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
