A meeting to provide a platform for networking of NRI NGOs to develop common action oriented plans was called by American Indian Foundation (AIF), Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO.Connect) and India Development Coalition of America (IDCA) in New York on 19th. Hosted by the AIF at its office in Manhattan, the meeting was attended by seventeen delegates representing thirteen organizations in the New York Tri-State area, i.e. AIF, IDCA, GOPIO.Connect, The Kerala Center, Pratham, ASHA for Education – Stamford, Association for Human Development, Friends of Seva Mandir, The George Foundation, Helena Kaushik Girls College in India, Share & Care Foundation, ASHA-New York and Heart and Hand for Handicapped 

AIF Executive Director Pradeep Kashyap, welcomed the participants. After giving a brief summary of AIF’s activities, Kashyap stressed how the NGO Network can be used as a platform for building awareness among NRIs, cooperation between different NGOs and also to achieve convergence among the common programs. 

Bhamy Shenoy, an activist of Pratham and IDCA moderated the brain storming session on two objectives: 

(1) Gathering information about NRI NGOs involved in developmental activities in India and 
(2) Providing opportunities to NRIs to get involved in developmental activities particularly for those who are getting ready to retire or those who have already retired. 

ASHA-Stamford representatives Periakaruppam Chidambaram and Suniti Maheswari initiated the discussion. Dr. Surendra Kaushik pointed out that there is a new trend in countries with large NRI/PIO population where The government is expecting NRIs/PIOs to contribute to India’s development. For example, UK government is expecting the NRIs to take greater interest in India’s development activities as UK cuts developmental funds to India. Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of GOPIO suggested that IDCA can take up activities which affect all NGOs such as Govt. of India regulations including Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) or free custom clearance for donated goods for NGOs. This work will provide wider exposure of the good work done by various NGOs and NRI activists, and support the adoption and implementation of development and educational policies benefiting the poor in India. Dr. Abraham George, President of The George Foundation suggested preparation of position papers on various topics concerning the developmental activities in India. D.P. Ahuja of AIF informed the gathering that they are several attractive projects for helping the handicapped and requested the participating organizations to review them. 

Dr. Abraham George moderated the session on band aid vs. systemic change in developmental activities. Pratham activist Srikant Lanka initiated the topic and discussed synergies with respect to the long-term goals that need systemic change. Dr. George advocated the use of land and cultivation as a means to long-term and systemic change in India as vast majority of people in rural India are untouched by the developmental programs and their major skills are limited only to cultivation. Some ideas were discussed to tap the resources of multi-national companies (MNCs) working in India to support programs by NGOs in India.

Dr. Thomas Abraham initiated and moderated the session on how to generate synergies through a networking platform for NRI NGOs. A magazine for India development activities was proposed by IDCA activist Dr. Srinivasa Rao. A web based magazine will be debuted to provide information on ongoing activities of various NGOs. The meeting also decided to organize a one-day meeting of all NRI NGOs working in India to present their activities to the larger Indian community. This conference will be organized in New York City in the later part of 2005. The attendees decided that periodic meetings of this nature are beneficial for reaching out to several other developmental and educational organizations in tri-state New York area. 

The meeting passed a resolution pertaining to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and charitable donation of goods by NRI NGOs for India’s developmental and educational activities. The participants felt that current procedures of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs and the agency handling FCRA clearances are unnecessarily long, time-consuming, secretive, bureaucratic and costly, and thus discouraging of necessary investment flows to the motherland. The meeting urged Govt. of India to encourage overseas Indians to finance India’s development by immediate simplification of rules, regulations and procedures relating to FCRA so as to expedite FCRA approvals through a streamlined fast track mechanism for acceptance of funds by the applicant organizations and their affiliates, branches, and subsidiaries in India. The group also urged the Government of India and its Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs to create a coordinating group to draft simplified and donor-contributor friendly rules and procedures to streamline the custom clearance for the goods that are shipped by overseas Indians and other support groups to India for charity, humanitarian or developmental purposes. The new rules and procedures should lead to a quick duty-free, hassle-free, and friendly release of goods to the intended private, nonprofit beneficiary/recipient person, institution, organization or government body such as schools and colleges, clinics and hospitals. 

GOPIO.Connect can be reached at pg1619@yahoo.com and IDCA can be reached at srao@shanthabiotech.com.