Cattle grazers in Ladakh lose access to traditional grazing grounds at Pangong Tso

Livelihoods: The Ministry of Defence has asked cattle grazers from Chushul, a village in eastern Ladakh, to not take their animals to the south of Pangong Tso for grazing. Pangong Tso is one of the two locations from where Indian and Chinese troops disengaged in February this year after clashes in 2020.

In a communication to Konchok Stanzin, councillor from Chushul, the defence ministry said, “Due to the present operational situation in Ladakh, grazers have been asked to restrict their cattle movements.”

The defence ministry said that the decision has been taken because of the possibility of cattle grazers from the area inadvertently crossing over to the Chinese side given its close proximity to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China which runs five miles east of Chushul.

Of the 180 households in Chushul, 60 depend on livestock rearing for a living. The animals need to be taken to these locations for winter grazing as this is also the breeding season. According to Stanzin, if the livestock do not get good quality fodder, they could die. He also fears that the locals might permanently lose access to their traditional grazing grounds if the order is not revoked soon.

The disengagement at Pangong Tso was announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the parliament on February 11th. Under the agreement, both sides have agreed to cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated, and verified manner in the north and south bank of Pangong Tso.

Fundraising & Communications: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a circular extending the validity of FCRA registration certificates to September 30th, 2021. This applies to all FCRA licences that have expired or will expire between September 29th, 2020 and May 31st, 2021. The decision to extend the deadline has been driven by the exigencies arising from the COVID-19 situation.

FCRA refers to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010, which permits charitable organisations based in India to raise funds from foreign sources.

The order also clarified that nonprofits that have already opened an account and have the requisite permission to receive foreign aid, can henceforth receive it only in these newly-opened accounts.

The FCRA law was amended in September 2020 to include a clause that mandated that all nonprofits receiving foreign aid must necessarily open an account in State Bank of India’s New Delhi Main Branch. The government had initially set the deadline for this account opening as March 31st, 2021; it later extended it to June 30th, 2021 after several nonprofits argued in court that there had been delays because necessary approvals from MHA had not been received.

Several organisations have not been able to receive foreign funds during the crisis caused by the second wave, and this has impacted their COVID-19 relief efforts. Relaxing the foreign funding rules could significantly help organisations ramp up their operations to help individuals, supply critical healthcare equipment, and respond to communities in rural areas.

Read this article to know how amending the FCRA can have unforeseen implications.

Philanthropy & CSR: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has issued a circular that allows corporate spending on health infrastructure for COVID-19 care to qualify as corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure.

This includes setting up medical oxygen generation and storage plants, manufacturing and supply of oxygen concentrators, ventilators, cylinders, and other medical equipment to counter COVID-19.  

The announcement comes at a time when all efforts are being directed towards expediting efforts to support the country’s healthcare infrastructure.

According to the circular, companies can now undertake projects and activities in collaboration with other companies using CSR funds. Additionally, they can contribute to specified research and development projects, as well as publicly funded universities and certain organisations that conduct research in science, technology, engineering, and medicine.

The government had earlier clarified that setting up makeshift hospitals and temporary COVID-19 care facilities would also be considered a CSR activity. Rajesh Verma, the Corporate Affairs Secretary, has requested businesses to consider converting vacant office buildings into COVID-19 facilities to cater to the rapidly increasing caseload.

Read this article to understand why media attention on COVID-19 deaths due to lack of oxygen in big cities has skewed donor priorities.