Law planned to monitor your charity

Retired Supreme Court Judge M Jagannadha Rao heads the Commission.

The main feature of the new law would be a Contributory Regulatory Authority (CRA) to oversee the collection and distribution of contributions and donations for calamity relief and to ensure that those collecting it maintain proper accounts.

It would also make it mandatory for any agency or persons who desire to collect contributions for calamity relief to register themselves with the CRA, whose accounts would in turn be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Commission has also proposed elaborate powers to the District Collector in matters of registration of the agencies and inquiry into complaints of misapropriation of funds by them.

The proposed enactment, it said, should be made applicable to all those contributions or donations collected or received either in cash or kind by any person, association, agency, body, institution, firm, NGO, trust or other organization.

The contributions received by these private bodies from the Government or any fund set up by the Government should also be brought within its purview, said the report, referring to instances of misuse of donations collected in the name of Kargil martyrs and Gujarat quake victims.

The Commission, however, did not believe it necessary to bring funds collected by the Government within the purview of the proposed law, saying there were enough provisions to monitor them. Any further scope for abuse has already been taken care of by the high-powered committee on disaster management set up by the Centre, it said.

But even the high-powered committee had not addressed the issue of collection and distribution of funds and other items in the form of donations or contributions by various persons and bodies and preventing their misappropriation. Hence these recommendations.

The Commission had earlier sought the views of state governments and various NGOs on its proposals. Most states with the exception of Madhya Pradesh said there was a need for a new legislation. The proposal for a permanent CRA also did not find favour with Kerala.

There was no reply from the NGOs with the lone exception of a local one based in Punjab’s Rup Nagar.