NATIONAL ACCREDITATION COUNCIL OF INDIA

 

1.                 The National Accreditation Council of India (NACI) will have its headquarters in New Delhi.

 

2.                 NACI will be an autonomous organisation and if considered necessary, may obtain mutual recognition with other bodies operating similar accreditation schemes in other countries/regions through bilateral/multilateral arrangements.

 

3.                 The primary aim of NACI will be

a.                 To promote, coordinate national accreditation and accountability initiatives for building confidence in the voluntary organisations.

 

b.                To generate consciousness in the country about the important role of charity/giving/donations through accreditation and accountability guidelines, conducting seminar and other forms of promotion and promoting accountability among voluntary organisations to stakeholders, through various means.

 

c.                 To establish sector specific national/state level accreditation boards for voluntary organisations in various sector like health, advocacy, education, capacity building etc.

 

4.                 NACI will have an Executive Council comprising

a.                 Member,  Planning Commission dealing with voluntary action -  Chairman

b.                Director General, CAPART

c.                 Representative of Secretary, Ministry of Empowerment and Social Justice

d.                Representative of  Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs,

e.                 Representative of Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology

f.                   Representative of Secretary, Ministry of Human Resources Development

g.                 Representative of Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development

h.                Representative of Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs

i.                   Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes

j.                   Representative of Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

k.                Two representatives of State Government departments with annual grants of at least Rs 5 crores to voluntary organisations.

l.                   Two representatives of international grant making organisations with annual grants to voluntary organisations of at least Rs 10 crores

m.              Two representatives of Indian grant making organisations with annual giving of at least Rs 5 crores.

n.                Secretary General, CII

o.                 Secretary General, FICCI

p.                Secretary General, ASSOCHAM

q.                 President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

r.                  Secretary General, Quality Council of India

s.                 Two representatives of other chambers of commerce and industry by rotation

t.                  Director General, NACI will be a professional to be selected from open market.

 

5.       The functions of the Council may well be to look at the following:-

(a)               Self-assessment

(b)              External Review of  the voluntary organisations.

6.       The parameters of such review could be based on i) registration, ii) an unique identification No. such as a DIN as applicable to company Directors, iii) on line self assessment, iv) field test on a sample basis.

 

7.       The department of Statistics while making survey of voluntary organisations has collected data of about 23 lakhs voluntary organisations restricting the definition to the organisations registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Bombay Public Trust Act.  However, there is a strong case for considering organisations registered under Trade Unions Act or the section 25 of the Companies, Act 1956 as voluntary organisations.  The Ministry of Law is also working on having all India act for registering voluntary organisations.  

 

8.       Accreditation of NGOs can be done

         

(a)      Through self evaluation/external evaluation.

(b)      Keeping in view the large number of voluntary organisations, it would be prudent to move step by step.  Thus in the first phase the process of accreditation will be only through self-assessment.

(c)      The validity of accreditation will be for five years.  The accredited voluntary organisations will be expected to update their profile from time to time.  In case of  failure to update, the registration will lapse automatically.

 

9.       The voluntary organisations keen on receiving accreditation will be required to fill up an online form. The particulars given in this form will be verified electronically using information collected from other sources like the Department of Statistics, Planning Commission, Income Tax Department etc.

 

10.     Each voluntary organisation accredited through this process will be provided with an accreditation number and a password, to keep the information updated.

 

All the information provided by voluntary organisations will be in public domain and freely accessible.

 

11.     Income Tax Department will provide relief under section 80G and 35cc only to such organisations that get themselves accredited.

 

12.     Sectors specific registration: NACI will provide recognition to appropriate bodies.

 

13.     As accreditation of voluntary organisations is part of the national policy on voluntary sector, efforts will be made to establish it through an act of Parliament on the lines of Press Council of India/the Bar Council of India.

 

14.     NACI will charge nominal fee of Rs.500/- as fee for registration. 50% of this amount will go towards creation of fund that will work as Social Safety Fund for activists in distress/old age. This fund will be managed by CAPART.

 

15.     Since the emphasis is on transparency and accountability, all the information provided to the National Accreditation Council of India will be in public domain and thus will be accessible to anyone who seeks it.

 

16.     For sector specific or state/region specific accreditation, the Council will provide recognition to other similar bodies working in the area.