March 11, 2021

Interest-free crop loans; 33 percent rebate on electricity bills for farmers: Maharashtra

Agriculture: The Maharashtra government announced a slew of measures to aid the state’s farmers including disbursal of crop loans with zero percent interest rate, 33 percent rebate on pending electricity bills, strengthening of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis, and so on.

The interest-free loan amount has been capped at INR 3 lakh. The Maha Vikas Aghadi-led government will pay the interest on these crop loans on behalf of the farmers. The aim is to free farmers from the burden of paying interest on loans and prevent them from turning into defaulters.

The state government had announced the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Farmer loan waiver scheme in December 2019. “Under the scheme, INR 19,929 crore has been credited to the accounts of 31.23 lakh farmers. It also paved the way for farmers to get new loans,” according to Ajit Pawar, the state’s finance minister. In 2019-20, crop loans amounting to INR 28,604 crore were disbursed, while in 2020-21, crop loans of INR 42,433 crore were disbursed.

Farmers with pending electricity bills will also get a 33 percent rebate from the state government. “If the farmers pay 50 percent of the remaining arrears by March 2022, 50 percent of the remaining amount will be waived off,” said Pawar.

For small and marginal fruit and vegetable growers, the government has announced the Maharashtra Agribusiness Network Project (Magnet). The INR 1,000 crore project will be implemented over a period of six years to raise farmers’ incomes.

On the performance of MahaDBT portal launched in December 2020 that aims to provide farmers with a single platform to access various agricultural schemes, Pawar said that more than 11 lakh farmers had registered on the portal and more than 25 lakh applications have been received so far.

Read this article on why farmers are protesting against the three new farm laws passed by the central government in September 2020.


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.