{"id":257888,"date":"2023-08-29T21:08:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T15:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=257888"},"modified":"2023-08-29T22:09:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T16:39:04","slug":"a-question-of-trusts-regulations-of-ngos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/a-question-of-trusts-regulations-of-ngos\/","title":{"rendered":"A question of trusts \u2013 regulations of NGOs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on the article \u201cA question of trusts<\/strong>\u201d published in Business Standard<\/strong> on 29th August 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus<\/strong>: GS2- Development processes and the development industry \u2014the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>: The government has tightened regulations for the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).<\/p>\n

How has the government tightened regulation for the NGOs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the past seven months, over 100 NGOs have lost their licenses under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) as the government has imposed stricter disclosure requirements<\/strong> and established guidelines for fund utilization<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has introduced changes to reporting rules<\/strong>, mandating that NGOs specify whether their activities are charitable, religious, or both in order to claim tax exemptions.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in April 2023, the Income Tax Department issued 8,000 notices to large donors<\/strong>, citing concerns that these donations might be linked to tax evasion.<\/p>\n

Why is the government cracking down on NGOs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A 2022 report by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG),<\/strong> stated that about 21,000 unregistered charitable trusts took tax breaks between 2014-15 and 2017-18, which may have cost the exchequer Rs. 18,800 crores.<\/p>\n

In 2014, an Intelligence Bureau report<\/strong> said some NGOs were negatively impacting economic development to the tune of 2-3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), although no concrete data on NGOs’ economic contributions to India’s GDP exists.<\/p>\n

What are the concerns?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The arbitrary nature of the FCRA-related license cancellations raises concerns about potential biases<\/strong> related to the organizations’ ideological affiliations.<\/p>\n

Though punitive measures against corrupt trusts is justified, the current pressure being exerted on the voluntary sector is counterproductive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

NGOs and trusts play a crucial role in channeling private funds for development<\/strong>, especially when the government’s performance in this area is inconsistent.<\/p>\n

The sector is also a major job creator<\/strong>, accounting for over five million jobs, according to the government data, and plays a key role in linking youth to the grassroots<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While individuals may donate substantial amounts to NGOs to benefit from tax incentives, these tax breaks are lawful<\/strong>. If money laundering is suspected, the tax department possesses the necessary tools to detect such flows.<\/p>\n

What should be the way ahead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Given the confusion over NGO activities, there’s a need for a streamlined law<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Charitable work should be as precisely defined<\/strong> as it is in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) laws. This narrow rule would exclude elements like advocacy that can create political controversies.<\/p>\n

Discouraging a sector that contributes to development is not a constructive way to address India’s human development challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article \u201cA question of trusts\u201d published in Business Standard on 29th August 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Development processes and the development industry \u2014the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders. News: The government has tightened regulations for the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). How… Continue reading A question of trusts \u2013 regulations of NGOs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[10503,300,212],"class_list":["post-257888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public","tag-business-standard","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}