Opinion: Before the third wave, we urgently need to relax NGO regulations
Services within the non-profit sector that go beyond the call of duty are profoundly inspiring. However, time-consuming regulatory requirements are weakening the efforts needed during this hour of crisis
In the first week of May 2020, NITI Aayog appealed to over 90,000 NGOs and civil society organisations (CSOs) to assist in cross-sectoral collaboration to deliver essential services to the most vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many such organisations responded positively and rapidly engaged in providing immediate relief by feeding migrant workers, distributing hygiene and ration kits as well as essential personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline health and sanitation workers. While the contributions and sacrifices of several frontline workers and media personnel have been brought to the limelight, the number of fatalities incurred by the NGO sector while responding to the pandemic from the frontlines remains unknown.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a multi-fold impact on India’s non-profit sector, resulting in staff shortages, cash liquidity, distressed communities, and complex regulatory compliance requirements. Non-profits and faith-based organisations have been at the forefront of the Covid-19 response across geographies despite operating within limiting and high-risk environments. Enabling these brave warriors to continue serving through an agile, trust-based, and digitally secure model that saves time and ensures compliance will be integral to strengthening our efforts as the operating environment becomes even more complex.
The requirement to open FCRA accounts in New Delhi for closer monitoring by government bodies is another bottleneck for non-profits. This may disrupt their efforts in remote regions with limited access to transport and internet connectivity. As of March 31, 2021, only 16 percent of the 22,457 NGOs with active FCRA licences had active bank accounts with the main branch of the State Bank of India, Delhi.
For funding agencies, and for private sector mobilising funds and in-kind goods from their offshore partners, the existing regulations have significantly hindered response time and caused donor fatigue when much-needed aid is reducing. These regulations need to change, considering the possibility of a third wave and other humanitarian emergencies.
Further, NGOs with FCRA accounts receiving surplus funds are being disallowed from subcontracting and sharing resources. This can impede response in regions where NGOs need on-ground partners with a strong community presence. Sustaining the basic incomes and well-being of non-profit staff during lean funding periods is also a priority, and subcontracting enables staff to continue with their relief work.
In order to address such bottlenecks while responding to similar future emergencies, multi-stakeholder led collaborative models can be proposed to save lives and allocate funds more effectively. Such models have been previously deployed to allow Indian private-sector and humanitarian organisations to assist non-profits in Nepal post the 2015 earthquake. A similar model could be replicated where the Government of India, NGOs, and the private sector are at the forefront of providing relief and assistance.
The emerging challenges in managing foreign donations and funds to address the Covid-19 crisis indicate an urgent need for a simplified, digitally secure and transparent monitoring of resources. A robust and accessible real-time reporting platform may enhance transparency and flag gaps in responses by non-profits.
Evaluating our response to the challenges emerging from the first wave and the ongoing second one presents a clearer pathway to enhance response quality and timeliness in emergencies. At this time, it is critical to help build trust between public institutions, private-sector entities, the civil society and community at large. Building trust will empower us as a whole to build skill-based consortiums for stakeholders and ensure that nobody is left behind, thereby enabling us to act together, in time, with quality in design, delivery and compassion.