In September, when India was in the midst of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Centre amended the Foreign Contribution Regula...
In September, when India was in the midst of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Centre amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, which governs the use of foreign donations received by non-governmental organisations in the country.
At that time, the Voluntary Action Network India, a group of Indian non-profit organisations, said in a statement that the stringent restrictions brought in through the amendments would deliver a death blow to them.
Eight months later, India is going through a more severe second wave of Covid-19, with daily infection numbers touching almost 4 lakh per day and the country registering a record number of daily deaths.
On April 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a review meeting with officials discussed how NGOscould help maintain lines of communication between patients, their dependents and healthcare personnel.
But those in the NGO sector say the September amendments introduced by the Modi government have crippled them, limiting their ability to access and distribute crucial foreign aid at a time when India islooking for every bit of help to fight the crisis.
There are hundreds of NGOs across the country with health as their primary area of focus. These organisations want the government to put the implementation of the amendments in abeyance to allow them to effectively use their networks in the...
