Respected Sir,
Greetings from Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan!
Let me in introduce myself, my name is Kamlesh Barmeda, and I have been working with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS) since 2007 as Finance Manager, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS) was founded in 1989 with the objective of organizing rural women of Kutch to facilitate their empowerment. The overarching mission of KMVS has been the empowerment of rural women; And foster their leadership – economic, political, social and cultural – through conscious-raising, organization and their mobilization into local collectives, capable of independently addressing gender inequities in their region.
Recently, the Govt. of India has made some changes in FCRA Law , We have studied the changes but I would not be able to understand the following issue and as experts we Kindly request to please help us to clarify the same.
After changes in FCRA , I would like to know and understand which cadre / nature of employees of Govt. not to be part of the Governing Board of the Trust, also want to know it includes? the Professor/ Teacher of School/ College getting Central or State Govt. grant?
Waiting for your reply and your kind cooperation for the same.
Thanking You,
Kamlesh Barmeda
By public servants do we mean only Govt. Employees?
Public Servant is defined under S.21 of IPC Act and is quite wide. If I have to give a thumb rule than anyone getting paid from Govt funds (Govt covers Central, State & Local) should be considered as Public Servant. It would include Govt servants, military personnel (all wings), teachers, court staff, etc.
Dear Kamleshbhai,
To the best of my understanding there is no restriction on having Public Servants (as defined under IPC) on the Board of the charitable organizations. The restriction is on the receipt of the FC by the Public Servants.
Thanks and regards,
B V Soma Sastry
There is a lot of confusion amongst NGOs regarding declaring Public Servants in the Prohibited persons list as amended by FCRA Amendment Act 2020. Many think that they cannot include any Govt servants in their Board. This is a wrong impression. Inclusion of Public Servant as ‘prohibited person’ simply means that Public Servants should not accept any ‘Foreign Contribution’ (FC). While it is primary responsibility of ‘Public Servants’ not to accept FC, however considering NGOs are the only entities which need to submit themselves for compliance under FCRA, it should avoid making any payments to such prohibited persons, whether as Board members or for any honorarium, etc. Please note ‘Public Servants’ can be Board Members of NGOs, as mentioned above only restriction, at cost of repetition’ is that they cannot be paid Foreign Contribution.