Global Vista

Almost everyone with investments receive regular mail from groups like World Vision which are registered as NGO requesting donations which could improve the life of  a child. If there is any problem, the NGO’s get a lot of coverage in the media. However, there is very little information about the actual activities of  the NGO’s in India.

By definition, a NGO or a non-governmental organization is any non-profit, voluntary citizen’s group or association. They can be registered as a trust, society, co-operative or company and may operate locally, nationally or  internationally. These NGO’s cover a range of  activities which vary from education for the underprivileged to waste management activities.

NGO’s receive a lot of concessions and tax benefits since they are expected to work for the benefit of society on a non-profit basis. They are also independent of  the government. The NGO’s get their funding from domestic and foreign agencies. Foreign contributions are regulated by the Foreign Contribution’s Act and the NGO’s are expected to report these contributions to the government. However, the number of registered organizations reporting information accurately has decreased and it is believed that a lot of contributions are not reported.

The largest foreign donors are Gospel and missionary trusts  in USA and UK, and the largest recipient of the funds are World Vision India (more than 200 crores) and Caritas India (more than 180 crores).  However, though these are voluntary organizations,  a large part of  the money they receive (30-70%) is spent on fixed expenses like posh offices, vehicles for transport, phone bills, salaries and foreign travel. Only a small amount is spend on actually helping the underprivileged!

In September 2000, 189 heads of states of the countries that constitute the United Nations, ratified the Millennium Declaration, which resulted in eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The eight MDGs are :
1. Reduction of the number people living on less than a dollar a day by half, reduce the people living in poverty and hunger.
2. Ensure that all boys and girls complete their primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and remove disparities in education at both the primary and secondary level.
4. Reduce the mortality rate for children under 5 years by two third.
5. Improve maternal health, by reduce mortality rates by three forth.
6. Reduce the rate of spread of HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases.
7. Ensure that the development policies followed by countries are sustainable and do not cause any environmental damage.
8. Develop a global partnership for development, while is rule based, non - discriminatory and address the needs of the less developed nations.

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