Skip to main content

Govt apathy, funds crisis? 36% NGOs drop Covid relief, 54% plan to: IIM-A survey

By Rajiv Shah
A high-profile Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) survey of civil society organizations (CSOs) has complained that government indifference despite the “felt need” to continue with the relief work to the poorer sections society amidst Covid-19 crisis was a major reason why more than 36% of CSOs were forced to stop doing the work, while another 54% said they had plans to stop it in a month’s time.
Carried out by a group of researchers led by IIM-A faculty Prof Ankur Sarin, the survey report, "Voluntary Sector Response to Food Scarcity during Covid-19" cites “lack of resources” as the biggest challenge driving these organisations and individuals to stop their ongoing efforts, underlining, “This emerges against a backdrop of rising numbers of people relying on food relief activities of these CSOs. Almost 70% of respondents claimed that the number of people they have been serving increased over time.”
The surveyed CSOs work in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi (NCR), Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal. Among those involved in preparing the report included Prof Reetika Khera, well-known development economist. The survey period was between May 1 and 14.
The report says, on probing further into the reasons for suspending operations, only around 3% reported that they “did not feel” the need to continue, while 84% cited lack of funds as one of the reasons for their decision to stop their operations. It notes, “Most of them have relied on individual/public contributions and their own funds. However, they are unable to continue to shell out similar amounts.”
The report quotes a Samajik Shaikshanik Vikas Kendra (Bihar) activist as stating there were complications in “getting the permission” to mobilise funds, forcing the CSO to represented to Niti Aayog. The CSO plea says the foreign funded NGOs (i.e. Foreign Contribution Regulation Act-registered) should be “permitted" for hassle free movement to mobilise funds as well as supporting the people in this pandemic Covid-19.
According to the report, “Funding has been received by less than 4% of respondents while 8% have received raw materials free of cost from the government. Around 4% of CSOs have managed to obtain some supplies from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other government-affiliated bodies.” It comments, “Given that a majority of them have reported that the lack of funds/supplies is their biggest bottleneck, these figures are low.”
IIM-A survey says, funding has been received by less than 4% of CSOs; 8% have received raw materials free of cost from government
The report says, the dominant form of support that the government has lent to CSOs has been the arrangement of travel passes during curfew periods (around 44%). Other forms included transportation (11%), distribution (21%) and identification of beneficiaries (20%). Around 11% of respondents that stopped distribution reported that they had been stopped by the police and other authorities due to curfew orders.
The report, which is based on a survey of 113 CSOs and their representatives, says that a major reason why CSOs began with their initiative to help the poorer sections – 76% of whom were daily wage workers – was because of the “issues of access, availability and quality facing public distribution system (PDS) and other government efforts.”
The report says, “Organisations and individuals reported that the PDS provisions proved to be insufficient. Almost half the respondents reported that only some people have had access to their ration entitlements. About 20% stated that there have been large shortages of essentials and instances where supplies came in too late. More than 14% of respondents also emphasised on the poor quality of commodities available at ration shops.”
Comments the report, “With the implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013, there was a need for all states to formulate their own eligibility criteria for granting ration cards and undertake identification exercises. However, till date, these eligibility criteria are not transparent and remain unclear.” In fact, “outdated data” led to “large exclusion errors” whereby people who are eligible and in need of subsidised food grains are excluded – which economists Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera estimate to be around 100 million.
“While the government has proposed to implement its One Nation One Ration Card across the country by March 2021, states may not be prepared to implement this immediately without a digitised beneficiary database and provisions for identity verification”, the report asserts, adding, “Stranded migrant workers can take advantage of this scheme only if their applications for ration cards are processed (and approved) promptly and urgently.”
The report quotes Udayan Care, an NGO as stating: “Huge issue to get government ration. We got rice from Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the quality was inhuman for consumption.”, while another NGO, Nirantar Trust said,"The PDS distributors were putting wrong quantities on the ration cards of tribal families and on complaining, SDM also didn't sound very promising of taking any action against them." 
The report says, while 56% of the surveyed respondents had prior history of working with the households that they were serving, 65% followed a door-to-door delivery system to get provisions to people in need, indicating they had last-mile access to people and households at a much finer level, which may be difficult for other government bodies to obtain. Around 24% of respondents followed a distribution model where people gather at a central location.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.