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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • BARC ratings for news channels to resume soon

    Ratings by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) for the news channels will resume, after the organisation revised its procedures and protocols.

    The ratings were suspended after the Mumbai police busted a racket involving a private channel’s efforts to tamper the TRPs.

    Try this question:

    Q.What do you mean by “TRP Journalism”? Discuss the loopholes in the present system of self-regulation in Indian media.

    What is TRP?

    • In simple terms, anyone who watches television for more than a minute is considered a viewer.
    • The TRP or Target Rating Point is the metric used by the marketing and advertising agencies to evaluate this viewership.
    • In India, the TRP is recorded by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) using Bar-O-Meters that are installed in televisions in selected households.
    • As on date, the BARC has installed these meters in 44,000 households across the country. Audio watermarks are embedded in video content prior to broadcast.
    • These watermarks are not audible to the human ear, but can easily be detected and decoded using dedicated hardware and software.
    • As viewing details are recorded by the Bar-O-Meters, so are the watermarks.

    What is BARC?

    • It is an industry body jointly owned by advertisers, ad agencies, and broadcasting companies, represented by The Indian Society of Advertisers, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the Advertising Agencies Association of India.
    • Though it was created in 2010, the I&B Ministry notified the Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies in India on January 10, 2014, and registered BARC in July 2015 under these guidelines, to carry out television ratings in India.

    How are the households selected?

    • Selection of households where Bar-O-Meters are installed is a two-stage process.
    • The first step is the Establishment Survey, a large-scale face-to-face survey of a sample of approximately 3 lakh households from the target population. This is done annually.
    • Out of these, the households which will have Bar-O-Meters or what the BARC calls the Recruitment Sample are randomly selected. The fieldwork to recruit households is not done directly by BARC.
    • The BARC on its website has said that the viewing behaviour of panel homes is reported to BARC India daily. Coincidental checks either physically or telephonically are done regularly.

    Vigilance activities by BARC

    • Certain suspicious outliers are also checked directly by BARC India.
    • BARC India also involves a separate vigilance agency to check on outliers that it considers highly suspicious.
    • And as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, these households rotate every year.
    • This rotation is in such a manner that older panel homes are removed first while maintaining the representativeness of the panel.
    • The Ministry guidelines further say that the secrecy and privacy of the panel homes must be maintained, and asked the BARC to follow a voluntary code of conduct.

    What are the loopholes in the process?

    • Several doubts have been raised on many previous occasions about the working of the TRP.
    • As per several reports, about 70% of the revenue for television channels comes from advertising and only 30% from subscriptions.
    • It is claimed that households were being paid to manipulate the TRP.

     

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  • Govt releases revised guidelines for Universal Accessibility

    From the design plan to the implementation, various aspects of the built environment have been covered under the new guidelines for universal accessibility recently drafted by the Centre.

    What is Universal Accessibility?

    • Universal Accessibility can be defined as the conditions for easy access.
    • It would allow any individual (even those whose mobility, communicative ability, or understanding is reduced) to access and enjoy a place, product, or service, and to do so freely and independently.

    Why is universal accessibility important?

    • Universal design is so important because if a space is accessible, usable, and convenient for everyone regardless of age or ability, it’s inclusive for all.
    • An accessible school, library, community centre, govt office or park means everyone can participate fully in their community.

    What are the new guidelines?

    • The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) released the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021.
    • Drafted by a team of the IIT-Roorkee and the National Institute of Urban Affairs of the MoHUA, the revised guidelines aim to give a holistic approach.
    • Earlier, the guidelines were for creating a barrier-free environment, but now they are focusing on universal accessibility.

    Key highlights

    • Ramps: The guidelines provide the gradient and length of ramps — for example, for a length of six metres, the gradient should be 1:12. The minimum clear width of a ramp should be 1,200 mm.
    • Beyond PwDs: While making public buildings and transport fully accessible for wheelchair users is covered in the guidelines, other users who may experience temporary problems have also been considered. For instance, a parent pushing a child’s pram while carrying groceries or other bags, and women wearing saris.
    • Women friendly: Built environment needs for accessibility for women should consider diverse age groups, diverse cultural contexts and diverse life situations in which women operate. Diverse forms of clothing (saris, salwar-kameez, etc.) and footwear (heels, kolhapuri chappals, etc.) require a certain orientations.
    • Accessibility symbols: The guidelines call for accessibility symbols for PwD, family-friendly facilities and transgender to be inclusively incorporated among the symbols for other user groups.
    • Targeted authorities: The guidelines are meant for State governments, government departments and the private sector, as well as for reference by architecture and planning institutes.

    Policy measures for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

    • India is a signatory to the UN Convention the Right of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2007.
    • The ‘Accessible India Campaign’ (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) was launched in 2015 to enable Persons with disabilities to gain universal access, equal opportunity for development.
    • The Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment has also launched the “Sugamya Bharat App” to complain for ease accessibility for PwDs.
    • India has its dedicated the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which is the principal and comprehensive legislation concerning persons with disabilities.

    Back2Basics: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

    • Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program that is set to be launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
    • The flagship program has been launched on 3 December 2015, the International Day of People with Disabilities.
    • The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
    • The initiative also in line with Article 9 of the (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which India is a signatory since 2007.
    • The scheme also comes under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities.

     

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  • Hate speech in the time of free speech

    Context

    The growing incidence of hate speeches, especially those targeting minorities, in combination with the judicial ambiguity has provided an opportunity to chart legislative reforms.

    Current legal provisions to deal with hate speech

    • Not defined in legal framework: Hate speech is neither defined in the Indian legal framework nor can it be easily reduced to a standard definition due to the myriad forms it can take.
    • The Supreme Court, in Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v. Union of India (2014), described hate speech as “an effort to marginalise individuals based on their membership in a group” and one that “seeks to delegitimise group members in the eyes of the majority, reducing their social standing and acceptance within society.”
    • The Indian Penal Code illegalises speeches that are intended to promote enmity or prejudice the maintenance of harmony between different classes.
    • Specifically, sections of the IPC, such as 153A, which penalises promotion of enmity between different groups;
    • 153B, which punishes imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration;
    • 505, which punishes rumours and news intended to promote communal enmity, and
    • 295A, which criminalises insults to the religious beliefs of a class by words with deliberate or malicious intention.
    • Summing up various legal principles, in Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court held that “hate speech has no redeeming or legitimate purpose other than hatred towards a particular group”.
    • Lack of established legal standard: Divergent decisions from constitutional courts expose the lack of established legal standards in defining hate speech, especially those propagated via the digital medium.

    Suggestions

    • The Law Commission of India, in its 267th report, recommended the insertion of two new provisions to criminalise and punish the propagation of hate speech.
    • The 189th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in 2015, recommended the incorporation of separate and specific provisions in the Information Technology Act to deal with online hate speech.
    • Specialised legislation for social media: Much of the existing penal provisions deal with hate speech belong to the pre-Internet era.
    • The need of the hour is specialised legislation that will govern hate speech propagated via the Internet and, especially, social media.
    • Recognise hate speech as reasonable restriction to free speech: Taking cue from best international standards, it is important that specific and durable legislative provisions that combat hate speech, especially that which is propagated online and through social media.
    • Ultimately, this would be possible only when hate speech is recognised as a reasonable restriction to free speech.

    Consider the question “What is hate speech? What are the challenges in dealing with hate speech? Suggest a way forward.”

    Conclusion

    It is important that specific and durable legislative provisions be enacted to combat hate speech.

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  • What is Inner Line Permit System (ILPS)?

    A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court opposing the implementation of the Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) in Manipur.

    What is Inner Line Permit?

    • A concept drawn by colonial rulers, the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
    • The concept originates from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act (BEFR), 1873.
    • To enter and stay for any period in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP).
    • Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are protected by the Inner Line, and lately, Manipur was added (in December last year).

    Its’ Inception

    • The policy of exclusion first came about as a response to the reckless expansion of British entrepreneurs into new lands which threatened British political relations with the hill tribes.
    • The BEFR prohibits an outsider’s — “British subject or foreign citizen” — entry into the are beyond the Inner Line without a pass and his purchase of land there.
    • On the other hand, the Inner Line also protects the commercial interests of the British from the tribal communities.
    • After Independence, the Indian government replaced “British subjects” with “Citizen of India”.
    • Today, the main aim of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the States where the ILP regime is prevalent, in order to protect the indigenous/tribal population.

    Why need ILP?

    • Despite the fact that the ILP was originally created by the British to safeguard their commercial interests, it continues to be used in India.
    • It aims to protect tribal cultures in northeastern India.
    • There are different kinds of ILP’s, one for tourists and others for people who intend to stay for long-term periods, often for employment purposes.
    • ILP’s valid for tourism purposes are granted as a matter of routine.

    Issues with ILP

    • It has been extensively used to restrict the entry of tribals.

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  • The Mediation Bill, 2021

    Context

    The Mediation Bill, 2021 was introduced in Parliament in December 2021. It seeks to ‘promote mediation (including online), and provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation’.

    Need to popularise mediation

    • The Chief Justice of India (CJI), N.V. Ramana, had said that mediation should be made mandatory as a first step in dispute resolution and that a law should be framed in this regard.
    • He emphasised the point that a movement needs to be launched to popularise mediation as it was a cheaper and faster dispute resolution mechanism.
    • He said that courts should be the last resort for dispute resolution; therefore, one should explore the options of alternate dispute resolution.
    • The Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, an initiative of the Madras High Court and India’s first court-annexed facility with a mediation centre in every district, has significantly reduced the pendency of referred cases.

    Which laws in India allow mediation?

    • Mediation finds legitimacy in some specific laws such as:
    • The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,
    • The Companies Act, 2013,
    • The Commercial Courts Act, 2015,
    • The Consumer Protection Act, 2019,
    • However, there is no standalone legislation as yet.

    How the provisions of Mediation Bill 2021 will help in improving the law and order situation

    • The bill seeks to promote mediation (including online), and provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation’.
    • In case of civil or commercial disputes, a person must try to settle the dispute by mediation before approaching a court or tribunal.
    • Improving the law and order situation: There are certain provisions in the Bill which may help in improving the law and order situation in a locality and/or encourage compounding of criminal offences.
    • First, Section 7 of the Bill says that courts will be competent to refer any dispute to mediation relating to compoundable offences or matrimonial offences connected with or arising out of civil proceedings between the parties.
    • Second, Section 44 of the Bill provides for ‘any dispute likely to affect peace, harmony and tranquillity amongst the residents or families of any area or locality, to be settled through community mediation.
    •  Third, the provisions of the Act shall not have the overriding effect, inter alia, on the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act, 2007 and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
    • Promote friendliness: Section 320 in the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides for the compounding of certain criminal offences which shall have the effect of acquittal of the accused.
    • Here, the policy of the law is to promote friendliness between the parties so that peace between them is restored.
    • Relieving the pressure on the police: Many criminal offences are a result of the fact that civil or commercial disputes could not be resolved amicably and in time.
    • The police at times take minor cases lightly or reduce the seriousness of crime by converting a cognisable offence into a non-cognisable one.
    • Therefore, the proposed law of mediation, that has the mechanism of not only preventing the breakdown of law and order through community intervention but also the competence to smoothen the route to compounding of certain criminal offences, may ultimately relieve some of the pressure on the police also.

    Some laws are left out of the scope of Mediation Bill 2021

    • Law to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace: The law to prevent the sexual harassment of women at the workplace has probably been kept out of its scope so that an internal or local complaint committee is able to take up conciliation and close the case locally without involving a third party and detailed procedure.
    • Law on welfare of parents and senior citizens: The law on the maintenance and the welfare of parents and senior citizens has also been kept out of its scope as offences under it are cognisable offences.

    Way forward

    • The Supreme Court’s view: The Supreme Court of India has held that if there is a composition of an offence during investigation, the parties can either approach the court or the police.
    • Increasing the compoundable offences: The number of offences that can be compounded may also be increased — particularly property offences.
    • Keeping in view the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 243rd report, Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, relating to cruelty by the husband or his relatives, can also be made compoundable.
    • It may have far-reaching consequences in resolving matrimonial disputes.

    Consider the question “What are the provisions of the Mediation Bill 2021 that could help relieve some of the pressure on law enforcement agencies?”

    Conclusion

    Though the proposed law primarily intends to resolve civil and commercial disputes through mediation, it has ample scope to relieve some of the pressure on law enforcement agencies.

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    Back2Basics: What is a Compoundable and Non Compoundable offence in India

    • Compoundable offences are those offences where, the complainant (one who has filed the case, i.e. the victim), enter into a compromise, and agrees to have the charges dropped against the accused.
    • However, such a compromise should be a “Bonafide,” and not for any consideration to which the complainant is not entitled to.
    • Compoundable offences are less serious criminal offences and are of two different types mentioned in tables in Section 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as follows:
    • Court permission is not required: These are the offences, compounding of which do not require prior permission of the court.
    •  Court permission is required: These are the offences, compounding of which require prior permission of the court.

  • [pib] Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

    The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has approved the inclusion of Alpine Skiing athlete Mohammad Arif Khan in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group.

    Target Olympic Podium Scheme

    • In order to improve India’s performance at the Olympics and Paralympics, the MYAS started the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in September 2014.
    • It includes foreign training, international competition, equipment, and coaching camp besides a monthly stipend of Rs. 50,000/- for each athlete.
    • It was particularly launched for India’s Olympic medal dream, at the 2016 (Rio) and 2020 (Tokyo) Olympics.

    How does it function?

    • The Mission Olympic Cell is a dedicated body created to assist the athletes who are selected under the TOP Scheme.
    • The MOC is under the Chairmanship of the Director-General, Sports Authority of India (DG, SAI).
    • The idea of the MOC is to debate, discuss and decide the processes and methods so that the athlete receives the best assistance.
    • The MOC also focuses on the selection, exclusion, and retention of athletes, coaches, training institutes that can receive TOPS assistance.

     

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  • Extinguishing the tobacco industry’s main narrative

    Context

    There is no doubt that tobacco use is highly detrimental to public health. We have to find the ways and the means to reduce the demand for tobacco among existing as well as aspiring users.

    Impact of tobacco

    • Tobacco is a product that kills more than 13 lakh Indians every year.
    • Annual burden: The annual economic burden from tobacco use is estimated to be ₹177,340 crore which is more than 1% of India’s GDP.
    • About 27 crore people above the age of 15 years and 8.5% of school-going children in the age group 13-15 years use tobacco in some form in India.

    Are price and tax measures effective against tobacco use?

    • When tobacco products become more expensive, people either quit using them or use them less, and it incentivises many to not initiate the habit.
    • Because it hurts both revenue and profits, the tobacco industry, globally, is always devising tactics and narratives that will pre-empt any kind of tax increases on tobacco products.
    • The narrative of “increasing illicit trade” is something the tobacco industry has historically used to pre-empt potential tax increases on tobacco products in most countries around the world.
    • The story is no different in India.
    • In a recent report by the Tobacco Institute of India, it was said that the illicit cigarette volume in India has grown by 44% from 2011 to 2019 while adding that high and increasing tax rates provide a profitable opportunity for tax evasion and encourage growth in illegal trade.
    • A study published in 2018 which used a survey of empty cigarette packs collected from retail outlets across different cities in India estimated that illicit cigarettes constitute 2.7% of the market.
    • The second study published in 2020 used tax-gap analysis to estimate that the percentage of illicit cigarettes was 5.1% in 2009-10 and 6.6% in 2016-17.

    Are taxes and prices key determinants of illicit trade?

    • It is to be noted that taxes and prices are not the key determinants of illicit trade.
    • There is sufficient evidence in the literature on illicit trade in cigarettes that shows tax increases only have a minimal impact, if at all, on illicit trade.
    • There are several countries where tobacco taxes are quite high and yet have low levels of illicit trade, while there are also countries with high levels of illicit trade despite having relatively low tax rates.
    • Several factors such as the quality of tax administration, the strength of the regulatory framework, government commitment to control illicit trade, the strength of governance, social acceptance, and the presence of informal distribution networks are known to play a larger role in determining the scale and the extent of an illicit market.

    Way forward

    • WHO protocol: Eliminating all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products through a package of measures is one of the major objectives of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
    • The Protocol provides the tools and the measures to eliminate or minimise illicit trade which includes strong governance, establishing an international track and trace system, and securing supply chains.
    • India has already ratified the World Health Organization Protocol and it should now show leadership in implementing these measures to effectively address even the relatively lower levels of illicit trade.

    Conclusion

    There is no scientific or public health rationale not to increase tax on tobacco products for unfounded fear of increasing illicit trade.

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  • Worrying trends in nutrition indicators in NFHS-5 data

    Context

    The NFHS-5 factsheets for India and all states and Union territories are now out. At first glance, it appears to be a mixed bag — much to cheer about, but concern areas remain.

    Positives from the NFHS-5 survey

    • Change in demographic trends: For the first time since the NFHS 1992-93 survey, the sex ratio is slightly higher among the adult population.
    • Improvement in sex ratio at birth: For the first time in 15 years that the sex ratio at birth has reached 929 (it was 919 for 1,000 males in 2015-16).
    • The total fertility rate has also dropped from 2.2 per cent to a replacement rate of 2 per cent, albeit with not much change in the huge fertility divide between the high and low fertility states.
    • Improvement in literacy level of women: There has been an appreciable improvement in general literacy levels and in the percentage of women and men who have completed 10 years or more of schooling, which has reached 41 per cent and 50.2 per cent respectively.
    • Improvements in health indicators: The health sector deserves credit for achieving a significant improvement in the percentage of institutional births, antenatal care, and children’s immunisation rates.
    • There has also been a consistent drop in neonatal, infant and child mortality rates — a decrease of around 1 per cent per year for neonatal and infant mortality and a 1.6 per cent decrease per year for under five mortality rate.

    Nutrition: Area of concern

    • Increase in anaemic people: India has become a country with more anaemic people since NFHS-4 (2015-16), with anaemia rates rising significantly across age groups, ranging from children below six years, adolescent girls and boys, pregnant women, and women between 15 to 49 years.
    • Why anaemia is a concern? Adverse effects of anaemia affect all age groups — lower physical and cognitive growth and alertness among children and adolescents, and lesser capacity to learn and play, directly impacting their future potential as productive citizens.
    •  Further, anaemia among adolescent girls (59.1 per cent) advances to maternal anaemia and is a major cause of maternal and infant mortality and general morbidity and ill health in a community.
    • The detailed report will explain why a dedicated programme like Anaemia Mukt Bharat which focused on IFA consumption failed to gain impetus.
    • Slow pace of improvement in nutritional indicators: Between NFHS 4 and NFHS 5, the percentage of children below five years who are moderately underweight has reduced from 35.8 per cent to 32.1 per cent.
    • Moderately stunted children have fallen from 38.4 per cent to 35.5 per cent, moderately wasted from 21 per cent to 19.3 per cent and severely wasted have increased slightly from 7.5 per cent to 7.7 per cent.
    • Inadequate diet: The root cause for this is that the percentage of children below two years receiving an adequate diet is a mere 11.3 per cent, increasing marginally from 9.6 per cent in NFHS-4.

    Way forward

    • India’s nutrition programmes must undergo a periodic review.
    • The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which is perceived as the guardian of the nation’s nutritional well-being must reassess itself and address critical intervention gaps, both conceptually and programmatically, and produce rapid outcomes.

    Conclusion

    The nutritional deficit which ought to be considered an indicator of great concern is generally ignored by policymakers and experts. Unless this is addressed, rapid improvement in nutritional indicators cannot happen.

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  • How to control cyber crime against women

    Context

    The open-source app, Bulli Bai, hosted on the web platform GitHub for “auctioning Muslim women” has laid bare the harassment women face online.

    Cybercrimes against women

    • As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) there were around 825 million internet users in India at the end of March 2021.
    • The minuscule amount of rogue elements among these internet users have the lethal capability to create havoc in the nation, its polity, economy and the personal and professional lives of citizens.
    • Reluctance to file case: Many times, police officers are approached by anxious parents, days before marriage, seeking help about fake profiles or morphed photographs of their daughters on the internet.
    • A formal police case is thus never lodged.
    • The stark reality is that cyber blackmailing, stalking and bullying is a humongous issue, causing a lot of stress to women and their families.
    •  NCRB statistics show that total cyber crimes in India during 2020 were 50,035, and those specifically against women were only 10,405.

    Steps need to be taken

    • Promt reporting and registration: To find out the true magnitude of cyber crime, prompt reporting and registration are the only options.
    • International cooperation through treaties: There are many international gangs which successfully avoid detection as “servers” used by them are located outside India.
    • International cooperation through formal treaties and informal channels has to be pursued.
    • CERT-IN has been doing commendable work in this regard.
    • Registering a criminal case is the first crucial step as it sets the law into motion, leading to tracing, arresting and prosecuting the rogues even if they are located outside the country.
    • Increase awareness:  There is need to increase awareness about cyber safety and security so that youth, especially young girls and women, take proper precautions while surfing the virtual world.
    • Better policing: As for the police, we do need better infrastructure, more special cyber cells and police stations, regular training, and collaboration with cyber experts on a continuous basis.
    • Strengthening the capability of forensic laboratories can lead to timely collection of evidence of cyber bullying, threatening, morphing and profiling.
    • Many state labs do not have sufficient numbers of cyber experts to seize, preserve and store images of digital evidence essential for securing conviction in courts.
    • The central government has given funds to states and Union territories under the Cyber Crime Prevention Against Women and Children (CCPWC) scheme to start “cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories”.
    • Fast trial: Fast trial of cyber crimes would indeed help. As per the NCRB, during 2020, court trials were completed in only nine cases of cyber blackmailing and threatening with a 66.7 per cent conviction rate — 393 such cases are pending in courts.
    • Systematic training of prosecutors and judicial officers in dealing with cyber crimes would definitely speed up trials.

    Conclusion

    Prompt reporting of cyber crime by citizens, technically proficient investigation by police adequately supported by forensics, and time-bound completion of court trials are essential for catching cyber offenders who are terrorising people, especially women, in the virtual as well as the real world.

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  • Challenges facing the Civil Society Organisations

    Context

    Recently, the Missionaries of Charity established by Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa was in the news for the cancellation of its permission under the FCRA.

    Detailed scrutiny delaying permission for grant

    • The levels of due diligence and the information sought on the one hand and the annual declarations to be given by the board members of civil society organisations on the other have increased significantly.
    • The mandatory opening of bank accounts for foreign contributions has been centralised in one branch of the State Bank of India.
    • The linking of Permanent Account Number (PAN), Aadhaar number and mapping it with the bank account/s of the individual board members are happening.
    • The registrations under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) have been long necessitated in order to undertake due diligence of the causes for which the organisation is working for and also to have a handle on the traceability of funds.
    • The dashboard shows a little under 17,000 active organisations — which have either got permission or will know their fate by March 2022, while around 33,000 organisations have either lost their permission or it has expired.

    Various restrictions

    • Restriction on sub-grant: In the past, the amendments in the FCRA that restricted the ability to sub-grant, killed many of the niche organisations working in very remote areas which had no direct access to international funding but were doing it through larger non-governmental organisations.
    • Restriction on administrative expenses: The other amendment restricting the proportion of expenses on administration almost choked organisations that worked for the rights of the disposed.
    • The increasing level of surveillance type of data sought has resulted in many organisations losing people on their governance structure and resulting in problems in funding.

    Why do we need Civil Society Organisations?

    • We need them because they usually work on what can be called an unreasonable agenda.
    • This unreasonableness falls in three large verticals.
    • [1] Ensuring efficiency and accountability from state: The first is that they ask for greater efficiency, delivery and accountability from the state.
    • Whether is it about rehabilitation and compensation in the case of land acquisition or setting up a great accountability framework as was done through the movement led by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan for the Right to Information.
    • [2] Correcting extractive nature of market: The second vertical is in correcting the extractive nature of markets.
    • The groups asking for environmental accountability are looking at inter-generational justice on a matter that is not very precisely measurable but is palpable.
    • [3] Picking up niche causes: The third is basically picking up causes that are so niche that it is beyond the capability of the state to come up with such initiatives.
    • For example, a drama school set up in a village called Heggodu, Karnataka, or an idea of distributing clothing for work as done by Goonj.
    • These initiatives cannot be put into specific business plans, spreadsheets or government schemes.
    • They, therefore, need a grant-based, cause-based revenue stream model.

    Should these organisations accept foreign funding?

    • Causes have no boundaries: “Causes” have no boundaries and funding for such socially desirable belief systems could come from beyond borders.
    • Some causes carried out by organisations such as Doctors Without Borders, or Reporters Without Borders are by definition international in nature.
    • Similar is the case with the Jaipur foot provided by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti.
    • The humanitarian work by the Missionaries of Charity is beyond the capability of a state.
    • Such causes do not have a rational basis to be explained in terms of a financial model; how do you put a price tag to press freedom?
    • The niche funding will happen from agencies that may be beyond the borders.
    • The duality of welcoming foreign investments (which takes away capital gains and dividends) while actively discouraging foreign aid to charities is staring us in the face.

    Conclusion

    The government needs to ensure that the regulations do not create hurdles for the civil society organisations in their functioning and receiving fundings.

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