Make it a must for Puja Committees to donate 1-5% of Puja budget for humanitarian cause
The Issue
The Durga Puja is one of the most important festivals in Kolkata. On an average, including community and residential pujas, 2,500 – 4,000 Durga Pujas are held in Kolkata alone each year while the overall figure for entire West Bengal is around 10,000. The scale of celebration in Kolkata however, is simply unparalleled as compared to anywhere else. As of 2015, the Durga Pujas is a ₹ 40,000 Crore industry in West Bengal. While the average expense of a standard puja today goes up to as high as ₹ 50 lakhs per year, for the theme pujas with mega budget, the yearly budget goes to the tune of ₹ 1 – 1.5 crore or possibly even higher. On cumulative basis that is a simply a huge sum of money which is spent for the grandeur and extravaganza of the festival. Unfortunately there are many who are in no position to enjoy the festivities. (A slightly more elaborate account of the situation is given down below.)
If even a small portion of the giant sum of expenditure could be reserved for humanitarian causes many more people could possibly get to enjoy the pujas.
I am not asking for charity. I am seeking social responsibility (similar to corporate social responsibility) on the part of the Puja Committees. The Puja Committes take it to be their own responsibility that people would be pleased and would have a gala time enjoying the pujas. I am simply suggesting this sense of responsibility to be extended to more people than ones who can afford. After all, don't we need to ensure that 'everybody' is happy, at least for the few days of the Durga Pujas?
The demands for responsible behaviour from the Puja Committees is neither new nor unique. For example, they need to maintain and adhere to protocols of fire safety. To ensure that such a thing really happens there are legislations that require them to obtain fire license and does not leave it upon their own free will. We never compare it to charity saying "whatever fire safety some random Puja Committee offers it is enough. After all pujas are their focus, not fire safety. If even a single big Puja maintains fire safety protocols it is a great achievement". No, it does not happen that way. Hence the role of legislations come in. I am seeking legislation that makes Puja Committees take 'social responsibility'. This can never be equivalent to 'charity' (a derogatory term saying let my surplus flow somewhere lower than where I place myself, such that the activity glorifies the giver irrespective of whether the 'actual' needs of the recepient are heeded to).
What can be done:
My proposal is jointly to the Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, the Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal, the Special Additional Commissioner of Police, Joint CC Head Quarters, Lalbazar as well as the Mayor of Kolkata, Kolkata Municipal Corporation. My appeal is to make it a obligatory for the Puja Committees to have to donate a nominal portion ( between 1 – 5%, exact amount to be decided upon) of their yearly budget amount toward philanthropic causes. In other words, such a step will ensure a yearly flow of at least something between ₹ 5 – 25 Crore towards philanthropic projects (assuming a sum of ₹ 500 Crore as the cumulative yearly budget for all 'barowari' pujas of Kolkata).
A rule can be passed wherein:
- Durga Puja Committees (organisers of Durga Puja) would need to specify their budget while applying for permission from Kolkata Police for organising the pujas of the respective year.
- For the first year they will have to make a commitment for donation of the designated percentage of the stated puja budget towards humanitarian causes.
- The committed donations would need to be completed before applying for permission for the subsequent year, without which the permission would not be given.
- Proof of donation (receipts) would need to be furnished while applying for organizing the respective year's puja.
The existing scenario:
A century back, Rabindranath Tagore wrote:
আনন্দময়ীর আগমনে আনন্দে গিয়েছে দেশ ছেয়ে
হেরো ওই ধনীর দুয়ারে দাঁড়ায়ে কাঙালিনী মেয়ে..
The country has become blissfull and joyous with the mother's arrival
But the poor, desolate girl still stands unattended at the rich’s door..
The condition is no different even today. According to the 2011 Census, there are 70,000 homeless living in Kolkata, up from 55,000 in 2001. Actual numbers are however expected to be much higher. For others living in the slums of Kolkata the living conditions are appalling. Civic amenities such as drinking water, drainage, sanitation and electricity are non-existent or don’t work properly. Most slums have a single source of drinking water – a tube well – and often that does not work. Roads are in such bad shape that the slums become inaccessible in the rains. Needless to say, there are also no schools and healthcare or Anganwadi centres.
Subrata Paul writes:
তোমার দুর্গা মহালয়া ভোরে শরৎ মাখছে গায়
আমার দুর্গা এখনো দেখছি ফুটপাতে জন্মায়।
তোমার দুর্গা অকালবোধন একশো আটটা ফুল
আমার দুর্গা দূর থেকে দ্যাখে খিচুড়ির ইস্কুল।
তোমার দুর্গা আগমনী গান গিরিরাজ কন্যার
আমার দুর্গা ঘর দোর ভাসা বাঁধ ভাঙা বন্যার।
তোমার দুর্গা প্রতিবার আসে বাবা মা'র বাড়িতেই
আমার দুর্গা মা'র কোলে পিঠে, বাবার খবর নেই।
তোমার দুর্গা টেক্কা দিয়েছে এবার থিমের পুজো
আমার দুর্গা ইট বয়ে বয়ে এক্কেবারেই কুঁজো।
তোমার দুর্গা হুল্লোড়ে মাতে প্যান্ডেলে প্যান্ডেলে
আমার দুর্গা বাঁচতে শিখছে অতীতকে ছুঁড়ে ফেলে।
তোমার দুর্গা আলো ঝলমল চেনে না অন্ধকার
আমার দুর্গা রোজ সেজে গুজে খোঁজে তার সংসার।
তোমার দুর্গা শপিং মলের কফির ধোঁয়ায় ওড়ে
আমার দুর্গা চা বানাচ্ছে, তিন রাস্তার মোড়ে।
তোমার দুর্গা বহুজাতিকের বহুজনহিতায়চ
আমার দুর্গা কালকে যেমন, আজো তথৈবচ।
তোমার দুর্গা ছবির ফ্রেমের শিউলি এবং কাশে
আমার দুর্গা এখনো আশায় কেউ যদি ভালোবাসে।
তোমার দুর্গা ধুনুচি নাচের ঢ্যাম্ কুড় কুড় ঢাকে
আমার দুর্গা ঘুরেই মরছে দশচক্রের পাকে।
তোমার দুর্গা অঢেল খাবার অঢেল নষ্ট হয়
আমার দুর্গা দিন আনাআনি কিছু নেই সঞ্চয়।
তোমার দুর্গা কুলকুল নদী, স্নেহের প্রথম পাঠ
আমার দুর্গা নখের আঁচড়ে ভয়েই শুকিয়ে কাঠ।
তোমার দুর্গা অস্ত্র শানায় সিংহবাহিনী রূপ
আমার দুর্গা কাঁদতে কাঁদতে নির্বাক, নিশ্চুপ।
তোমার দুর্গা দশভুজা হয়ে অসুরের মাথা কাটে
আমার দুর্গা অপুষ্টি নিয়ে ধুঁকতে ধুঁকতে হাঁটে।
আমার দুর্গা কবে বলো আর তোমার দুর্গা হবে ?
আমার আকাশ ভরবে তোমার উৎসবে উৎসবে !!
It roughly translates to:
Your Durga basks in the autumn sun of Mahalaya
My Durga is still born on footpath
Your Durga is celebrated with 108 lotuses
My Durga dreams of getting midday meal at school
Your Durga is the daughter of the king of mountains
My Durga's house is flooded
Your Durga comes back to her parents' house
My Durga grows up on mother's lap; father is missing
Your Durga competes in theme festivals
My Durga is bent down on carrying bricks
Your Durga hangs out from pandal to pandal
My Durga has learns to live by forgetting the past
Your Durga has a bright life, does not know darkness
My Durga gears up to find her livelihood
Your Durga enjoys in the shopping mall
My Durga is a tea seller at the corner of the road
Your Durga is celebrated by everybody
My Durga lives day to day
Your Durga is decorated with flowers
My Durga dreams of getting loved
Your Durga dances to to the tune of drums
My Durga goes around but cannot make ends meet
Your Durga wastes surplus food
My Durga lives day to day without any savings
Your Durga is loved
My Durga is abused
Your Durga rides the lion
My Durga cries in silence
Your Durga has ten arms to kill the demon
My Durga is malnourished
Tell me when will my Durga become your Durga?
When will my sky fill with festive mood?
In short, amidst surplus involved in the festivities we remain oblivious of the plight of the unfortunate who find it hard to make their ends meet, let alone enjoy the pujas. But by putting our signatures we can urge the government to pass a rule wherein a portion of the puja budget will be reserved for philanthropic / humanitarian causes.
Pros and cons of the proposal
Pros or Advantages:
- Does not tax the common people and remains friendly to their pockets.
- Is not harsh on the puja organisers. They need not pay anything from their pocket. They only need to reserve a portion of their collections and help in achieving a greater good.
- The diminution of puja budgets by such a nominal percentage hardly affects the grandeur of celebrations.
- Due to the rising costs, the puja budget is estimated to increase by 30 – 35%. Amidst that, a difference in 1 – 5% hardly matters.
- The small, medium or large enterprises that provide contributions, are not affected in the process.
- Philanthropic activities no longer need to suffer for crisis of funds.
- Puja Committees can play a socially responsible role (similar to corporate social responsibility) by helping the pujas brighten the days of the needy.
- Puja Committees can flaunt their philanthropic contribution and gain better appreciation.
- It helps in nurturing and propagating a pro-human culture and therefore can help in betterment of the society as a whole.
- It would help in popularising the culture of charity for tax saving by helping the awareness grow.
Cons or issues – with possible solutions:
- Some people may try to make it appear that this is a form of festival tax on Hindus – It is not so. It is just an attempt to spread the celebrations to more people than ones who can afford.
- Some of the mega budget pujas might be under the onus of influential people who might not be willing to shell out money for the cause of the poor unless it can pose as a publicity stunt for such persons – the philanthropic contribution (made obligatory if the proposal is passed) can still be used to impress the remaining people and therefore motivation can be maintained.
- Many big budget pujas already have some sort of philanthropic activities and may not be willing to contribute separately. Transparency of the process is essential. Moreover, the contributions should be at par with the budget. A ₹ 10,000 'kambal distribution' from a ₹ 1.5 crore budget might not be a great example of philanthropy. Standardisation of the process is therefore required – With the Puja Committees contributing to philanthropy, this is already a step ahead. Just a minor fine tuning should address the issue.
- Government, governmental agencies or the Kolkata Municipal Corporation handling the funds may make it prone unintentionally add a political flavour to it or may make it prone to scams – avoidance of aggregatory measures and adherence to protocol (to be defined) should ensure a smooth operation. If felt necessary, the Chief Minister may create a separate charitable fund similar to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
Further steps for enforcement of such a proposal:
- Kolkata Police (through Aasaan) can act as a mediator. If the requisites state donation for philanthropy to be essential for obtaining permission, the organisers would have to comply.
- Proper governance has to be ensured. Neutral third parties need to be defined.
- For relatively small budget pujas, self declaration of budget should suffice. If the budget amount is above a certain threshold, the statement of yearly budget can be made verifiable based through audit report.
- The organisations eligible to receive the donations should be registered charities and listed under Section 2(15) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, wherein Charitable purposes include
"relief of the poor, education, medical relief, and the advancement of any other object of
general public utility" such that it renders the donated amount tax free Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Organizations established for and
running programs for relief of poverty, education, and medical relief are to be eligible. Section 2(15) defines the expression “charitable purpose” in an inclusive manner. The
aforesaid definition is not exhaustive and, therefore, purposes similar to the purposes mentioned in the aforesaid definition will also constitute charitable purposes. Further, the words “any other object of general public utility” are of wide import. However, the object should not be of utility for only a few persons.
According to Section 9(1) of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, “charitable purpose includes: 1) relief of poverty or distress 2) education 3) medical relief 3A) provision for
facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation (including assistance for such provision), if the facilities are provided in the interest of social welfare and public benefit 4) the advancement of any other object of general public utility, but does not include a purpose which relates exclusively to religious teaching or worship.” The definition of charitable purpose is broad enough to cover activities other than direct relief of distress due to poverty or calamities. It includes education, medical relief, and the advancement of any other object of general public utility such as promotion and preservation of the arts. Source: Handbook on formation of charitable organisations in india - Caaa.in - Clear instructions need to be defined about who can be eligible to receive the donations (in order to make it qualify under this scheme).
- Clear instructions need to be defined about how and which organisations could qualify to receive funds from this scheme.
- Donations to political organisations needs to be avoided.
- If deemed fit, the Chief Minister may create a separate charitable fund (similar to Chief Minister's Relief Fund) to ensure proper collection and utilisation of the funds.
Let the #DurgaPuja help bring smile on everybody's face.
Please check the following links for your reference:
- Deep Basu. (27 Oct 2015) Durga Puja Is A Big Business Now! India Opines.
- IANS (9 Sep 2013) Bengal's Durga Puja industry to touch Rs.40,000 crore in 2015. Yahoo! Finance.
- Subhro Niyogi (27 Oct 2012) At Rs 123cr, puja spend touches new high this year. The Times of India, City: Kolkata.
- Subhro Niyogi (12 Sep 2012) Kolkata's poor poorer than the rest. The Times of India, City: Kolkata.
- ActionAid: Addressing issues of Urban Poverty in Kolkata site:actionaid.org Last updated: 26 Aug 2016
- Corey Charlton (26 May 2015) India's railway slumdogs: Shanty town where children play on tracks while their parents cook in shelters just feet from speeding trains.
- Subrata Paul (4 Oct 2013) তোমার দুর্গা আমার দুর্গা // সুব্রত পাল.
- Scroll.in Staff (11 Oct 2016) India has a ‘serious’ hunger problem, ranks 97 out of 118 countries on the Global Hunger Index
The Issue
The Durga Puja is one of the most important festivals in Kolkata. On an average, including community and residential pujas, 2,500 – 4,000 Durga Pujas are held in Kolkata alone each year while the overall figure for entire West Bengal is around 10,000. The scale of celebration in Kolkata however, is simply unparalleled as compared to anywhere else. As of 2015, the Durga Pujas is a ₹ 40,000 Crore industry in West Bengal. While the average expense of a standard puja today goes up to as high as ₹ 50 lakhs per year, for the theme pujas with mega budget, the yearly budget goes to the tune of ₹ 1 – 1.5 crore or possibly even higher. On cumulative basis that is a simply a huge sum of money which is spent for the grandeur and extravaganza of the festival. Unfortunately there are many who are in no position to enjoy the festivities. (A slightly more elaborate account of the situation is given down below.)
If even a small portion of the giant sum of expenditure could be reserved for humanitarian causes many more people could possibly get to enjoy the pujas.
I am not asking for charity. I am seeking social responsibility (similar to corporate social responsibility) on the part of the Puja Committees. The Puja Committes take it to be their own responsibility that people would be pleased and would have a gala time enjoying the pujas. I am simply suggesting this sense of responsibility to be extended to more people than ones who can afford. After all, don't we need to ensure that 'everybody' is happy, at least for the few days of the Durga Pujas?
The demands for responsible behaviour from the Puja Committees is neither new nor unique. For example, they need to maintain and adhere to protocols of fire safety. To ensure that such a thing really happens there are legislations that require them to obtain fire license and does not leave it upon their own free will. We never compare it to charity saying "whatever fire safety some random Puja Committee offers it is enough. After all pujas are their focus, not fire safety. If even a single big Puja maintains fire safety protocols it is a great achievement". No, it does not happen that way. Hence the role of legislations come in. I am seeking legislation that makes Puja Committees take 'social responsibility'. This can never be equivalent to 'charity' (a derogatory term saying let my surplus flow somewhere lower than where I place myself, such that the activity glorifies the giver irrespective of whether the 'actual' needs of the recepient are heeded to).
What can be done:
My proposal is jointly to the Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, the Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal, the Special Additional Commissioner of Police, Joint CC Head Quarters, Lalbazar as well as the Mayor of Kolkata, Kolkata Municipal Corporation. My appeal is to make it a obligatory for the Puja Committees to have to donate a nominal portion ( between 1 – 5%, exact amount to be decided upon) of their yearly budget amount toward philanthropic causes. In other words, such a step will ensure a yearly flow of at least something between ₹ 5 – 25 Crore towards philanthropic projects (assuming a sum of ₹ 500 Crore as the cumulative yearly budget for all 'barowari' pujas of Kolkata).
A rule can be passed wherein:
- Durga Puja Committees (organisers of Durga Puja) would need to specify their budget while applying for permission from Kolkata Police for organising the pujas of the respective year.
- For the first year they will have to make a commitment for donation of the designated percentage of the stated puja budget towards humanitarian causes.
- The committed donations would need to be completed before applying for permission for the subsequent year, without which the permission would not be given.
- Proof of donation (receipts) would need to be furnished while applying for organizing the respective year's puja.
The existing scenario:
A century back, Rabindranath Tagore wrote:
আনন্দময়ীর আগমনে আনন্দে গিয়েছে দেশ ছেয়ে
হেরো ওই ধনীর দুয়ারে দাঁড়ায়ে কাঙালিনী মেয়ে..
The country has become blissfull and joyous with the mother's arrival
But the poor, desolate girl still stands unattended at the rich’s door..
The condition is no different even today. According to the 2011 Census, there are 70,000 homeless living in Kolkata, up from 55,000 in 2001. Actual numbers are however expected to be much higher. For others living in the slums of Kolkata the living conditions are appalling. Civic amenities such as drinking water, drainage, sanitation and electricity are non-existent or don’t work properly. Most slums have a single source of drinking water – a tube well – and often that does not work. Roads are in such bad shape that the slums become inaccessible in the rains. Needless to say, there are also no schools and healthcare or Anganwadi centres.
Subrata Paul writes:
তোমার দুর্গা মহালয়া ভোরে শরৎ মাখছে গায়
আমার দুর্গা এখনো দেখছি ফুটপাতে জন্মায়।
তোমার দুর্গা অকালবোধন একশো আটটা ফুল
আমার দুর্গা দূর থেকে দ্যাখে খিচুড়ির ইস্কুল।
তোমার দুর্গা আগমনী গান গিরিরাজ কন্যার
আমার দুর্গা ঘর দোর ভাসা বাঁধ ভাঙা বন্যার।
তোমার দুর্গা প্রতিবার আসে বাবা মা'র বাড়িতেই
আমার দুর্গা মা'র কোলে পিঠে, বাবার খবর নেই।
তোমার দুর্গা টেক্কা দিয়েছে এবার থিমের পুজো
আমার দুর্গা ইট বয়ে বয়ে এক্কেবারেই কুঁজো।
তোমার দুর্গা হুল্লোড়ে মাতে প্যান্ডেলে প্যান্ডেলে
আমার দুর্গা বাঁচতে শিখছে অতীতকে ছুঁড়ে ফেলে।
তোমার দুর্গা আলো ঝলমল চেনে না অন্ধকার
আমার দুর্গা রোজ সেজে গুজে খোঁজে তার সংসার।
তোমার দুর্গা শপিং মলের কফির ধোঁয়ায় ওড়ে
আমার দুর্গা চা বানাচ্ছে, তিন রাস্তার মোড়ে।
তোমার দুর্গা বহুজাতিকের বহুজনহিতায়চ
আমার দুর্গা কালকে যেমন, আজো তথৈবচ।
তোমার দুর্গা ছবির ফ্রেমের শিউলি এবং কাশে
আমার দুর্গা এখনো আশায় কেউ যদি ভালোবাসে।
তোমার দুর্গা ধুনুচি নাচের ঢ্যাম্ কুড় কুড় ঢাকে
আমার দুর্গা ঘুরেই মরছে দশচক্রের পাকে।
তোমার দুর্গা অঢেল খাবার অঢেল নষ্ট হয়
আমার দুর্গা দিন আনাআনি কিছু নেই সঞ্চয়।
তোমার দুর্গা কুলকুল নদী, স্নেহের প্রথম পাঠ
আমার দুর্গা নখের আঁচড়ে ভয়েই শুকিয়ে কাঠ।
তোমার দুর্গা অস্ত্র শানায় সিংহবাহিনী রূপ
আমার দুর্গা কাঁদতে কাঁদতে নির্বাক, নিশ্চুপ।
তোমার দুর্গা দশভুজা হয়ে অসুরের মাথা কাটে
আমার দুর্গা অপুষ্টি নিয়ে ধুঁকতে ধুঁকতে হাঁটে।
আমার দুর্গা কবে বলো আর তোমার দুর্গা হবে ?
আমার আকাশ ভরবে তোমার উৎসবে উৎসবে !!
It roughly translates to:
Your Durga basks in the autumn sun of Mahalaya
My Durga is still born on footpath
Your Durga is celebrated with 108 lotuses
My Durga dreams of getting midday meal at school
Your Durga is the daughter of the king of mountains
My Durga's house is flooded
Your Durga comes back to her parents' house
My Durga grows up on mother's lap; father is missing
Your Durga competes in theme festivals
My Durga is bent down on carrying bricks
Your Durga hangs out from pandal to pandal
My Durga has learns to live by forgetting the past
Your Durga has a bright life, does not know darkness
My Durga gears up to find her livelihood
Your Durga enjoys in the shopping mall
My Durga is a tea seller at the corner of the road
Your Durga is celebrated by everybody
My Durga lives day to day
Your Durga is decorated with flowers
My Durga dreams of getting loved
Your Durga dances to to the tune of drums
My Durga goes around but cannot make ends meet
Your Durga wastes surplus food
My Durga lives day to day without any savings
Your Durga is loved
My Durga is abused
Your Durga rides the lion
My Durga cries in silence
Your Durga has ten arms to kill the demon
My Durga is malnourished
Tell me when will my Durga become your Durga?
When will my sky fill with festive mood?
In short, amidst surplus involved in the festivities we remain oblivious of the plight of the unfortunate who find it hard to make their ends meet, let alone enjoy the pujas. But by putting our signatures we can urge the government to pass a rule wherein a portion of the puja budget will be reserved for philanthropic / humanitarian causes.
Pros and cons of the proposal
Pros or Advantages:
- Does not tax the common people and remains friendly to their pockets.
- Is not harsh on the puja organisers. They need not pay anything from their pocket. They only need to reserve a portion of their collections and help in achieving a greater good.
- The diminution of puja budgets by such a nominal percentage hardly affects the grandeur of celebrations.
- Due to the rising costs, the puja budget is estimated to increase by 30 – 35%. Amidst that, a difference in 1 – 5% hardly matters.
- The small, medium or large enterprises that provide contributions, are not affected in the process.
- Philanthropic activities no longer need to suffer for crisis of funds.
- Puja Committees can play a socially responsible role (similar to corporate social responsibility) by helping the pujas brighten the days of the needy.
- Puja Committees can flaunt their philanthropic contribution and gain better appreciation.
- It helps in nurturing and propagating a pro-human culture and therefore can help in betterment of the society as a whole.
- It would help in popularising the culture of charity for tax saving by helping the awareness grow.
Cons or issues – with possible solutions:
- Some people may try to make it appear that this is a form of festival tax on Hindus – It is not so. It is just an attempt to spread the celebrations to more people than ones who can afford.
- Some of the mega budget pujas might be under the onus of influential people who might not be willing to shell out money for the cause of the poor unless it can pose as a publicity stunt for such persons – the philanthropic contribution (made obligatory if the proposal is passed) can still be used to impress the remaining people and therefore motivation can be maintained.
- Many big budget pujas already have some sort of philanthropic activities and may not be willing to contribute separately. Transparency of the process is essential. Moreover, the contributions should be at par with the budget. A ₹ 10,000 'kambal distribution' from a ₹ 1.5 crore budget might not be a great example of philanthropy. Standardisation of the process is therefore required – With the Puja Committees contributing to philanthropy, this is already a step ahead. Just a minor fine tuning should address the issue.
- Government, governmental agencies or the Kolkata Municipal Corporation handling the funds may make it prone unintentionally add a political flavour to it or may make it prone to scams – avoidance of aggregatory measures and adherence to protocol (to be defined) should ensure a smooth operation. If felt necessary, the Chief Minister may create a separate charitable fund similar to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
Further steps for enforcement of such a proposal:
- Kolkata Police (through Aasaan) can act as a mediator. If the requisites state donation for philanthropy to be essential for obtaining permission, the organisers would have to comply.
- Proper governance has to be ensured. Neutral third parties need to be defined.
- For relatively small budget pujas, self declaration of budget should suffice. If the budget amount is above a certain threshold, the statement of yearly budget can be made verifiable based through audit report.
- The organisations eligible to receive the donations should be registered charities and listed under Section 2(15) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, wherein Charitable purposes include
"relief of the poor, education, medical relief, and the advancement of any other object of
general public utility" such that it renders the donated amount tax free Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Organizations established for and
running programs for relief of poverty, education, and medical relief are to be eligible. Section 2(15) defines the expression “charitable purpose” in an inclusive manner. The
aforesaid definition is not exhaustive and, therefore, purposes similar to the purposes mentioned in the aforesaid definition will also constitute charitable purposes. Further, the words “any other object of general public utility” are of wide import. However, the object should not be of utility for only a few persons.
According to Section 9(1) of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, “charitable purpose includes: 1) relief of poverty or distress 2) education 3) medical relief 3A) provision for
facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation (including assistance for such provision), if the facilities are provided in the interest of social welfare and public benefit 4) the advancement of any other object of general public utility, but does not include a purpose which relates exclusively to religious teaching or worship.” The definition of charitable purpose is broad enough to cover activities other than direct relief of distress due to poverty or calamities. It includes education, medical relief, and the advancement of any other object of general public utility such as promotion and preservation of the arts. Source: Handbook on formation of charitable organisations in india - Caaa.in - Clear instructions need to be defined about who can be eligible to receive the donations (in order to make it qualify under this scheme).
- Clear instructions need to be defined about how and which organisations could qualify to receive funds from this scheme.
- Donations to political organisations needs to be avoided.
- If deemed fit, the Chief Minister may create a separate charitable fund (similar to Chief Minister's Relief Fund) to ensure proper collection and utilisation of the funds.
Let the #DurgaPuja help bring smile on everybody's face.
Please check the following links for your reference:
- Deep Basu. (27 Oct 2015) Durga Puja Is A Big Business Now! India Opines.
- IANS (9 Sep 2013) Bengal's Durga Puja industry to touch Rs.40,000 crore in 2015. Yahoo! Finance.
- Subhro Niyogi (27 Oct 2012) At Rs 123cr, puja spend touches new high this year. The Times of India, City: Kolkata.
- Subhro Niyogi (12 Sep 2012) Kolkata's poor poorer than the rest. The Times of India, City: Kolkata.
- ActionAid: Addressing issues of Urban Poverty in Kolkata site:actionaid.org Last updated: 26 Aug 2016
- Corey Charlton (26 May 2015) India's railway slumdogs: Shanty town where children play on tracks while their parents cook in shelters just feet from speeding trains.
- Subrata Paul (4 Oct 2013) তোমার দুর্গা আমার দুর্গা // সুব্রত পাল.
- Scroll.in Staff (11 Oct 2016) India has a ‘serious’ hunger problem, ranks 97 out of 118 countries on the Global Hunger Index
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Petition created on 8 October 2016