AT A GLANCE
· -- As per rules notified recently by the DoPT, NGOs receiving more than Rs 1 crore as govt grant and donations above Rs 10 lakh from abroad will be under the ambit of the Lokpal.
· -- NGOs and their top executives will have to file details of income and assets before the proposed anti-corruption body.
· -- Office bearers of such NGOs will be treated as "public servants" and charged under the anti-corruption law in case of financial irregularities.
With the notification issued to implement the Lokpal Act (2013) from July 31, 2016, the number of public servants in India is set to double to nearly 40 million. The current estimates of the total number of public servants in government agencies is about 20 million (as estimated by the 7th Pay Commission). However, all directors, managers and trustees of all non-profit organisations (NPOs) have been mentioned in the category of persons to be included as public servants.
onsidering that there are around 2.2 million NPOs in India, with at least one director and 7 trustees, India can proudly proclaim an additional 20 million public servants from next month.
A discussion on this absurd provision in the Lokpal Act (2013) was convened in Delhi on July 14. More than 300 NPPOs from around the country were represented there. Similar consultations were held in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and many other locations.
There is increasing concern in Indian society today with the lack of transparency and accountability of all institutions, be they government, business or non-profit. Each sector has a set of legal frameworks and mechanisms for ensuring transparency and accountability.
In the private business, legal framework varies with size of the organisation and nature of its registration. Those registered as Companies are governed by the Companies Act 2013. Those registered as Shops and small business follow rules for transparency and accountability different from those registered as companies.
Likewise, non-profit organisations vary in size, nature of operations and forms of registration. All schools and colleges are non-profits in India; so are all health clinics and hospitals. They are governed differently from millions of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) which are also mostly registered as non-profits. Research and teaching institutions have different legal frameworks than those providing basic services like water, sanitation, housing, etc.
In the government too, Central, state and local government employees are governed by Prevention of Corruption Acts and vigilance departments operate everywhere. The Right To Information Act has been implemented to provide transparency in the wake of Official Secrets Act that operated during and from the colonial era.
Therefore, it appears that the purpose of this legislation is more than …“to enquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries…”.
It now expands the meaning of public servants to double the size of actual public functionaries, thereby demonstrating, vicariously, rapid growth in ‘employment’. It lumps all non-profit organisations (NPOs) into a single category, so that primary schools and sports clubs and hospitals are treated alike in terms of their transparency and accountability mechanisms.
It all creates the possibility that when such an institution is constituted (how to constitute it is still being debated in Parliament) and established, a huge new bureaucracy will be established to now cover double the original universe of public servants!
And who — pray who? — would ensure transparency and accountability of Lokpal institutions, and .."inquire into allegations of corruption against (these) certain public functionaries..”.
In the meanwhile, citizens all over the country are daily paying bribes to various ‘public functionaries’ to get admission to health centres, secure ration, get payments due under MNREGA or water connections to their homes.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/column-ngos-under-lokpal-number-of-public-servants-set-to-double-next-month-2235553
· -- As per rules notified recently by the DoPT, NGOs receiving more than Rs 1 crore as govt grant and donations above Rs 10 lakh from abroad will be under the ambit of the Lokpal.
· -- NGOs and their top executives will have to file details of income and assets before the proposed anti-corruption body.
· -- Office bearers of such NGOs will be treated as "public servants" and charged under the anti-corruption law in case of financial irregularities.
With the notification issued to implement the Lokpal Act (2013) from July 31, 2016, the number of public servants in India is set to double to nearly 40 million. The current estimates of the total number of public servants in government agencies is about 20 million (as estimated by the 7th Pay Commission). However, all directors, managers and trustees of all non-profit organisations (NPOs) have been mentioned in the category of persons to be included as public servants.
onsidering that there are around 2.2 million NPOs in India, with at least one director and 7 trustees, India can proudly proclaim an additional 20 million public servants from next month.
A discussion on this absurd provision in the Lokpal Act (2013) was convened in Delhi on July 14. More than 300 NPPOs from around the country were represented there. Similar consultations were held in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and many other locations.
There is increasing concern in Indian society today with the lack of transparency and accountability of all institutions, be they government, business or non-profit. Each sector has a set of legal frameworks and mechanisms for ensuring transparency and accountability.
In the private business, legal framework varies with size of the organisation and nature of its registration. Those registered as Companies are governed by the Companies Act 2013. Those registered as Shops and small business follow rules for transparency and accountability different from those registered as companies.
Likewise, non-profit organisations vary in size, nature of operations and forms of registration. All schools and colleges are non-profits in India; so are all health clinics and hospitals. They are governed differently from millions of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) which are also mostly registered as non-profits. Research and teaching institutions have different legal frameworks than those providing basic services like water, sanitation, housing, etc.
In the government too, Central, state and local government employees are governed by Prevention of Corruption Acts and vigilance departments operate everywhere. The Right To Information Act has been implemented to provide transparency in the wake of Official Secrets Act that operated during and from the colonial era.
Therefore, it appears that the purpose of this legislation is more than …“to enquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries…”.
It now expands the meaning of public servants to double the size of actual public functionaries, thereby demonstrating, vicariously, rapid growth in ‘employment’. It lumps all non-profit organisations (NPOs) into a single category, so that primary schools and sports clubs and hospitals are treated alike in terms of their transparency and accountability mechanisms.
It all creates the possibility that when such an institution is constituted (how to constitute it is still being debated in Parliament) and established, a huge new bureaucracy will be established to now cover double the original universe of public servants!
And who — pray who? — would ensure transparency and accountability of Lokpal institutions, and .."inquire into allegations of corruption against (these) certain public functionaries..”.
In the meanwhile, citizens all over the country are daily paying bribes to various ‘public functionaries’ to get admission to health centres, secure ration, get payments due under MNREGA or water connections to their homes.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/column-ngos-under-lokpal-number-of-public-servants-set-to-double-next-month-2235553
