“India of Tomorrow: Space for Effective Voluntary Action”

 

National Convention

 

“India of Tomorrow:  Space for Effective Voluntary Action”

Date: March 27-28, 2012

 

Vishwa  Yuvak Kendra, Circular Road,  Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021

 

Dear Friends,

 

Greetings from VANI

 

VANI (Voluntary Action Network India) is pleased to invite you to be part of its Annual National Convention on “India of Tomorrow: Space for Effective Voluntary Action” to be held in New Delhi on March 27 and 28, 2012.  This national convention is organised in collaboration with OXFAM India.

 

The year of 2011 was challenging for the Indian Voluntary Sector. On one hand we all saw tremendous control over the sector through new regulations and practices and on the other witnessed the new opportunities of partnership on national building. This year India also witnessed its own version of popular mobilisation on the issue of corruption, wherein the section of the society that was generally alienated, came out and expressed their anguish.  As a repercussion, the number of voluntary organisations getting notices increased.  The beginning of year 2011 saw the implementation of New Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.   The rules under it created anxiety with the redefinition of section 2(15) under the Income tax Act.  In many states due to strict reporting to the line departments, the day to day functioning of small voluntary organisations became difficult, especially in the eastern part of India.  The National Convention of VANI is an annual event where expectations, achievements and challenges faced by numerous organisations are shared with others. It is also a platform where voluntary organisations and leaders share their thoughts on the new opportunities.. This sector wide sharing platform helps VANI in streamlining its work.

The broader agenda for National Convention is as follows:

1.       Proposed Regulatory Framework for Voluntary Sector:   It is a well known fact that we have a  very primitive regulatory regime for voluntary organisations today , which controls the sector rather than facilitate the growth.  The sector also witnessed numerous experimentations in this regard where registration laws are being changed in states like Gujarat or when we see variations. Similarly, the government is not able to provide holistic definition of charitable purpose under income tax act.  During its state and regional consultations, the members and partners desired to frame the most probable regulatory framework for the sector.  In this national event, we intend to have deliberation on such framework which could be further refined and submitted to the government.

2.       “Voices from the Sector”:  Voluntary organisations irrespective of their size, nature and location are increasingly facing existential challenges. These challenges range from changed nature of financial support available to the sector, to constraints of human resource. Working for the socio-economic development of the country as a voluntary activist has also become quite challenging task today.    Further, the new control mechanism implemented by state and national government, where most of the energy goes in fulfilling reporting requirement is adding to the crisis rather than actually doing the task for which we exist.  VANI collected such experiences through various meetings, workshops and interviews.  These states are primarily from eastern part of India. The document also highlights the achievements of the sector in nation building.  These reports will be shared with the participants during the consultations and they are expected to come out with a collective strategy to reclaim the space.

3.       New Opportunities with Private Sector:   As the National Convention also deliberates on the new opportunities, this year the focus would be new opportunities in relation to the Private Sector. We are aware of the fact that Private Sector is becoming quite active in the field of socio-economic development through various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other initiatives.  The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has also come out with the “National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environment & Economic Responsibilities of Business“.  The Ministry is currently working on the reporting Framework. A session will be dedicated to explore the possibility of on-going collaborative relationship between Private Sector and Voluntary Sector.

4.       Working with Marginalised: Challenges for Voluntary Sector:  Those voluntary organisations that work with marginalised communities, like women, dalits, children and tribals face numerous challenges both internally and externally. This issue was deliberated during the Annual General Body meeting and VOICE 2011 organised in Anantapur in September by VANI.  Most of these organisations are engaged in demanding entitlements from the state as well as due space in the socio-economic arena of the Indian society.  Many of such groups operate in difficult conditions in the country. This session will focus on bringing their issues and concerns with the mainstream voluntary sector.

5.       Global India: Role and Expectation from Voluntary Sector:  The outstanding economic growth of Indian economy during the days of global recession has increased Indian clout in the development scenario worldwide.  On one hand India has become very active and influential actor in various global platforms like G20, ASEAN, SAARC, EU, World Economic Forum, etc. and on the other it has increased Indian development aid to the other developing countries.  Currently, the Indian voluntary sector is isolated from such efforts of the Indian government and private sector. Whereas, impact of such positions affect each and every voluntary organisation in the country. The commitments made by Indian government in such global platforms impact the poor of the country in particular and influence the nature of development aid available to voluntary sector in general.  The Indian voluntary sector is not allowed to work outside India, even on the Indian projects initiated by Indian aid. The absence of any Overseas Development Aid policy or Agency is felt by all of us.  This session will deliberate on ways, means and strategy to promote the influence and participation of voluntary sector as an important component in Indian role in global development arena.

6.       Release of book entitled “Comprehensive Commentaries on FCRA, 2010”:  VANI and FMSF are jointly coming up with this much needed publication on FCRA and its rules. The objective of this publication is to provide information on all the practical aspects of the new FRCA. This book which is prepared on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) captures most of the questions related to its implementation and the text of the book is being vetted by the FCRA Department of Ministry of Home Affairs. 

On behalf of the Working Committee of VANI, I invite you to participate and share your views during the “National Convention” of VANI. Due to limited seats kindly confirm your participation at the earliest. We will send you the detailed agenda and the other logistic information shortly.

 

VANI being the network of voluntary sector relies heavily on the goodwill and support from its members and friends. Thus VANI requests you to donate a sum of Rupees 2000/-from members and 2500/- from non-members, friends and associates, as a token of support.  The donation collected during the national convention will be utilised for the benefit of the sector.  Please send the Demand Draft/ Cheque in the favour of Voluntary Action Network India, along with the duly filled attached form.

 

Looking forward to your active participation in the National Convention.  We also urge you to share this information with your network, friends and partners. This convention is open for the fraternity of voluntary sector.

 

Thanking you

 

Sincerely yours

 

Harsh Jaitli

Chief Executive Officer

VANI-Voluntary Action Network India