 bill no lix of  2006 the voluntary organizations regulatory authority bill, 2006 a billto provide for establishment of a voluntary organizations regulatory authority for recognition and regulation of voluntary organizations in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it  enacted by parliament in the fifty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the voluntary organizations regulatory authority act,2006short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force immediatelydefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) ''appropriate government" means in the case of a state the government of that state and in all other cases the central government;(b) "authority" means the voluntary organizations regulatory authority established under section 3;(c) "fund"  means voluntary organizations assistance fund established under section 8(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; (e) "voluntary organization" means any organization or institution or society whether incorporated or registered or not, which is engaged in any of the following activities without any commercial gain:—(i) promoting education including adult education; (ii) involved in relief operations during natural calamities like drought, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, storms, squalls;(iii) organizing camps for free distribution of medicines, promoting health awareness among general public or charitable dispensaries;(iv) providing assistance to orphaned, vagabond and street children and running homes for these children;(v) running schools for orphaned and destitute children and providing them with all necessary facilities;(vi) helping destitute and old women and providing them shelter; (vii) helping aged and old persons and providing them shelter; (viii) creating awareness among the public regarding:—(a) pollution hazards; (b) family planning; (c) diseases like aids, cancer, etc; (d) social evils like dowry, sati, child marriage, etc(ix) any other activity so declared by the appropriate government3 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, establish an authority to be known as voluntary organizations regulatory authority for the purpose of performing functions assigned under this act(2) the authority shall consist of—establishment and composition of voluntary organization regulatory authority(i) a chairman who shall have experience in social service for a period of not less than twenty years, to be appointed by the central government;(ii) four other members who shall have experience in social service for a period of not less than ten years, to be nominated by central government on rotation basis from states; (3) the chairman and other members shall be appointed for a term of five years4 (1) the headquarter of the authority shall be at lucknowoffices of the authority(2) the authority shall establish offices in the capital city of every state and union territory(3) the central government shall provide such number of officers and staff to the authority as may be necessary to enable it to discharge its functions5 the authority shall perform the following functions:—functions of the authority(a) register and regulate the functioning of voluntary organisations in the country;(b) record the grants that may be sanctioned to any voluntary organization;(c) monitor the activities of voluntary organisations;(d) impose restrictions on the number of voluntary organisations working in any district or state in a particular field;(e) hear complaints about the voluntary organisations and make recommendations to government;(f) take suo motu the working of any voluntary organization for examination;(g) any other function assigned to it by the central governmentregistration of voluntary organisations6 (1) every voluntary organisation shall within a period of three months from the date of commencement of this act, apply to the authority for registration with such particulars and in such manner as may be prescribed(2) no new voluntary organisation shall be permitted to undertake its activities unless registered under this actdeclaration regarding acceptance of rejection of registration7 (1) the authority shall, within one month from the date of receipt of an application from a voluntary organization, declare whether the application for registration has been accepted or rejected and in case the application has been rejected, the reasons in this regard shall be recorded(2) on accepting the application the authority shall issue a certificate in this regard8 (1) the central government shall constitute a voluntary organizations welfare fund for the purpose of making grants to voluntary organisationsvoluntary organisation welfare fund(2) the central government and all the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed9 (1) the central government shall administer the fund in such a manner as may be prescribed(2) the central government shall make a grant to each voluntary organization every year or at such intervals as it may determineadministering funds and grant to each voluntary organisation by central government(3) before making a grant to any voluntary organisation under sub-section (2), the central government shall consult the authorityannual report10 every voluntary organization which is in receipt of grant from the central government shall send an annual report to the authority about its activities during the year and a statement of accounts showing receipts and expenditure of the organization in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed11 the central government may, after due consultation with authority, reduce the amount of grant or withhold the total amount of grant payable to a voluntary organization for such period as it may determinepower to reduce or withhold the grantcancellation of registration12 (1) if on a complaint and inquiry, it is found that a voluntary organization does not utilize the money for the purpose for which it was granted or involves itself in any activities other than for which it was formed, the authority may take such action against the voluntary organization as it may deem fit including the cancellation of registration(2) the authority may also suo motu institute an inquiry against any voluntary organization in such manner as may be prescribedoverriding effect of the act13 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such orders shall be made after the expiry of the period of three years from the date of commencement of this actsavings14 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions in any other law for the time being in force relating to voluntary organizationspowers to make rules15 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsvoluntary organisations today are the part and parcel of the society these organizations have come a long way in contributing in the development of the society and the nation as a whole they supplement the activities of the government in various fields and at times of crisis and natural calamities, voluntary organizations come to relief and rescue of persons affected by acts of god these voluntary organizations are providing education, health care, running homes for orphaned children, old age homes, providing free food and medicines to the needy people many of the voluntary organisations mainly depend upon funds received through contributions and donations which are not enough to meet their expenditure therefore, most of them lack funds to carry out their activitiesthere are about 10 lakh voluntary organizations registered in india of which about17,145 voluntary organizations are receiving foreign funds as the competition between these voluntary organisations is increasing, they are choosing to bend rules and by pass law to surviverecently, irregularities have come to the notice wherein many voluntary organisations have violated the foreign exchange management act they were found to be having swiss bank accounts and foreign money across continents in 2005, the ministry of home affairs has blacklisted 8673 non-governmental organisations for violation of the foreign exchange management act further, there are cases of nepotism in various government departments in the distribution of grants it has been reported that in many departments, the persons giving the grants are the same who indirectly own voluntary organizations therefore, it has become very difficult to receive grants since the genuine organizations find it difficult to appease so many persons for receiving the much desired grants for benevolent purposesthe governments at centre and state levels are providing them money, but there is no monitoring as to how these funds are used as a result, many voluntary organisations, run by unscrupulous elements, are siphoning of a lot of government money which is denied to genuine voluntary organisations many organizations do not have enough infrastructure and means  to perform their activities but they seek grant only to be misusedthe whole system of the working of voluntary organisations is not regulated therefore, there has to be a centralized system of registration and regulation of voluntary organizations so that their efforts could contribute to the nation building in an effective waythe bill seeks to achieve the above objectives financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of a voluntary organizations regulatory authority clause 4 provides for the setting up of offices of the authority in every state and ut clause 8 provides for the constitution of a voluntary organizations welfare fund to which both central and state governments will contribute clause 9 provides for making grants to voluntary organizations every year the bill, therefore, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crore from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about rupees five crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 15 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the billthe rules will relate to details only the delegation of legislative power is of normal character rajya  sabha———— a billto   provide for establishment of a voluntary organizations  regulatory authority forrecognition and regulation of voluntary organizations in the country and formatters  connected therewith or incidental thereto—————(shri kalraj mishra, mp)mgipmrnd—1434rs(s4)—19072006