The Hindu Business Line : A dark side of the rehabilitation process

But the problem with many good-hearted people is the "overflow of kindness," as in Much Ado About Nothing even as "there are no faces truer than those that are so washed." So, they seek the nearest way, and well, there are ready mails in the inbox seeking `funds for providing relief to tsunami victims'.

But they are as unsolicited as scores of other mails from supposedly mortgage, lottery and pharma sites.

As the Bard said in The Winter's Tale, "Money's a meddler," and so we have stories such as charges of misuse of funds collected for Kargil martyrs and Gujarat quake sufferers. In 2002, for instance, the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithy suspended many office-bearers after a vigilance inquiry into the charges of misuse of funds collected ostensibly for the above two purposes. Similarly, in 2001, Mr Digvijay Singh had to respond to charges of a similar nature.

Days after the Gujarat earthquake, when BBC's Mike Wooldridge was in Bhuj, he responded to queries posed on a live forum. One person asked him, "Do you think the funds will reach these people and how can you reassure us?" His concern was genuine, because it would be frustrating if one were to know later that the amount give was misused. Mike responded that with each disaster that passes, "the mechanism for checking that funds are well spent probably improves." However, "there are difficulties it is probably with the cash and items that are given in the first flush of response." His advice to potential donors was to look at the track record of the agency collecting the fund.

On that, there can be serious doubts when one sees the plethora of collection efforts. Well, there are established newspapers that have been playing such a role for decades, more as a social cause than for commercial ends. But what would you say of outfits that spring up immediately after a calamity with the sole purpose of gathering donations?

"Most people wouldn't think of buying a home, investing in a retirement account or even replacing the dishwasher without doing some homework first. Donating to a charity doesn't have to be different," counsels www.delawareonline.com. The story dated January 2, speaks of Guidestar, set up by the National Center for Charitable Statistics and Philanthropic Research Inc in cooperation with the US taxman, IRS.

Guidestar offers the public "information about nonprofits"; its site has data on more than one million nonprofits, and 4 lakh people access this info each month. We don't have one such in India; nor is there any procedure for authorisation, except the income-tax exemption for charities.

Recently, Dionne Bunsha wrote in an article about how a British group called Awaaz exposed misdirection of charity raised in the name of quake reconstruction and rehabilitation ending up in the hands of religious extremists.

In the archives posted on the Web site of the Law Commission of India you can find, "Consultation Paper for `Enacting a law for the purpose of regulation of contributions collected during natural and other calamities or war like emergent situations'". Intro to the paper speaks of a reference received from the Ministry of Law & Justice "for recommending an appropriate legislation to regulate and monitor the collection of funds from public by persons and organisations in the name of the welfare of victims of natural or other calamities and welfare and rehabilitation of the members of the bereaved families of soldiers killed in war."

Para 2.16 of the paper is about "a dark side of the rehabilitation process," viz. "Misuse/ misappropriation of contributions by some NGOs, persons." And it notes that there is today no Central legislation or agency to regulate and monitor the collections and proper utilisation of funds and other items in kind donated to the persons, organisations, agencies or institutions. "It is also a fact that sometimes some organisations or agencies suddenly spring up for the ostensible purpose of collection of funds and other items from the public but do not intend to do so. The existing penal and other laws are not sufficient to curb these malpractices."

Since Kapil Sibal has been drawing flak for his recent performance, it may be apt if he were assigned the task of drafting a suitable law for the purpose, hot on the heels of a natural calamity.

E&OE@TheHindu.co.in

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