Events
- Taxation of Non-profit Organizations under the Direct Taxes Code Bill 2009
- Effective Partnership for Universal Health Insurance to Poor
- Information and Communication Technology and Millennium Development Goals
- National Summit of SHG Federations on MF and MDGs
- Possibilities and Challenges in Technology Transfer from Lab to Farmers Field – A Way Forward
- Public Private Partnership in Promoting Rural Tourism
- Advancing Rainfed Farming Development for Achieving MDGs
- Revisiting Indigenous Risk-coping Mechanisms
- Role of Panchayat Institutions in Achieving MDGs
- Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility Activities towards MDGs
- SHGs and Financial Inclusion: A Workshop on Sharing the Experience of Stakeholders
- Community Radio for Change
- NGOs as Business Facilitators & Business Correspondent for Bank Linkage
Public Private Partnership in Promoting Rural Tourism
Issues such as poverty, illiteracy, health, sanitation and unemployment remain unsolved in the rural areas; rural tourism can provide some solutions. The focus of the workshop was to describe the types of partnerships which could be developed between public and private institutions and the community with respect to building rural livelihood opportunities.
Mr. K.P.Bharathi, Programme Leader, DHAN Tourism for Development, explained that “the public partners in a PPP are Government entities including ministries, departments, municipalities or state owned enterprises.” The purpose of the seminar was to involve all the stakeholders in the development of rural tourism.
Rural tourism contributes to rural development by strengthening livelihoods of the poor in the village, said Mr.R.K.Anil, Endogenous Tourism Expert, Hyderabad. Rural tourism rejuvenates rural crafts and cultural traditions by opening new markets. He highlighted that PPP should be renamed as “Public-Private CommunityPartnership.”
Mr. Debashish Nayak, Advisor, Heritage Programme Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) shared his experience of how AMC heritage initiatives help in overall sustainable city development. Public participation has to be recognised as an important tool for urban conservation. At the end, representatives from the Tamil Nadu Tourism Department shared action plans which included policy changes to ensure employment to youth and aged people, and creating a strong network for rural tourism sites.
Information and Communication Technology and MDGs
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can help achieve the MDGs by 2015, particularly becauseit can effectively reach many people.Mr. Muthukumarasamy described the services available at Village Information Centres and Dr.Kathiresan described ICT extension activities. Mr. Sanjeevi, GM,BSNL, reviewed the importance of MDGs and ICT and gave prizes for the best ISRO supported Village Resource Centre operators. Dr. Shanmugam, Regional Director, IGNOU, gave certificates to the students of DHAN-IGNOU’s computer literacy programme. Dr. Jeganathan, Principal, ICM, expressed his willingness to offer short-term courses to VIC operators.
Several recommendations were made at the convention including designing seasonal video conferences for the community, creating thematic newsletters, offering employment support, and offering banking services.
Taxation of Non-profit Organizations under the Direct Taxes Code Bill 2009
Mr. A.K.B.L. Chand,I.R.S., Commissioner of Income Tax, Madurai inaugurated the event and explained the need of new income tax laws.The Direct Taxes Code Bill which became public on August 13, 2009 for suggestions and critiques was discussed. To understand what the Government is willing to give to the public, the bill should be taken asa fresh document, interpreted from scratch and not be compared with the Income Tax Act 1961. The Bill makes non-profitable organizations (NPOs) a “separate taxable entity” to be taxed at 15% of their total income,and at a concessional rate for their “permitted welfare activities”. To get NPO status, the beneficiaries of the organisation’s work must be the general public, and all prescribed books must be strictly maintained. Non-practice of either of these will attract the withdrawal of ‘NPO’ status.
Mr. Sheshadri, Chartered Accountant, Bangalore shared that this Bill, in its present form, is a threat to the efficient functioning of NPOs. Even a single commercial activity of an NPO, can deprive it of NPO status. However, tax exemptions are extended if the ultimate beneficiary of commercial activities is the general public. Once this Bill comes into effect in April 2011, dormant and start-up NPOs will lose NPO status. All NPOs will be prevented from accumulating donations which is practically difficult as investments are usually made over a long period of time. The strict book-keeping regulations can be difficult for small NPOs. The high tax rate will also discourage donors. Moreover, the growth and efficient functioning of NPOs and development organizations will suffer and so will the overall development of the nation.
The Bill was unanimously declared ‘not-acceptable’ and ‘against development’ in its present form. The forum recommended that the high tax rate be abolished, book-keeping instructions be relaxed, and privilege to accumulate capital be continued with.
National Summit of SHG Federations on MF and MDGs
The second day of the Summit started with cultural programmes of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa,and Maharashtra. Mrs. Shanthi Maduresan summarised the proceedings of the first day’s discussions and assigned the remaining discussion points. The summit’s participants wrote interesting and well-defined declarations, as stated below.
The summit emphasises the preparation of a database of SHG members to know about their financial, social,education, livelihood, and health related problems. The summit decided that food security should be the main agenda for SHGs and Federations. The participants suggested compulsory health insurance products for all SHG members by Federations and also consideration for facilities related to health care for women and children. The summit gave importance to policies and programmes by Federations with National Rural Health Mission to bring effective changes in rural health. Declarations were taken to introduce special loan facilities with low interest rates. For women’s empowerment, participation of women in Panchayat Raj Institutions and in other government schemes was considered. For environment sustainability, use of environment-friendly materials for daily needs was suggested. The summit concluded that Federations and SHGs could effectively utilise microfinance as a tool for achieving MDGs related to poverty, education, women empowerment, health and environment sustainability. The declarations were presented in Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu and Oriya.
Effective Partnership for Universal Health Insurance to Poor
The workshop focused on how health insurances chemes for the poor can help to meet the MDGs. The participants were from different organisations including NIC, GHP, Peoples Mutuals, and different programmes of DHAN Foundation. Mr. Balasubramanian, DHAN Foundation, explained that in developing countries, only a small percentage of people have group insurance.
Mr.S. Akilan (Sr. Divisional Manager, NIC, Madurai) shared that countries can move forward only when citizens are healthy. Insurance also plays a vital role in the economic development of the country.
Mr. Venugopalan (Asst. Regional Manager, Coimbatore) focused on the relationship between health insurance and the economic growth of families. He also describe ddifferent income leakages, and shared that if we could convert these leakages into premium savings, health would be secured and economic growth will improve.
Possibilities and Challenges in Technology Transfer from Lab to Farmers Field – A Way Forward
Although 65% of India’s population depends on agriculture, it is not seen as an important activity. Dr P. Kalaiselvan (Director of Extension Education,TNAU) explained the challenges being faced by the agricultural sector in using technology developed and programmes identified for its improvement. The transfer of technology from the “lab” to the “land” needs revision and farmers need encouragement to accept these new methods.
Dr R. Vijayaraghavan, Professor and Head, Training Division, DOEE, TNAU, Coimbatore, emphasised that it is important to strengthen both the transfer of technology to the farming community and the feedback of farmers to researchers. Dr S.P. Ramanathan,Programme Coordinator, KVK, Tiruchirapalli, explained that every KVK has well-defined activities, governance, Scientific Advisory Committee, and training programmes to be offered to farmers, rural youth, extension functionaries and others.
Discussions included the acceptance of innovation by farmers, lack of financial assistance to farmers, high cost of innovation, lack of initiative by extension agents to educate farmers, lack of recognition of traditional practices and knowledge, and poor access to inputs and technologies. Dr Ramanathan also stated that the constraints could have been easily handled if the farmers would be organised into groups or committees, and if they were involved in planning and monitoring.
Even though many challenges and constraints exist in the transfer of technology from research stations to the farming community, this can be handled through farmers’ cooperation and timely training on using of technology. If these technologies can be effectively adopted, they can help to address the issues of poverty and hunger.
Advancing Rainfed Farming Development for Achieving MDGs
This seminar, conducted by DHAN Foundation, focusedon advancing rain fed farming so that all farmers canuse and benefit from it. Presentations were delivered about the use of advanced technology for enhancing rainfed agriculture, and the advancement of livestock contribution to rainfed farming for meeting MDGs. The presenters emphasized that to address the first goal, it is imperative to enhance the income of rainfed farmers.The major challenge in rain fed areas is not only thelow average productivity of crops but also their high vulnerability to risks. These can be reduced by using current technologies, tank silt, or other processes which also conserve bio-diversity.
The presentations supported alternative livelihoods for farmers so that they do not migrate during droughts orin vulnerable situations. Livestock was promoted as the best alternative since it will both support in agriculture and provide other livelihood sources.
The discussion also left several challenging issues like how to use the available funds to attain sustainability and how tailor technologies to different contexts. It was suggested that government officials should also be invited to these seminars.
NGOs as Business Facilitators & Business Correspondent for Bank Linkage
Banks have been attempting to bring banking services to rural areas. However these attempts at financial inclusion still only have limited success. Mediators, for example, business facilitators or business correspondents, might help in providing access to affordable hassle-free services like savings, credit, and insurance, said Mr. Kalyanasundaram, CEO, INAFI-India, Madurai. He added, “Banking is about confidence, money comes later.”
Mr. Bharat Kumar, AGM, NABARD, Bangalorementioned about watershed years 1969 and 1980 in the banking system as it pushed the urban-centric approach of banks towards rural areas; however, only half of the households are provided with formal financial services, in spite of the 150,000 credit delivering points in India.
Mrs. Rajasree Barua, DGM, MCID, NABARD,Mumbai, emphasised on the important role of RBI as aregulator in financial inclusion. Mr. S. Selva Raj, AGM,RBI, Madurai stated that BF and BC model was initiated in 2005; he also talked about related rules and regulations. Mr. Ramkumar, Retired DGM, SBI, talkedabout challenges related to the model and explained the importance of regulatory bodies.
Ultimately it was recommended that training was needed for both NGOs and bank officials for better synchronization, and cash handling on the part of NGOs. Security deposit requirements should be relaxed for NGOs and insurance should be included as an integral part of services.
Role of Panchayat Institutions in Achieving MDGs
The Panchayat Program of DHAN Foundation conducted a conventionto create awareness about MDGs among leaders of local government institution and advise them on how to work towards achieving the goals.
Mr. Vallinayagam described the nature and intensity of health, sanitation and safe drinking water problems in India. He held that the development committees of Panchayats should take initiatives to solve these problems. The chief guest, Mr. Meenakshi sundaram,said “power will not come on its own; the Panchayats have to take power and use the existing powers, without any party politics, for development.”
The participants were divided into four groups, one comprising only corporation members. Several important resolutions emerged during the discussions. The resolutions for the corporation members highlighted school, sanitation and drinking water facilities, air and water pollution control measures, and wastage management. The resolutions by the sub-groups of panchayat members focused on establishment and maintenance of schools and other education facilities, organic farming, tree plantation, pension schemes and effective fund utilization.
Revisiting Indigenous Risk-coping Mechanisms
Today, many people think of insurance when thinking about coping with risks. However, many indigenous risk-coping mechanisms are still relevant. Mr. Mahanthesh and Mr. Ganesha H S, Faculty, Tata-Dhan Academy facilitated the seminar. Mr. Vivekanandan (CEO, SEVA, Madurai) described how different technological interventions can secure livestock based livelihoods. Mr. Jeeban Jyoti Mohanty, DHAN Foundation, Mayurbhanj, discussed indigenous coping mechanism among tribal communities while Mr. Thangavel, Manager, Social Education and Development Trust, Madurai, described the traditional mode of savings followed in coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Tripathy, Programme Leader, SRIJAN, discussed risk coping mechanisms in watershed areas and Mr. Alok Dubey, DHAN Foundation, Lathehar, discussed traditional coping mechanism among tribal community related to jala(water), jamin (land) and jangal (forest). Mr. Piyush,DHAN Foundation, explained the Nothara system among Bhil community, coping mechanism followed at the time of marriage and education.
SHGs and Financial Inclusion: Sharing the Experience of Stakeholders
The workshop on “SHGs and Financial Inclusion” was attended by participants from various banks and by representatives from various NGOs, Federations and SHGs. Mr. C. Joseph Raj of KDFS, DHAN Foundation, gave an overview of the current status of financial inclusion (FI) in India. According to him, 41% of the adult population does not have any bank account.
The participants shared their understanding of FI.Dr. Rangarajan, explained that the concept was to ensure that every adult citizen in India has a bank account and can avail benefits. Other views were that “financial exclusion leads to social unrest” (Mr. P.R Gaikwad, DGM, NABARD), and that “financial education is essential for financial inclusion” (Mr. R. Mahadevan, DGM, Indian Bank, Salem).
The business facilitator and business correspondent models were the focus of the afternoon discussion. The forum concluded with the following points. Financial inclusion is just a beginning, not an end. NGOs must promote income-generating activities for its continuation. Furthermore, financial literacy should be brought to the general public by NGOs and banks should share the cost of such initiatives.
Community Radio for Change
The workshop started with an introduction of the role of community radio in raising community awareness by Mr. P. Krishnamurthi. Dr Vinod Pavarala, CRF–India, expressed that community radio is affordable in terms of production, management, and reception. It helps to enhance cultural identity. CR is about the community owning and controlling its own means of communication. Mr Ashish Sen, Vice President,AMARC-Asia Pacific, shared that community radio can act as a tool to eradicate poverty and transform disaster to relief. India has a space for 5,000 CR stations, but in fact, has only 41 stations, with just 5 at grassroot levels. The workshop ended with the statement that CR can be run by any lay person who has some knowledge to impart to the community, but that it is important to understand the policies regulating CR.
Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility Activities towards MDGs
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not a one-time charitable activity, explained Mr. N. Krishnamoorthy; it is a long-term process of providing sustainable livelihoods to the society. Industries such as Tata, Mahindra & Mahindra, and ITC India, conduct programmes related to health, education and women empowerment, which help in furthering the MDGs. Companies should use their surpluses for the betterment of society.