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Archive (2008)
| 25th
May 2009: Meeting of Task Group for drafting State Policy on Voluntary
Sector in Uttarakhand |
Last
year on 22nd and 23rd May 2008, VANI organized a consultation on
State Voluntary Sector Policy in Utarakhand. The meeting was organized
in association with DISHA. The task group formed after the consultation
met to discuss the methodology and identified the key issues of
the state in order to draft the State Voluntary Sector Policy. In
order to access the progress of the draft and to further discuss
the suggestions of the task group members, VANI
in association with SAMBANDH and UPVAN is organizing a meeting
in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on 25th May 2009. The experiences and suggestions
of recent meeting held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 27th April 2009
will also be shared in this meeting and some new ideas and suggestions
will be compiled and submitted to Government of Uttarakhand.
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| 19th
May 2009: Another meeting following the one held on 15th May 2009
on deferment of amendments in definition of “Charitable Purposes” under
section 2(15) in the Finance Act
2008. |
VANI led delegation
with CEO and experts Mr. Joselyn Martin, Mr. Sanjay Patra and Mr.
Manoj Fogla for a subsequent meet following the meeting on 15th
May. On 19th May 2009 the delegation met with Mr. Ashutosh Dikshit,
Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India to submit
inputs on deferment of amendments in definition of “Charitable Purposes”
under section 2(15) in the Finance Act 2008.
Read
More...
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| 15th
May 2009: Meeting with Ministry of Finance on deferment of amendments
in definition of “Charitable Purposes” under
section 2(15) in the Finance Act
2008. |
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VANI
led delegation with CEO comprising of technical experts Mr. Joselyn
Martin, Mr. Sudhir Verma, Mr. Samir Minocha met with Mr. Pradip
Mehrotra, Director (TPL-I), Ministry of Finance, Government of India
on 15th May 2009 to present inputs on deferment of amendments in
definition of “Charitable Purposes”under section 2(15) in the Finance
Act 2008.Interventions were useful and VANI was invited again on
19th May for a larger audience. Inputs for this meeting were also
received from Mr. Sanjay Patra and Mr. Manoj Fogla and included
series of meetings within the sector from November 2008. Read
More...
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| 8th May 2009: Mmeeting of the informal think tank set up under the aegis of United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Program |
During the last meeting of the informal think tank set up under the aegis of United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Program which was held on 20th February at Times Foundation, it was decided to schedule another meeting in May. On 8th May 2009 the meeting was held in office of Partners in Change to discuss International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2009, cross sector partnerships training, civil society forums for achieving MDGs in Gurgaon and to form the task force committee for IVD.
The meeting was attended by representatives from UNV, VANI, National Foundation for Communal Harmony, Times Foundation, National Trust, Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), Arcelor Mittal, Financial Management Service Foundation, Wave Care Foundation and Partners in Change
The discussions mainly focused on the International Volunteer Day 2009 which will be celebrated on 5th December and would be based on the theme “Volunteering for our Planet”, the focus would be on the issue of environment, global warming, climate change, etc. However there were suggestions to rephrase the theme as “Harmony between People and Environment”. International Volunteer Day 2008 was celebrated in four cities of India as the part of The National Volunteering Program (NVP) that was launched in 2008.
A Task Force was formed during the meeting to work in a more focused manner towards International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2009. The organizations who volunteered or were nominated were UNV (in the lead/coordination role), VANI, VSO (India), NFCH-Ministry of Home Affairs and Partners in Change. The first meeting of this task force will be held on 11th June 2009 at UNDP.
Discussions also focused on the issue of employee volunteering, which was felt needs to become part of the day to day business, rather than becoming a no incentive additional burden for the employee that the company expects him/her to undertake beyond duty hours. Such processes need to be made part of the core work and has to be internalized if it is to sustain and add value to all- the company, employee and the community, and a matrix to measure these would be a useful contribution that UNV might like to consider developing.
VSO is currently working out different mechanisms to engage retired people in volunteering activities since they have shown keen interest in being part of the voluntary sector. VSO is working out the modalities with partner organizations and support from college students in cities like Delhi is being used as a platform for more visibility of NVP.
Arcelor Mittal intends to facilitate employee volunteering work in a more structured way in the current year. It would align the activities towards at least one of the MDGs. The company has taken up a project on climate change and environment, since the nature of their business is such that it has a huge impact on the environment. It involves 250,000 schools across India. The Company is working with the Govt. and some NGOs to take the idea forward.
Discussions then focused on the important issues of taxation on NGOs, according to the new regulation any society that has 5% income from any kind of sales/business and 95% income from grants and donations gets no exemption and is liable to pay tax on 100% of its income. Some NGOs have also been asked to show that accounts for the last four years to determine their status in terms of taxation.
Sharing the view on registration issues, it was said that companies should be encouraged to have trust/foundation, but should be registered under the same act as non profit entities. There needs to be creation of a vehicle under the Companies Act to take care of the social responsibility part.
A presentation on Cross Sector Partnerships Training was made by PiC and who is also promoting Business-NGO partnerships towards the achievement of the MDG’s. It would be convening a meeting with interested NGOs and Companies operating in Gurgaon to discuss a proposal to make Gurgaon district MDG compliant, and that initial discussions had been held with UN Millennium campaign in this regard. |
1st May 2009: Third meeting on the Task Force on, ‘Compilation of Satellite Accounts in respect of Non-Profit Institutions in India’. |
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Third meeting on the Task Force on, ‘Compilation of Satellite Accounts in Respect of Non-Profit Institutions in India’ was held on 1st May 2009 in Central Statistical Organisation, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The meeting was organized under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ramesh Kohili, ADG (NAD)
The participants included Mr. Ramesh Kolli- ADG (NAD); Mr. Vijay Kumar. ADG, ESD; Dr. S. S. Srivastava, Ex DG CSO; Ms. Sudha P. Rao, Adviser, Planning Commission; Mr. Parcsh Tewary, CEO, VANI; Ms. Shachi Uppal, Systems Manager CAPART; Mr. Sarvesh Kumar DDG, FOD; Dr. B. K. Sharma, Director DES, Delhi; Dr. Savita Sharma, DDG NAD; Dr. G.M. Boopathi, DDG, NAD, Mr. R, K, Khurana, DDG NAD; Dr. Vidya Dhar, Director, NAD; Mr. R. A. Dwivedi, Director. CPD; Ms. Anjana Dube, Director, NAD; Mr. Pradeep Chauhan, Economic Adviser, Himachal Pradesh; Mr. K. Asokan, Addl. Director, Kerala; Mr. P. K. Bhattacharya, Addl Director, Assam; Mr. B. S. Hiremath, JD, Kamataka; Mr. A. Sudershanreddy, Joint Director, Andhra Pradesh; Ms. Reena Singh, Joint Director, NAD; Mr. P. Manoj Kumar. Joint Director, RD; Mr. N. T. Krishna, DD; Mr. R. K. Pandey, DD Rajasthan; Ms. Anindita Sinha Ray, DD, NAD; Ms. Ruchika Gupta, DD, HRD; Mr. Naresh Kumar, UNV; Ms. Priya Srivastava, UNV; Mr. Satyendra Kumar, SSO, NAD; Mr. R. D. Sharma. SI, DES and Ms. Anubha Mittal, SI, NAD |
| 27th
April 2009: Meeting of Task Group on draft State Policy on Voluntary
Sector held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| The Task Group
set up for framing the State Voluntary Sector Policy in UP, meet again
on 27th April 2009. The meeting was held in UPVAN Secretariat Lucknow.
This group consisted of 15 members out of which only 8 could participated.
The meeting began with the presentation of the tentative draft of
state policy on voluntary sector in UP, which was prepared by the
UPVAN Secretariat. After several discussions, it was decided to redraft
the state policy for voluntary sector. The key members who participated
in this meeting were Mr. Paresh Tiwari, Mr. Ashok Singh, Mr. Puran
Barthwal, Mr. Diwakar Bhatt and Dr. Neelam Singh. |
| 17th – 18th March, 2009: Regional Workshop on Good Governance in Civil Society Organisations in Mysore, Karnataka |
As the last of the series of the workshops on Good Governance for the year 2008-2009, VANI on 17th and 18th March, oragnised the workshop in Mysore with the support of MYRADA Kaveri Pradeshika Samsthe (MYKAPS), which is a society promoted by MYRADA, a reputed development organization working in Southern States namely; Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. MYRADA is now a group of autonomous societies, companies and informal institutions, sharing a common vision to promote livelihood strategies, local governance, and management of natural resources, health and education favouring the rural poor in an inclusive, equitable and sustainable manner.
51 participants from Kerala, Andhra, Karnataka, TN, Pondicherry attended the workshop and thanked VANI for this initiative. Mr. Meenakshisundaram, Chairman
Myrada Kaveri Pradeshika Samsthe; Mr. A. P. Fernandez, Executive Director, MYRADA; Mr. G.Placid, Director, SAHAYI; Mr. S.M. Arasu, Executive Director, Prime Educational And Social Trust; Dr. M. Indira, Director of Women’s Studies, Manasa Gangothri; Ms. Aarti Madhusudan, Governance Counts and Mr. R Balasubramanyam were amongst the esteemed speakers.
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| 3rd
& 4th March 2009: Sate consultation on National Policy
on Voluntary Sector in Goa. |
VANI,
in coalition with Forum of Voluntary Organisations in Goa
organized a State Consultation on National Policy on the Voluntary
Sector on 3rd & 4th March 2009 at Ginger Hotel, Panjim
(Goa). In total 45 NGO representatives from different parts
of the state attended the meeting. Mr. Reggie Gomes, Convener,
FVO gave welcome address and shared the agenda/objectives
of the two-day consultation meeting. Mr. A. K. Wasnik, Secretary,
Dept of Women & Child Development, Government of Goa was
present as chief guest & addressed the inaugural session.
Mr. Paresh Tewary, CEO, VANI made a presentation on National
Policy on the Voluntary Sector. Mr. Soter D’Souza, Director,
Centre for Panchayat Studies, Mr. Roland Martins, Goa DESC,
Mr. Sanjay Gadkar, Director, Dept. of Social Welfare, Government
of Goa, Mr. Sandesh Prabhudesai, Editor, SUNAPARANT, Dr. Pramod
Salgaonkar, Women’s Commission, Government of Goa, Mr.
Kumar Kalanand Mani, Director, Peaceful Society, Goa, Mr.
Sandeep Bhandari, Chartered Accountant, Mr. Shaikh Shoaib,
Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation of India, Goa, Prof.
Bhaskar Nayak, Director, Directorate of Higher Studies, Government
of Goa, Mr. Ashwin Tombat, Editor, HERALD, Dr. Nistha Desai,
Director, Children’s Rights in Goa, were some of the
other important speakers & respondents gave their presentation
during different sessions of the meeting. The entire proceedings
of the consultation meeting were recorded by the distinguished
print media from the state. A state core committee was constituted
for drafting the state policy on voluntary sector in Goa. |
| 10th & 11th February 2009 : State level Consultation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector in Gujarat, Ahmedabad |
 VANI, in collaboration with Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), Ahmedabad organised a state consultation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector at EDI Conference Hall, Ahmedabad on 10th & 11th February 2009. The objective of this consultation was to enable the participants to understand the various aspect of the policy, its implications for the voluntary sector and to facilitate the creation of a policy for the State. Prof. Dinesh Kumar Awasthi, Director, EDI delivered the welcome address and shared the agenda/objectives of the consultation. Shri. P. K. Laheri, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat inaugurated and addressed the occasion. Mr. Paresh Tewary, CEO, VANI introduced the workshop & he along with Dr. Lalit Kumar, Joint Adviser (Voluntary Action), Planning Commission, Govt. of India made a presentation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector. Mr. Binoy Acahrya, Director, Unnati highlighted the need for a state level network and accountability. Prof. Indira Hirway, Director, Centre for Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad; Shri Harnath Jagawat, Director, Sadguru Water and Development Foundation, Dahod; Shri Prasad Chacko, Ahmedabad; Shri Hafiz Dalal, Chartered Accountant, Ahmedabad; Dr. D.S. Ker, President, Janpath, Ahmedabad; Mr. Mohan Krishna, Team Leader, Centre for Good Governance for Non-Profits, EDI, Ahmedabad; Shri Apoorva Oza, CEO, AKRSP, Ahmedabad were the key speakers in different session of the meeting. Shri R.K. Sama, Project Director, WASMO, Gandhinagar; Ms. Sushma Oza, CEO, Rural Development Programmes, Adani Foundation, Mundra; Shri Manoj Mishra, Associate Senior Faculty, EDI and Shri Robin David, Times of India, Ahmedabad were some of the important respondents facilitating the progress of meeting. The event was vastly covered by important media from the state. A state level task force was formed to work on the draft policy in Gujarat. The consultation was attended by over 70 participants from various institutions across the state. Dr. Santosh Kumar, Sr. Faculty and Chairperson, NGO Management Programme, EDI, Ahmedabad extended the vote of thanks to all the delegates for their meaningful participation in the meeting.
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| 28th & 29th January 2009 : State level Consultation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector , Tamil Nadu, Chennai |
 State Consultation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector was held on 28th & 29th January 2009 at Asha Nivas, Chennai. The consultation was organized by VANI in cooperation with Rejuvenate India Movement (RIM), Chennai. Shri T. K. Ramkumar, Secretary, RIM rendered the welcome address and shared the agenda/objectives of the two-day consultation meeting. Shri Ashok Vardhan Shetty IAS, Principal Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the Consultation and delivered the presidential address. Dr. M. Naganathan, Vice Chairman, State Planning Commission, Government of Tamilnadu addressed the gathering. Mr. Paresh Tewary, CEO, VANI delivered Key Note Address & made a presentation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector. Shri A.K. Venkatasubramanian, IAS (Retd.), Catalyst Trust, Chennai, Shri D.K. Oza, IAS (Retd.), Trustee, Anasuya Foundation for Women and Children, Ms. Meenakshi Rajagopal, IAS, Commissioner for the Disabled, Government of Tamilnadu, Chennai, Shri. V. K. Shivakumar, Member, Expert Committee, Planning Commission, New Delhi & Jt. Secretary, Gandhigram Trust, Dr. T.C.A. Srinivasa Ramanujan, IAS (Retd), Formerly Director General of CAPART & NIRD, Dr. A. Annamalai, Director, Gandhi Study Centre, T. Nagar, Chennai, Shri. N. Sridhar, FCA, Chennai, Dr. Balaji Sampath, Secretary, AID India, Chennai, Shri S. Ramanathan, Visiting Faculty, School of Public Health, SRM University, Chennai were the distinguished speakers given their implausible presentation in the meeting. The entire proceedings of the event were well documented by the print media from the state. A state level task force has been formed to work on the draft policy in Tamil Nadu. About 70 participants from various institutions across the state participated in the consultation. It was also agreed by the participants to share the details of their known contacts of NGOs and Voluntary institutions to include them in future for different state, regional and national consultations of VANI. Shri A. L. Rangarajan, National Coordinator, RIM proposed vote of thanks to all the fraternity/entity for making the workshop grand success & working along with VANI & RIM on state policy on voluntary sector in Tamil Nadu
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27th and 28th January 2009: VANI participated in a national level consultation on the “Implementation of the Forest Rights Act” at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. |
27th and 28th January 2009: VANI participated in a national level consultation on the “Implementation of the Forest Rights Act” at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Organised by National Advocacy Council for the Development of Indigenous People (NAC-DIP), this event was the culmination of 11 state level consultations held between October 2008 and January 2009.
Representatives of tribal communities and civil society organizations from across India were joined by politicians including Shri Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Shri Sitaram Yachury, Shri A.P. Bardhan, Shri Arun Kumar, Shri Ramdoss, the prominent tribal activist Dr B.D. Sharma and representatives of the ILO.
Since notification of FRA in January 2008, 1,500,000 c
 laims have been filed but only 100,000 title deeds have been issued. Interpretation of the act has been inconsistent at state level and legal objections have been lodged in High Courts, resulting in a virtual cessation of all administrative processes following application.
The purpose of the consultation was to bring together people and organizations from grass roots through to central government to understand the issues obstructing the implementation of the Forest Rights Act and develop strategies at local, state and national level to overcome the obstacles and ensure that processes by which tribal people and other forest dwellers can assert their legal right of ownership to forest land are resumed.
Mr Paresh Tewary, CEO, VANI, was a guest speaker at the consultation and addressed the audience on the need for civil society to be vigilant about legal frameworks in India and their implementation , and the importance of supporting inclusive growth both as a country and as part of the global community.
Amid strong support and commitment from all invited guests, a Memorandum was submitted to Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, calling for FRA to be implemented in its true spirit, for support in removing the current legal objections to the act and for action in ensuring that government discharges its duties to the tribal people of India in a transparent and accountable manner.
 Good governance and public accountability were recurring themes at the consultation and the civil society organisations responded with strategies which will address issues of institutionalized corruption and inefficiency at local government level, lobby and advocacy at state and national level to remove all current objections to FRA and press for proper implementation of this act and also of NREGA and RTI.
The strategies developed at the consultation are now being activated through empowerment and capacity building of communities and through direct lobby at central and state level.
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20th & 21st January 2009 : State level Consultation on National Policy on Voluntary Sector , Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal |
 VANI, in support with MADHYAVAN, organized a State Consultation on National Policy on the Voluntary Sector on 20th & 21st January 2009 at MLA Rest House, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). Altogether 52 NGO representatives from different parts of the state attended the meeting. Mr. Awadhesh Kumar, President, MADHYAVAN gave salutation address and shared the agenda/objectives of the two-day consultation meeting. Justice Narayan Singh Azad, MP & Member, Human Rights Commission was present as chief guest & addressed the inaugural session. Shri Ashok Chaturvedi, Advisor, Chief Minister, Government of Chattisgarh was the Special Guest. Mr. Paresh Tewary, CEO, VANI made a presentation on National Policy and briefed about the charter & significant features of the National Policy on the Voluntary Sector. Dr. Sunilam, former-MLA, Madhya Pradesh, Shri Santosh Kumar Dwivedi, National Convener, Rashtriya Yuva Sanghatan, Bhopal, Mr. Brijesh Sharma, MADHYAVAN, Bhopal, Mr. Ajay Khare, Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Bhopal, Mr. Amit Bhatnagar, Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan, Bhopal, Mr. Tapan Bhattacharya, Lok Biradari Trust, Indore & Mr. Satya Prakash Arya were some of the other imperative speakers during different sessions of the meeting, who offered their views at length. The entire proceedings of the consultation meeting were recorded by the distinguished print media from the state. A committee of seven representatives was constituted for drafting the state policy on voluntary sector in Madhya Pradesh.
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| 9TH JANUARY, 2009 : CONSULTATION ON PRE- BUDGET MEMORANDUM in New Delhi |
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VANI has been advocating with GOI to simplify tax laws for voluntary sector.
In April 2008 also it organized a meeting on amendments brought in the definition of 'charitable purpose' in the Finance Act 2008, with a number of CSO representatives which resulted in submission of a memorandum to the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, requesting it not to go ahead with the proposed amendment. VANI is also campaigning in order to place a request to DEFER the implementation of this amendment to provide opportunity and time for the government to have some consultations with the voluntary sector on the rationales and consequences of the proposed amendment
To continue with this agenda in providing relief to voluntary organisation, VANI organised a consultation on Pre-Budget Memorandum on Friday, 9th January 2009 in association with FMSF at Indian Habitat Centre, Delhi.
The Consultation was attended by 28 representatives from 21 organisations. The meeting focussed around the amendments that have been brought in the definition of 'charitable purpose' in the Finance Act 2008 and the actions taken on our earlier submitted pre-budget memorandums by the Ministry of Finance. Presentations were made by Mr. Manoj Fogla, FMSF; Ms. Selvi, FMSF; Ms. Yamini Mishra, Centre for budgeting and Governance Accountability and Mr. Paresh Tewary, VANI.
A number of inputs and views were shared across the table in understanding the nature as well as interpretation of this amendment. It was felt that the amendment in the definition of charitable purposes in the proposed Budget, 2008 would impact the Voluntary Sector in ways more than one. Consequently, it was decided a Memorandum be submitted to the Finance Minister; Chairman, CBDT; Chairperson, UPA and other influential sources. In addition to this, VANI and its partners would continue its advocacy /information dissemination initiatives among member organisations in regarding the issue through a Signature Campaign.
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