April 19, 2021

Assam, Jharkhand among eight states highly vulnerable to climate change

Environment: At least eight Indian states—Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal—are highly vulnerable to climate change. They will need to prioritise adaptation interventions, according to a national climate vulnerability assessment report. More than 60 percent of highly vulnerable districts identified are found in Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand.

The report titled Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework identifies the most vulnerable states and districts in India with respect to current climate risk and key drivers of vulnerability. It was released by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

A total of 94 representatives from 24 states and two union territories participated in the nationwide exercise jointly supported by the DST and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

According to the report, lack of forest area was found to be one of the major drivers of vulnerability for Assam despite the fact that it has a forest cover of 42 percent. The second driver of vulnerability was identified as low road density.

In the case of Bihar, the report cited poor health infrastructure to be the key vulnerability driver in 36 districts. Lack of alternative livelihood opportunities due to poor implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was another key driver in 14 districts of Bihar, followed by a lack of women’s participation in the workforce in 11 districts.

In Jharkhand, lack of crop insurance and rainfed agriculture were the key drivers of vulnerability.

States such as Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, and Punjab have been categorised as lower-middle vulnerable states. Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Nagaland, Goa, and Maharashtra have been categorised as states with low vulnerability.

“We have seen how extreme events are on rise both in terms of their number and severity. Mapping the parts of India that are vulnerable to such changes will help initiating climate actions at the ground level,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

Read this article on how we can strengthen action on climate change mitigation.


May 20, 2021

Home Ministry extends validity period of FCRA registration certificates

Fundraising & Communications: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a circular extending the validity of FCRA registration certificates to September 30th, 2021. This applies to all FCRA licences that have expired or will expire between September 29th, 2020 and May 31st, 2021. The decision to extend the deadline has been driven by the exigencies arising from the COVID-19 situation.

FCRA refers to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010, which permits charitable organisations based in India to raise funds from foreign sources.

The order also clarified that nonprofits that have already opened an account and have the requisite permission to receive foreign aid, can henceforth receive it only in these newly-opened accounts.

The FCRA law was amended in September 2020 to include a clause that mandated that all nonprofits receiving foreign aid must necessarily open an account in State Bank of India’s New Delhi Main Branch. The government had initially set the deadline for this account opening as March 31st, 2021; it later extended it to June 30th, 2021 after several nonprofits argued in court that there had been delays because necessary approvals from MHA had not been received.

Several organisations have not been able to receive foreign funds during the crisis caused by the second wave, and this has impacted their COVID-19 relief efforts. Relaxing the foreign funding rules could significantly help organisations ramp up their operations to help individuals, supply critical healthcare equipment, and respond to communities in rural areas.

Read this article to know how amending the FCRA can have unforeseen implications.


May 20, 2021

Corporate spending on oxygen support and medical equipment now counts as CSR

Philanthropy & CSR: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has issued a circular that allows corporate spending on health infrastructure for COVID-19 care to qualify as corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure.

This includes setting up medical oxygen generation and storage plants, manufacturing and supply of oxygen concentrators, ventilators, cylinders, and other medical equipment to counter COVID-19.  

The announcement comes at a time when all efforts are being directed towards expediting efforts to support the country’s healthcare infrastructure.

According to the circular, companies can now undertake projects and activities in collaboration with other companies using CSR funds. Additionally, they can contribute to specified research and development projects, as well as publicly funded universities and certain organisations that conduct research in science, technology, engineering, and medicine.

The government had earlier clarified that setting up makeshift hospitals and temporary COVID-19 care facilities would also be considered a CSR activity. Rajesh Verma, the Corporate Affairs Secretary, has requested businesses to consider converting vacant office buildings into COVID-19 facilities to cater to the rapidly increasing caseload.

Read this article to understand why media attention on COVID-19 deaths due to lack of oxygen in big cities has skewed donor priorities.