Chennai: Fund crunch hits not-for-profits, many cut meals, welfare activities

CHENNAI: With companies tightening their purses, not-for-profit charitable institutions and their activities are under strain, with some reducing the food menu to holding back purchase of medical equipment.
Eye hospital Sankara Nethralaya has decided to cut its capital expenditure with no new purchase of packaged medical equipment, besides planning to reduce number of free surgeries it does every year.
Akila Ganesan, director of administration, said, “We estimate a 50% cut in donations this year. We may restrict free operations unless we find a donor to sponsor due to shortage of donations.” The eye trust conducts about 22,000 free surgeries every year, covering rural India too.
At the mental health NGO, Banyan, the number of items on food plate has reduced. Dr KV Kishore Kumar, director of Banyan, said, “It is important to ready ourselves for the long run than complain over the damage created by this pandemic. We have reduced the number of items on the meal provided to our patients, but without compromising on its quality. Expected funding from corporates has reduced by 30%-40% between April and June.”
Tamil Nadu Kidney Research Foundation saw donations drop by 50% since March, 2020, its head of admin Vasanti Ravichander said. Other NGOs like Kaakkum Karangal which provides residential care for the destitute said new donations have dropped to 7%. An official at the unit said, “No corporate has come forward during these trying times.”
Research conducted by Crisil Foundation showed that 130 (of 200) companies analysed, accounted for nearly 80% of the total social responsibility spends by all listed companies in fiscal 2019. Assuming other companies would have followed a similar path, India Inc has already allocated over 80% of the annual CSR budget to address the pandemic. This could impact spending on other areas this fiscal, the research note said.