“NGO Not an Industry, states court, dismissing case”

This has reference to a Report in the Mumbai Mirror of Sunday, 28^th May 2017 captioned: “NGO Not an Industry, states court, dismissing case”

  

The report states: “Seven years after an NGO employee approached the Labour Court alleging unfair labour practices in the organisation, which is run by an ex-MLA, the court has dismissed the complaint saying that salaried NGO workers cannot approach Labour Courts.”

Read more at: http://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/ngo-not-an-industry-says-court-dismissing-case/articleshow/58876577.cms

In our view, this matter has been examined over three decades ago by the Supreme Court in the landmark case “Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. R. Rajappa” and whether a charitable institution is an industry or not is now a settled case law! The recent verdict can easily be challenged at a higher court of law.

What is Industry?

Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 defines ‘Industry’ as “any business, trade, undertaking, manufacture, or calling of employers and includes any calling, service, employment, handicraft or industrial occupation or avocation of workmen”.

The first principle we need to understand is, industry exists only when there is relationship between employers and employees.

The Supreme Court had held: “Any activity will be industry if it fulfills the ‘triple test’, as under:

1. Systematic and organized activity;
2. With the cooperation between Employers and employees;
3. For the production and distribution of good and services whether or not capital has been invested for this activity.”

The Supreme Court was clear in the understanding that it is immaterial whether or not there is profit motive or whether or not there is capital. If the organization is a trade or business it does not cease to be one because of philanthropy overriding or overshadowing the triple test and such organizations therefore cannot be exempted from the scope of definition of industry.

There is also the “Dominant nature” test. Where there are complex activities, the test would be predominant nature of services and integrated nature of departments.

The exceptions to industry are:

• Casual activities (because they are not systematic);
• Small clubs, cooperatives, research labs, gurukuls which have an essentially volunteer or non-employee character;
• Single door lawyer taking help from clerk (because there is no organized labour);
• Charitable activities carried on through volunteers e.g. free legal or medical service;
• Sovereign functions, i.e., maintenance of law and order, legislative functions and judicial function.

Charitable Institutions

Charitable institutions fall under three categories:

1. Those that generate profit (or surplus income), but the profits or surplus income is used only for charitable purposes;
2. Those that make no profit or surplus income, but, hire the service of employees as in any other business, but the goods/ services which are the output, are made available at a low/subsidized or no cost to the indigent poor; and
3. Those that are driven by mission to serve humanity and fulfilled by men and women who work, not because they are paid wages, but because they share the passion for the cause and derive job satisfaction.

The first two categories are industries, but not the third, on the assumption that they all involve co-operation between employers and employees.

What is an Undertaking?

Ultimately, it is the character of the activity in question which attracts the provisions of Sec. 2 (j). Who conducts the activity (a business or a charitable institution) and whether it is conducted for profit or not, does not make any material difference. An activity systematically or habitually undertaken for the production or distribution of goods or for the rendering of material services to the community at large or a part of such community with the help of employees is an ‘undertaking’.

Activities that have no commercial implications, such as hospitals with philanthropic motives would be covered by the expression ‘undertaking’. The mere fact that Government or a charitable trust runs such activity is immaterial.

In Management of Safdarjung Hospital v. Kuldip Singh, it was held that a place of treatment of patients run as a department of the government was not an industry because it was a part of the functions of the government. Charitable hospitals run by Government or even private associations cannot be included in the definition of industry because they have not embarked upon economic activities analogous to trade or business. If hospitals, nursing home or a dispensary is run as a business in a commercial way, there may be elements of industry.

In Dhanrajgiri Hospital v. Workmen, the main activity of the hospital was imparting of training in nursing and the beds in the hospital were meant for their practical training. It was held not to be an industry, as it was not carrying on any economic activity in the nature of trade or business.

However, in Bangalore Water Supply v A. Rajappa, the Supreme Court overruled Safdarjung Hospital and Dhanrajgiri Hospital cases, and approved the law laid down in Hospital Mazdoor Sabha case. It was held that hospital facilities are surely services and hence industries. The government departments while undertaking welfare activities cannot be said to be engaged in discharging sovereign functions and hence outside the ambit of Sec.2(j) of the Act.

Therefore, a charitable hospital run by a private trust, offering free services and employing a permanent staff is an industry as there is a systematic activity, a cooperation between employer and employees and rendering of services which satisfies human wants and wishes.

Conclusion

Is NGO and Industry or not?

Yes, NGO is an industry if there is a systematic activity, a cooperation between employer and employees and rendering of services which satisfies human wants and wishes. It matters not if the NGO runs solely on grants or donations or whether there is capital, profit or surplus or otherwise. 

for any further queries, write to connect@capindia.in 

Final Opportunity for NGOs to file FCRA Returns for FY 2010-11 to 2014-15

Upload Missing Returns without penalty or compounding fees

Unnecessary panic and paranoia has once again gripped the voluntary sector in India thanks to the Public Notice dated 12^th May 2017 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. To read the notice please go to: https://fcraonline.nic.in/home/PDF_Doc/fc_Notice_12052017.pdf

According to the aforesaid Notice, MHA is still processing renewal applications, but, finds that a number of organizations which have applied for renewal of their registration have not uploaded their Annual Returns from FY 2010-11 to FY 2014-15 and thus renewal of registration of such organizations cannot be granted unless the Annual Returns are uploaded by these organizations.

MHA had made filing of online FCRA returns mandatory only from FY 2015-16. For previous financial years MHA was officially accepting hard copies sent by post, but, lacked the wherewithal to feed the data electronically into their own system. For quite some time, MHA used to hire data entry operators to transfer data received in hard copy. However, this process and system was random and often inaccurate.

Several thousand NGOs who have regularly filed annual returns by post (and not online) between FY 2010-11 and FY 2014-15 have not been granted renewal of their registration mainly because in the MHA’s system, the data from hard copy has simply not been transferred electronically to the system.

Therefore, MHA has now published a list of 18,523 NGOs whose annual returns are not on the FCRA department’s records or to put it more accurately, on MHA’s computer system. In a rather smart move, MHA has now asked these 18,523 NGOs to upload their missing returns online within a grace period of one month (i.e. from 15^th May 2017 to 14^th June 2017). MHA has “generously” added that no compounding fees will be charged during this period for the default in filing the annual returns. In other words, although these NGOs may have filed their returns in hard copy with proof of posting the same, they must now go online and help MHA to update their system and after that their application for renewal will be processed and hopefully granted for a period of five years.

Click on the following link to see the list of 18,523 NGOs:

https://fcraonline.nic.in/home/PDF_Doc/fc_list_12052017.pdf

We also recommend that even NGOs who have already been granted renewal should check this list just in case their returns are missing for any particular year between FY 2010-11 and FY 2014-15.

How to check?

Open or download the list at: https://fcraonline.nic.in/home/PDF_Doc/fc_list_12052017.pdf

There is no need for you to scan the entire list. MHA has provided a search option. Click Ctrl and F simultaneously on your keyboard and the search box will appear in the right-hand corner. In this box type either your organization’s name or your FCRA registration number and if your organization is unfortunately on this list it will open on that page with your organization’s name highlighted. You may then find that on MHA’s system you have not filed returns for either one or more years out of the five listed financial years between FY 2010-11 to FY 2014-15. Your immediate next step should be to log in to your FCRA account and file the missing returns online in Form FC 4.

Another way to do this is to go to https://fcraonline.nic.in and under FCRA Online Forms column (left hand side) Click the tab “Intimation – Annual Returns (FC 4)”. Next, enter user id, password and Access Code. Scroll down and you will find a table with the five financial Block Year and the status under the head “Process” either as “FCRA Annual returns has been submitted for the block year: 2010-2011” or “click here to filing annual returns for the block year :2010-2011”. Click on the latter and the window for filing the return for the particular year will open in Form FC 4.

The user guide for filing annual return in Form FC 4 can be found at: https://fcraonline.nic.in/home/Documents/Instruction/FC4_returns.pdf

For technical assistance one may write to: support-fcra@gov.in or call 011 23438042.

We, at CAP, would also be pleased to clarify any doubts or concerns that you may have with regard to this issue. Write in to connect@capindia.in

Ministry of Home Affairs - notice dated 12th May 2017

 

 

 

Ministry of Home Affairs through its notice dated 12th May 2017, has published a list of 18,523 NGOs which have applied for renewal but have not uploaded their annual returns from FY 2010-11 and 2014-15. MHA has therefore decided to give one final opportunity to all such associations/ NGOs to upload their missing Annual Returns within one month (15 May 2017 to 14 June 2017). 

Please note that no compounding fees will be charged during this period.  

 

If you have filed it & are listed kindly file again.

 

You may find the list of NGO’s at the link given below:

https://fcraonline.nic.in/home/PDF_Doc/fc_list_12052017.pdf

Bombay High Court grants interim relief to ‘Lawyers Collective’

Court has observed that FCRA “does not provide for a government to stifle the very functioning of individuals or associations”

The Bombay high court has ordered de-freezing of the domestic and non-FCRA bank accounts of ‘Lawyers Collective’, the not-for-profit association run by former Additional Solicitor General of India Ms. Indira Jaising.

Justice M.S. Sonak in an interim order on 30^th January 2017 restrained the Charity Commissioner from attaching the assets and accounts of the Lawyers Collective. The High court observed that while the Union government had powers under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to “regulate or, even prevent the acceptance of foreign funds by an association, the Act did not provide for a government to stifle the very functioning of individuals or associations.”

In November 2016, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had cancelled permanently the FCRA registration of ‘Lawyers Collective’, alleging misuse of foreign funds. MHA had also directed that all bank accounts of the NGO be frozen and that its assets be attached. The association then approached the High Court arguing that the MHA order that takes recourse under Sections 22 and 15 of the FCRA was erroneous and that the sections had been misinterpreted.

Senior counsel Aspi Chinoy, appearing for Lawyers Collective, argued that FCRA provisions allowed for disposal of assets of only such organisations that had become defunct, but Lawyers Collective was an existing entity that conducted extensive legal research in the fields of health and social justice.

The Union government, through Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, argued on the other hand that the MHA’s cancellation order was valid since the “trustees of Lawyers Collective had diverted the money received by the association for personal gains”. Justice Sonak, however, observed that some of the allegations leveled by MHA were “quite vague” and since the appeal will be taken up for final hearing to decide upon the legality of the MHA’s decision, it would not be appropriate to halt the functioning of the association in the meanwhile

Keep in touch with all our legal and sector updates through THE CAP BLOG

Beyond CSR to ISR

The concept of social engagement by Indian business has had a historical background, directed towards ‘doing good and giving back to society’. Most of these thoughts and initiatives had their roots in the value of re-distributing wealth in different forms. Practiced since the 1900’s, a few industrial houses, through charitable trusts, set aside a portion of their profits for philanthropy. From our last newsmag by guest contributor Chandni Lamba who has 25 years work experience in the corporate sector, has a passion for CSR & Sustainability.

 

Evolution of CSR has seen an increased allocation of profits towards sustainability through integration with and of businesses. Over the last few years, CSR has become a commitment towards a community; either directly associated with the business or because of a responsible management practise, without there being a directive for such behaviour. 

 

Because of the recently formulated Policy under the Companies Act, 2013, CSR expenditure has been mandated for companies qualifying as per a set of parameters. While India may lead the world in passing such legislation, many other countries have been doing it as a voluntary social initiative. For India Inc., this is an ideal opportunity to join the CSR movement towards a sustainable and long term impact for the communities they are surrounded by. Corporate India should try to expand its participation in social and human development and internalize the Triple Bottom Line of measuring gains for People, Planet and Profit, as against only the profit line. 

 

There is a need for companies to engage with NPO’s, NGO’s, academics and entrepreneurs to launch effective, scalable development strategies and plans. It is equally important to empower rural & urban youth and women to make them agents of change for the community. Locally relevant sustainable models directed to benefit the socio-economic environment of the communities has to come from those who are a part of it – through a ‘bottom up’ approach. For instance, through healthcare projects, if we can measure the basic health factor in, say the women, we can direct health services to bridge the gap that shows up during such measurements. Recently I volunteered for a Health camp for women, in a ‘slum’. While doing basic blood tests, we were shocked to see that 90% of the participants had an iron deficiency and low haemoglobin and were preparing for motherhood! Can then the future generation of the nation be healthy and strong to withstand the battle for resources?

So, some of us decide to make that difference through a contribution or donation. While it is also important, it is not only about writing a donation cheque to provide financial resources. It is more about optimising resources to create an ecosystem for developmental change. Ethical practises and responsible behaviour within companies can build a perspective that can improve systems that can be best used involving skilled employee volunteers, to upskill and upscale those, most in need of it – economically and socially. There is a dire need to cascade the tools that will benefit. One critical aspect of sharing tools is the teaching of a common business language, such as English and the expeditious use of simple technology, to the underprivileged in order to create a model and environment of mainstream employability.

It is therefore time to look beyond doing mere‘CSR’ activities. Doing ISR - Individual Social Responsibility -- collectively, working on the gaps that exist on the ground and creating a positive ecosystem of development, growth and self-reliance, for those who have no means or knowledge, to access.

In brief, it is about scalable development programs - creating livelihood, through sustainable enterprises using innovation, support and mentoring.

To know more about CAP’s assistance for CSR Compliance Advisory write to – connect@capindia.in

Making A Difference - Through The Arts And A Cause

Well known theatre artists, producers, directors Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, and her son Kaizaad Kotwal run Poor-Box Productions. Most well known is The Vagina Monologues, which has been running for over 15 years. They also founded the Make-A-Difference Foundation to help raise awareness and funds to help combat violence against women from the grassroots up. Keeping the theme of this newsmagazine we wanted to feature how they make-a-difference. 

Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal & her son Kaizaad Kotwal

 Tell us about your day job

It's not a regular day job, unless it's mounting a new production, in which case it's 4-6 hour rehearsals at least 4-5 times a week and more frequent nearing the opening of the show. During fundraising, we spend at least 9-12 months working on the project.

Your entry into the social sector

The Vagina monologues Talks about bringing about an awareness of abuse towards women and trying to stop violence against them. Internationally, it has raised over50 million dollars by the playwright, Eve Ensler. She has opened a centre in the Congo where she spends a major part of the year.  Since violence against women is a major problem in India, we thought of doing something similar, though on a smaller scale considering that we are a very, very, small theatre company.

Learning and difficult moments along the way in setting up the foundation

Getting permission to set up the foundation, had its usual problems of getting the 80-G certificate, etc. Our aims and objectives had to be very clear....we work only for the empowerment of women. That is our focus.

Do you think being a celebrity makes it easier to raise awareness/funds for a cause?

As I am not a celebrity, cannot answer this question.......yes, being in the public eye it's easier to reach out and bring about awareness, but not easy to raise funds.

What have been fulfilling moments?

There have been many fulfilling moments, on and off the stage, but our work with the women for the NGO, SNEHA, in the Dharavi slums has been extremely satisfying, as well as financially helping Haseena Hussain, an blind acid attack victim from Bangalore. She now mentors other victims of acid attacks and has found a regular job. There are many others, but these are the main ones. 

 How do you ensure that your partnership with the beneficiaries is productive?

We interact on a regular basis and are part of the process of the cause. Thereby we get to know that the work done by the NGOs is credible and along the lines of our aims and objectives. We have over the years learnt that to be forthright and clear in our objectives to our beneficiaries is  of utmost important. We look hard and deep for credible people / organizations we deal with. Sometimes we have had to back off from projects when we felt this was not so.

What is the common skill you need/display when on stage /when at the foundation?

 I, personally, have found that when I get emotionally involved without  sorting things out at a mental level, things have gone a bit awry, but....we try our best to be as practical and judicious as possible. It's difficult and not easy considering the horror stories we listen to.

How do you see your cause scale up & remain sustainable?

The problem is so vast, that, sometimes one feels dejected and frustrated. But till this endemic of violence continues, we have no choice but to toil on, because as the tag line of the play goes, SILENCE=DEATH. 

 

MANDATORY CSR IN INDIA - is it really MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

When the new Indian Companies Act 2013 came into force from 1st April 2014, many within the sector hailed Section 135 as a "game changer". After completion of two fiscal years, in this issue we debate whether "mandatory CSR" has made a difference to either corporate India or the voluntary sector! 

Debabrata Guha
Chief Executive
Tata Power Community Development Trust

Making CSR disclosure mandatory under law is a step towards making CSR a priority in conducting business and helps in nudging the corporate towards ‘inclusive growth’. This is a good starting point.

At the House of TATAs CSR has been a part of our DNA. Today the trust that the TATA brand evokes is not only due to the quality of our product and services but also for the goodwill that we earned through our CSR work. 

Growth through industrialization comes at a cost. It impacts societies that get displaced, it impacts environment. It is therefore morally necessary for business houses to minimize these impacts. We owe it to our future generation.

To have significant impact the Companies/NGOs should carefully select the field of work, which would benefit the target beneficiaries most. For this, one needs to do a careful need assessment rather than adopting a general approach. Emphasis should be given to make an initiative self-sustaining, wherever possible, within a definite period of time and move on.

We must acknowledge that there are good and bad species in every field. The same applies for NGOs. While for the good ones, it will be a boost to intensify their efforts. At the same time we need to guard against the unscrupulous ones who would take this opportunity in furthering their vested interest.

Tatapower Community Development Trust (TPCDT) is the CSR implementing arm of Tatapower and its subsidiaries in India. They operate mainly in the vicinity of Tatapower business units, focusing in the field of Education, Health and Livelihood

___________________________________________________________________

 

Pearl Tiwari

President (CSR & Sustainability)
Ambuja Cements Limited

Mandating CSR law has opened up vast opportunities for India Inc. to actively participate in fulfilling their social responsibilities. It is true that companies’ operations do impact their neighbouring communities both positively and negatively. While an industrial setup provides better job prospects and improves socio-economic status of people, there is also a struggle to share common resources between the company and the community. The CSR law is thus an attempt to bring in a strategic focus on societal development and creating a streamlined process for corporates.  

Unquestionably, any company is primarily responsible to do its business right and serve the interest of its shareholders. However, its liability also extends to other stakeholders, of which its neighbouring community is an important part. Interestingly, even before the mandate, corporates had been sensitive to community needs and were implementing related projects. For instance, Ambuja Cement has been spending much more than 2% on its CSR since many years and has achieved complete compliance and beyond with reference to section 135 of The Companies Act.
Now, as more and more companies are partnering with NGOs, there is an increased demand for documentation and adherence to compliance norms. This is also creating better prospects for NGOs to transition from an informal setup to a stronger and robust system of documentation.
Also, while talking about partnerships, I feel there is still a lot of scope for different companies to collaborate and build on each other’s’ strength. The CSR mandate is indeed a promising move for corporates to create synergies and bring a large scale, lasting impact on the ground.

CSR has been an integral part of Ambuja Cement since its inception. Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) was established in the year 1993 as the CSR arm of the Company. With its presence in 21 locations in 11 states, ACF has been working with a vision to create a sustainable, prosperous society, built on long-term partnerships. Currently, ACF has an outreach of over 1.8 million rural population and is yearning to do more.

______________________________________________________________________

Delnaz Paliwalla

CEO

Bombay Community Public Trust

 ‘Social Responsibility’ and ‘Statutory Giving’ were merged together through this one of a kind legislation. While the intrinsic nature of CSR is voluntary how does forced philanthropy create any change?

Business houses have undertaken voluntary charity for decades hence practicing CSR without calling it so. But this legislation has made CSR the ‘buzz word’ in every boardroom. After all, CSR has become target focused and numbers driven. This, in my opinion, has led to a shift from philanthropy to community investing. Today the agenda is not just about doing ‘good’ but forming partnerships that can yield returns that encourage economic and social growth. The focus is on impact and the vision is long-term.

This has worked for established NGOs that are able to engage at a much larger scale with CSR departments. Such partnerships are seeing effective projects with long-lasting impact. Sadly, the benefits of this trickle-down effect have yet to be seen on the smaller, grass-root level NGOs. Most of these remain under funded and this large pool of CSR money seems out of their reach.

This legislation could easily have ended up becoming tick-box for companies. But this has not been the case, the CSR story may not have grown in leaps and bounds but concerted efforts by both NGOs and corporates make the coming years very exciting for this sector.

The Bombay Community Public Trust (BCPT) was set up as a People’s Foundation to address the various development problems affecting the citizens of Mumbai. The Trust works in partnership with individual donors and companies to support NGOs and causes in the areas of education, child-welfare, health, livelihood support and elderly care. 

 ________________________________________________________________

I certainly think the new CSR Act is making difference and will be

Niraj K Lal
Head – CSR
Arvind Foundation

stronger in years to come. Following is why I am saying so:I consider mandatory CSR Act as a landmark act. It is most certainly making real difference. To me the Act has done four unprecedented things for CSR fabric of the country.

First, it has steered companies to create a CSR structure leading to better governance. A CSR Committee, declared CSR policy, Board’s approval to CSR initiatives, defined yet flexible schedule VII initiatives are all steps which are directionally correct.

Second, it has given CSR a continuous rather than ad hoc approach. The growing 2% CSR funds will be available year after year and that is when the projects will start becoming programs.

Third, getting talent into CSR that has the contextual and applied knowledge and putting in strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms through the technology based data solutions has already started. I can visualise that this will lead to setting up of new CSR benchmarks.

Last but not the least, though in a little long term, it will start making CSR more strategic to businesses, bringing in innovations to make it win-win for company and the community and take it beyond 2% and will create such CSR models for social renewal that pave way for new kind of Private-Private Partnerships (PPP) – something that I am very positive about.
Arvind’s CSR philosophy is based on the notion that society and the corporation are inextricably linked, and that a company can improve its own functioning by influencing the environment in which it operates. It is this philosophy that transcends through all of Arvind’s CSR initiatives. 

If you would like to be part of our next debate or suggest a topic, write in to connect@capindia.in 

A Tale of Two Accounts

 Our CAP member shares her story in her own words.

I wanted to relate to the readers - an incident that we encountered with a Bank, very recently. It makes us feel that we need to be on our toes and be ready for Murphy's law absolutely anywhere. It may be a bit long, but I think it IS important and may be of use sometime for another non profit - Vasumathi Sriganesh, Quality Medical (QMed) Knowledge Foundation

The problem - Our FCRA Account in the Bank was recorded in their system as a regular Trust Account, ever since we opened it in 2011.

How did we find out this? 

We received a donation into our FCRA account - an amount of USD 255. This was from a crowdfunding campaign, where three foreign sources had donated. The crowdfunding platform gave us the donation in the name of their sister concern in the US. 

The Bank wanted us to write them an email telling them about the donation and also giving the address, email id and website of the organization. We did this. 

Next they wanted us to fill a form called - "disposal instruction “and we did that too

A few days later I got a call from their foreign exchange department saying that QMed needed an FCRA Account, and ours was only a regular Trust Account, and that they could not credit this $255 into our account

I told the gentleman that we had both accounts with them. He read out our FCRA Account No and said that "in their system" it is registered as a Trust Account. I told him I was unaware of the Banks' Systems, but that OURS WAS INDEED AN FCRA ACCOUNT. I also told him that we had been receiving donations in the account from abroad - definitely since 2013, if not since 2012. 

I also told him that both accounts had a common Customer ID and I was wondering how the Bank never caught this problem earlier. My guess was that when we were applying for the FCRA Account, we needed a bank account and had opened it as a second Trust account, (but with - FCRA added at the end, for clarity). Once we got the FCRA registration, we sent a copy to them, and informed them. They had not changed our status to FCRA Account!!

I then opened a statement from the account and told him - that the name clearly reads as "Quality Medical Knowledge Foundation-FCRA"

​I also told him that I had been filing FCRA Annual Returns and recently renewed our account too. I sent him screenshots of the FCRA Website, which showed that we were listed in there. 

He then said that he would once again check and ask me if he needed anything more. 

​Two or three days later, we got the same explanation - that in their system we were registered as a Trust Account and not FCRA, and could we fill in a form asking them to change this status. ​We refused - saying that if we filled such a form and signed it, that was tantamount to admitting that we never had an FCRA account all these years, and were still receiving foreign funds! 

​My husband Sriganesh, went and met the Operations Head in our branch and explained everything. She then asked the Head office, and they finally said they would do the change, but wanted one letter from us, declaring that ever since we opened​ the account, all donations that came into it were only from foreign sources. We agreed, only because the Ops Head had been helpful. 

Finally today, the amount has got credited! The whole process took almost a month. 

Why did the Bank never raise the question before?

Our earlier donations - from GlobalGiving and also from one individual apparently came through a routing channel, by which the final money came in Rupees. This time it was in USD and that made them open their eyes. 

Our contributor Vasumati is the founder of Quality Medical (QMed) Knowledge Foundation - a Registered Trust - works in a niche area of medical education and research: "Searching medical literature, and reference management"

If you have an article or something to share with our readers send it in for our next newsmagazine due in June 2017. Write to us at connect@capindia.in