Eighty-two percent of WCD budget allocated to nutrition

Health: Budget 2021 has allocated INR 24,435 crore to the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry. This is 16 percent more than last year’s revised budget of INR 21,008 crore, but 18 percent less than the initial budgeted estimate of INR 30,007.09 crore.

INR 20,105 crore out of the total budget this year has been set aside for the Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0 scheme. This is an umbrella scheme that covers the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyaan, the Scheme For Adolescent Girls, and the National Creche Scheme. This is marginally less than the Budget 2020 anganwadi budget of INR 20,532 crore.

A Parliamentary Standing Committee has underlined the need to increase the share of the WCD department’s budget to meet the needs of women and children in the country. The committee also noted that anganwadis across the country are deficient in terms of supplies and infrastructure for education, and as a result, they tend to contain lower numbers of children aged 4-6 years. (Under the ICDS, the government runs nearly 13.79 lakh anganwadi centres where children aged 4-6 are provided nutritional support apart from care and education.)

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.

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.