-Press release by Right to Food Campaign, dated 10th May, 2021 At a time when the country is facing the second wave of Covid-19 Pandemic, the need for a universal food security system has become all the more important. In a press statement dated 10th May, 2021, the Right to Food Campaign, a civil society group working for the elimination of hunger and undernutrition in the country, has expressed its shock and...

-The Hindu Making it compulsory to open a bank account in Delhi among others acts an impediment, they say The amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) enacted last year that among others made it compulsory for NGOs to open a bank account in Delhi has crippled the work of many organisations who are unable to receive foreign funds. Registered NGOs can receive foreign contribution for five purposes — social, educational, religious,...

-The Telegraph The government and its health administrators have bungled the roll out of the Covid vaccine but it's the citizenry that will have to play a huge role in controlling the second killer wave This fight against Covid-19 is admittedly the most unprecedented and unpredictable battle that the human race has ever fought against a common enemy; it is not only invisible but also frustratingly elusive. That is why the strategy...

-The Hindu FCRA approvals take a lot of time, the government needs to urgently grant an exemption for all such donations, tax and legal experts said. Indian entities, including hospitals and charitable trusts, hoping to receive COVID-19 relief material from overseas individual donors or donor agencies, could be in trouble, unless they are registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) with a stated objective involving provision of medical care. On May 3,...

-The Hindu 12-member team to go beyond present crisis, prepare road map for transparent budgeting with States The Supreme Court has constituted a 12-member National Task Force to streamline and ensure the “effective and transparent” allocation of liquid medical oxygen on a “scientific, rational and equitable basis” to States and Union Territories fighting COVID-19. The apex court had expressed its dissatisfaction at the Centre’s earlier “oxygen-for-bed” formula. This “rough-and-ready” arrangement, as the court...