Ludhiana expands COVID-19 vaccine access to include nonprofit workers

Health: Ludhiana—which is one of the worst-hit districts by COVID-19 in Punjab—has decided to allow judges, journalists, bank employees, nonprofit workers, and advocates to seek COVID-19 vaccination.

All journalists, employees of all government and private banks, government and private schools, workers at foodgrain agencies, judicial officers, court employees, advocates, and nonprofit members working on the ground to check the spread of COVID-19, can get the vaccine by registering themselves as ‘frontline workers’, according to an order by Varinder Kumar, the deputy commissioner of Ludhiana.

At present only government frontline workers, persons aged above 60 years, and those above 45 years with co-morbidities are allowed to get the vaccine, in addition to officials on election duty.

The decision to expand the district’s vaccination coverage has come at a time when Punjab has been witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh extended the night curfew duration by two hours in the nine worst-hit districts of the state including Ludhiana which reported 285 cases in 24 hours on March 18th, 2021. Punjab recorded 2,039 new COVID-19 infections and 35 deaths on March 17th, 2021.

NITI Aayog recently wrote to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare requesting it to allow frontline workers at nonprofits to be vaccinated at the earliest.

Read this article on how sharing information strategically on COVID-19 vaccinations can promote behavioural changes and influence public opinion.

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.