April 1, 2021

Only 5.4 percent of houses sanctioned in 2020-21 under PMAY-G were built

Advocacy & Government: Only 5.4 percent of houses sanctioned in financial year 2020-21 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin scheme (PMAY-G) have been built this year, the Ministry of Rural Development recently told a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

Launched in April 2016, the PMAY-G aims to provide a pucca (solid/permanent) house with basic amenities to all homeless rural families, or those living in kutcha (where the walls or roof are made of materials like un- burnt bricks, bamboos, mud, grass etc) houses, by the end of March 2022. So far, the Centre’s flagship rural housing scheme has completed 55 percent of its construction target, although money has been sanctioned for almost 85 percent of beneficiaries.

Of the 2.28 crore houses to be built, less than 1.27 crore had been completed by January 28, 2021, according to the Committee’s report presented to the Lok Sabha earlier this month. Another 61 lakh houses are under construction, as per the report.

It takes an average of 114 days to construct a house under the scheme.

States such as Odisha and Jharkhand had performed better than the national average and had used the scheme to provide employment opportunities to migrant workers returning to their villages during the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

While Odisha completed construction of 10.5 percent of its 2020-21 target and commenced work on 85 percent of houses for which money had been sanctioned this year, Jharkhand completed 7.25 percent of its target and had started work on more than 91 percent of houses sanctioned this year, said the ministry in its report to the panel.

States such as Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Karnataka however failed to complete the construction of even a single house sanctioned during the same period.

Read this article on what the low-income housing landscape looks like, and how it can improve.


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.