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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Regulatory body for NGOs suggested
With the number of non-governmental organisations growing in the country, the government is planning to bring them under a regulatory mechanism to make them accountable.

As of now, there are no specific laws or regulations to regulate volunteerism in India. A task force, constituted to examine the issues related to the evolution of an independent, national level, self-regulatory agency for the voluntary organisations and develop accreditation methodologies by the Planning Commission, has suggested the creation of a statutory body, the National Accreditation Council of India (NACI), on the lines of the Bar Council and the Press Council of India.

The NACI would develop, upgrade and promote norms and practices for the accreditation of voluntary organisations of various sizes and competencies, and assiduously remain on guard against all efforts and developments that might compromise the autonomy of a voluntary organisations.

The proposed council would be responsible for promotion, facilitation and undertaking of activities to improve the availability of trained and adequate manpower for the sector and promote charity, private philanthropy, and for enhancement of fund-raising competencies in the sector.

While the registered voluntary bodies are broadly governed by the Acts such as the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Charitable and Religious Trust Act, there is no regulatory provision for unregistered organisations. However, exact figures of the number of voluntary groups or non-profit institutions functioning in the country are not available. As per the Central Statistical Organisation figures, there are 31,74,420 registered ones, of which 58.7 per cent are in the rural areas.

Social service

Of the total registered organisations, around 41 per cent are involved in social services activities, 19 per cent in education and research, 12 per cent in the field of culture and recreation, 7 per cent deal with unions, 5 per cent with development and housing, another 5 per cent with religion, 2 per cent are involved in the health sector, while the remaining are involved in the environment, philanthropic, law and advocacy, and international activities.

The task force report, which is under the consideration of the Planning Commission, has also recommended upgrading the existing NGO Partnership Portal so that all details about the voluntary organisations can be uploaded, including the details required under the Income-Tax Act and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and mandatory disclosure under the Right to Information Act.

The upgraded portal would enable the NGO to get categorised accreditation based on their annual expenditure.

The seven-member task force, set up in 2009 under the chairpersonship of Director-General of Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), submitted its report in September last.

To guard the autonomy of the NACI, the chairperson would be an eminent person identified by a search committee consisting of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, chairpersons of the Press Council of India and the National Human Rights Commission.

The general body would not have more than 51 members, including the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson, of which 20 would represent the voluntary organisations, 10 the Ministries and Departments and some the Central Commissions.