More than 20% increment in High Networth Individuals in India

Posted on December 3, 2012 by SRRF

As per an Asia-Pacific Report released by Merril Lynch, despite the economic slowdown there has been steady increase in High Net Worth Individuals in Asia-Pacific markets.  In India the numbers have risen almost by 21%.

A High Net Worth has been defined as one whose investible assets (excluding primary residence, collectables, consumer durables, etc) of more than $ 1 Million. Most of these individuals have been investing in equities, luxury items, etc. with very little in philanthropy.

Perhaps this is the challenge for us in the Development sector to tap not only such HNIs but also several other high income individuals who may not have such large wealth, but could still contribute regularly to the philanthropic causes. As Bain report 2012, which conducted a survey of 400 HNIs, it indicated that most young (under 30) individuals would like to give back to the society and often are not aware of how to go about the same. Thus the ground is fertile to tap such young persons, challenge is with the Sector how it manages the same.

Posted in General | Comments Off on More than 20% increment in High Networth Individuals in India

Bureaucracy becoming more representative

Posted on November 30, 2012 by SRRF

As per a govt publication, representation of SCs/STs has gone up remarkably in various levels of civil service measured over a period of 43 years.

SCs

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D
1st Jan 1965

1.64%

2.82%

8.88%

17.75%
1st Jan 2008

12.50%

14.90%

15.70%

19.60%
STs

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D
1st Jan 1965

0.27%

0.34%

1.14%

3.39%
1st Jan 2008

4.90%

5.70%

7.00%

6.90%

As can be seen there appears to be a significant increment of representation of SCs as well as STs compared to 1964 levels. The increase is most significant in the higher level of civil service, but even in there has been increase, though in percentage terms it understandably it is lower. In case of STs the reservation has also made significant progress. Thus the Govt can claim that reservation policy is having impact of making the bureaucracy more representative.

The publication does not measure impact of OBCs, for whom reservation were introduced in 1993.

–          Based on a report in Indian Express

 
Posted in Social Issues | 1 Comment

Decline in Infant Mortality Rate

Posted on November 28, 2012 by SRRF

There has been a continuing declining trend in IMR since 2009. As per the latest data released by the Govt. IMR has declined by further three point to 44 per thousand in 2011 compared to 47 per 1000 in 2010. There was a reduction in IMR during 2010 also, from 50 to 47.

According to the ministry, the latest bulletin of the Sample Registration System (SRS) released by the Registrar General of India shows that the IMR for rural areas has dropped by three points from 51 to 48 deaths per 1,000 live births while the urban rate now stands at 29 from the previous 31.

As per state-wise data available for 2010, six states with highest IMR are:

Madhya Pradesh

62
UP

61
Assam

58
Meghalaya

55
Chattisgarh

51
Bihar

48

According to the estimates available with health and family welfare ministry, 17 lakh children under 5 die annually, out of which 13 lakhs are infants. Major reason for the deaths continue to be malnutrition. Other reasons being diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles.

Posted in Child Rights | Comments Off on Decline in Infant Mortality Rate

Large number of NGOs not filing FCRA Annual Return

Posted on November 28, 2012 by SRRF

Large number of NGOs are not filing Annual Return as per data released by FCRA Department. 18507 (FY 2009-10 : 16855) FCRA registeredNPOs have not filed their annual return for the financial year 2010-2011. Highest number of NPOs belong to Andhra Pradesh (2661) followed by Tamil Nadu (2317). State-wise list of NPOs given below:

S.No.

Name of the State UT

Number of NGOs who have not filed FCRA Annual Returns

2009-10

2010-11

1

 Andhra Pradesh

2464

2661

2

 Tamil Nadu

2132

2317

3

 Maharashtra

1691

1771

4

 Uttar Pradesh

1432

1743

5

 West BengaI

1299

1382

6

 Karnataka

1240

1337

7

 Kerala

1076

1135

8

 Orissa

951

1056

9

 Bihar

801

950

10

 Delhi

768

828

11

 Gujarat

659

678

12

 Manipur

475

502

13

 Madhya Pradesh

361

388

14

 Rajasthan

325

346

15

 Jharkhand

166

217

16

 Assam

157

187

17

 Haryana

114

128

18

 Uttarakhand

76

115

19

 Nagaland

108

107

20

 Punjab

94

103

21

 Himachal Pradesh

76

94

22

 Chhattisgarh

64

77

23

 Goa

66

75

24

 Jammu & Kashmir

65

63

25

 Meghalaya

53

60

26

 Arunachal Pradesh

40

45

27

 Pondicherry

23

37

28

 Mizoram

18

27

29

 Chandigarh

23

26

30

 Tripura

17

26

31

 Sikkim

12

13

32

 Andaman & Nicobar Islands

7

8

33

 Dadra & Nagar Haveli

1

4

34

 Daman and Diu

1

1

 

 Total

16855

18507
Posted in FCRA, TAX, LEGAL | 3 Comments

ISSUES RELATED TO TDS REFUND

Posted on November 26, 2012 by SRRF

Dear Sir/Madam

Due to non-availibility of PAN in the records of the bank, the bank made TDS @ 20%. In Form16A, PAN of deductee says ‘PANNOTAVAILABLE’ stating the Q-TDS Return has been filed without giving the credit to the PAN holder. Since the deductee already has a PAN, kindly let me know the procedure for claiming the TDS refund through filing of Return as the credit won’t be indicated in Form 26AS.

Regards
Anutam

Posted in FCRA, TAX, LEGAL | 3 Comments

Restrictions on Political Activities for NGOs

Posted on November 24, 2012 by SRRF

Dear Members,

Under which section of the IT Act, Indian Trust Act and FCRA 2010, a registered Public charitable Trust is prohibited to influence/fund the political activity ?

Looking forward to receiving your opinion.

Regards,

Shekar

Posted in FCRA, TAX, LEGAL | Comments Off on Restrictions on Political Activities for NGOs

Is FCRA required for foreign individual Donors?

Posted on November 22, 2012 by SRRF

Hi,

We are a very small org working using sports to combat gutkha addiction among slum youth.

A lot of school and college mates settled out of India would like to donate sums like U.S. $ 100 or U.K. L 100.

Is FCRA neccessary for amounts as low as this too ?

Jamshed Chinoy
Saamarthya Foundation

Posted in FCRA, TAX, LEGAL | 4 Comments

Filing of FCRA (FC-6) Retrun

Posted on November 20, 2012 by SRRF

Dear Sir/Madam

Kindly let us know if FC-6 pertaining to FY 2011-12 is to be submitted manually & online both or only manual filing is sufficient.

Regards
Anutam

Posted in FCRA, TAX, LEGAL | 9 Comments

FCRA Order quashed by High Court

Posted on November 16, 2012 by SRRF

To the anguish of all those NGOs whose FCRA registrations have been cancelled. We bring to you some hope. Madras High Court has quashed FCRA cancellation orders of two NGOs, Rural Uplift Centre and Good Vision, both based in Kanyakumari, Tamilnadu. Please see the attached report published on 13 November in The Hindu newspaper.(click to read)

Please note this judgment appears to be against specific orders issued by the FCRA Dept. to these NGOs (after inquiry ordered by Ministry of Home Affairs in foreign funding of NGOs involved in Kudankulum agitation) and not the general cancellation order of July 2012 impacting almost 4200 NGOs. However it is felt that this will come as a big relief to all those affected by the authoritative order of the FCRA Dept. Main ground for quashing the orders is denial of natural justice to the two NGOs. In fact though many organisations, who got affected by this order, but preferred not to go to the court, could still consider to go to the court, since FCRA authorities got emboldened by non-aggressive attitude of these NGOs and their representative bodies.

–          Credit is given to Shri VK Shivakumar, Chartered Accountant, for bringing the news item to the attention of SRRF Dialogue editorial Team.

Posted in FCRA, TAX, LEGAL | 1 Comment

Counting the Homeless in Delhi

Posted on October 23, 2012 by SRRF

As per a study titled ‘Homeless Survey-2010’ undertaken by UNDP, the official estimate of number of homeless people living without any shade or shelter in Delhi stands at 55,955. Unique Identification Authority of India has also accepted the survey for giving Aadhar numbers to the homeless.

Based on this report, Govt. plans to formulate its policies for providing shelter and possibly skills to such persons for earning their livelihood. So far govt facilities cover only 12,000 homeless people. Further, the condition of these shelters was not good too, as they had been very susceptible to incidents of fire. Moreover they are overcrowded and have very bad living conditions.

However several NGOs have disputed the figures put out by the study. They say the study was undertaken during 2010, when a large number of homeless were driven out of the city on account of Common Wealth Games. For example, Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, which runs a number of homeless shelters in the city and IGSSS, state that the study has not covered many lanes and bylanes, where a number of such persons can be found. IGSSS had undertaken a survey in 2008 and they counted more than 88,000 people. They also insist that for every person counted they would have missed one person, as they could not go to all the bye-lanes of the city. They insist in all probability the Homeless in Delhi would be in the region of 150,000. Their argument seems to have some logic, that it is not possible for any agency to undertake a 100% headcount of population in such a large and diversified city.

In a recent order Supreme Court has directed all the states, particularly the northern states, which have extreme weather conditions to take action on priority basis in creating Night Shelters for such persons. Quoting Article 21 which dels with fundamental right of life and liberty, SC stated that ‘right to shelter’ is also covered by Right to Life and that it is the duty of the Govt ‘to preserve and protect’ the lives of homeless and destitute. It asked that Delhi Govt should provide at least around 160 night shelters.

Posted in Urban Governance | Comments Off on Counting the Homeless in Delhi