOs. Even prominent charitable groups including the Ford Foundation has not been spared, citing national security.

Last year itself, Amnesty International's bank accounts were frozen and its premises were raided, forcing it to close its India operations. Amnesty said the actions were reprisals for criticizing India's human rights record.

The ties between small Indian NGOs and foreign aid organisations has been symbiotic: Global foundations provided the money, while local NGOS worked on the ground. These NGO registered themselves so that they could accept foreign funds, but relied largely on donations rather than directly reaching out to donors. Last year, about 25% of India's NGO funding - roughly $2.2 billion (around 18000 Crores) - came from foreign donors, but now it will drastically change. And the most needy will be bereft of the much needed funds - to alleviate them in areas such as health, education, gender-based issues - pushing the underprivileged and the minorities further into the depths of misery.