NPRAAF says deduction in GIA still unclear

DIMAPUR, JULY 31 : The Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum while lauding the Department of Social Welfare (DoSW), Nagaland for clarifying the points raised by it through RTI, says deduction in GIA to some NGOs is still unclear. “The issue of some NGOs maintaining multiple homes and thus availing multiple Grants-in Aid (GIA) stands clarified now. The said permissible 3 % of total project cost of any central/state programmes also stands clarified,” stated a press note issued by Information and Publicity Cell, NPRAAF. The NPRAAF however said, the issue of deductions in GIA to some NGOs remains unclear as NPRAAF raised that point after physically visiting the beneficiaries who pointed out that they were made to sign receipts quoting higher amount of money but were actually given lesser amount. “The NPRAAF has evidence to prove this point and it is willing to jointly visit such beneficiaries if the DoSW so desires.” In its RTI reply, the DoSW stated, “Individuals are not granted GIA or other monetary assistance.” “However, a certain individual was found to have been given monetary assistance during the year 2013-14 on the recommendation of National Commission for protection of Child Rights and duly endorsed by State Level Selection Committee. NPRAAF finds this contradictory to RTI response furnished by the DoSW and wonders if any eligibility criteria for central/state programme can be compromised on the recommendations of some commissions/authorities.” The Department had clarified that any pending payments to NGOs were due to the beneficiaries not coming forward to claim the GIA. In this regard, NPRAAF said it had already cited an instance where a certain children home expressed surprise that it was also shown as a beneficiary of Rs 80, 000/- in the RTI document. Thereafter only, the particular children home went and claimed the amount from the Department. The NPRAAF therefore appealed to the DoSW to inform beneficiaries of any GIA available for them, saying without being informed, no NGO would have knowledge of such sanctioned benefits for them. The NPRAAF also pointed out that there are several other instances where the amount of GIA given to beneficiaries did not match in the RTI replies furnished. “For instance, in Annexure – I, a certain NGO was shown as a beneficiary of Rs 2 lakh, however, in the A.P.R receipt, the same beneficiary was shown to have received Rs 1.5 lakh only. Another NGO was shown as a beneficiary of Rs 1 lakh but the A.P.R receipt showed that the beneficiary received only Rs 80, 000/-.” Stating that there are several other similar anomalies and irregularities, the NPRAAF welcomed any joint sitting and verification with the DoSW to sort out the issues.