Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 25 (ANI/NewsVoir): COVID-19 has highlighted the important role of community organizations within India, with 95 per cent of surveyed organizations directly supporting relief efforts, the highest proportion in Asia.
Covid-19: Why NGOs are demanding immediate suspension of FCRA rules indiatoday.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiatoday.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bake sales on Instagram. Online fund-raisers involving Hollywood celebrities. Pledges of aid from companies like Mastercard and Google. A middle-of-the-night flight by a FedEx cargo plane transporting thousands of oxygen concentrators and masks.
India’s devastating surge in Covid-19 cases has galvanised corporations, non-profit organisations and individuals in the US into raising millions of dollars and sending medical supplies to the nation of 1.4 billion.
But a sweeping change to India’s decades-old law governing foreign donations is choking off foreign aid just when the country needs it desperately. The amendment, passed by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September with little warning, limits international charities that donate to local nonprofits.
How FCRA Is Strangulating NGOs and COVID Relief Work
Moneylife Digital Team
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Even as India continues to struggle with the second wave of COVID-19, many countries, corporates, non-profit organisations, and individuals have extended a helping hand for the victims. However, a sweeping change in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) is choking off foreign aid just when the country needs it desperately. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, which was passed in September 2020 has become the worst punishment that Indian government could have inflicted on non-government organisations (NGOs) that are providing relief to people during the pandemic.
Many media, including those from abroad, are highlighting the ill-effects of the FCRA amendment and how it is blocking foreign aid for COVID-19 relief in India. The effect is far reaching, says an article in The