Hyderabad: The Centre has not exempted voluntary organisations from the Goods and Services Tax. The Indian Red Cross Society, which does voluntary work in the health and welfare sector, is worried about the 20 per cent GST that it has to pay. The AP branch of the Indian Red Cross Society has requested the Centre to exempt it from the payment of GST on the purchase of equipment, furniture, reagents and medical kits for 18 blood banks in the state.
The organisation has taken up several welfare activities for the benefit of the poor and needy across the state. It has identified Srikakulam district for the implementation of the Services Empowering Rights of Victims (SERV) programme to create a cadre of volunteers trained to act during emergencies. As part of the programme, it has proposed to train 27,000 volunteers in phases.
The volunteers will act as first responders in emergency situations, sensitise the community to make it more resilient to disasters, facilitate linkage between the community and the government, and bring about an improvement in the community’s socio-economic status through the creation of awareness on social welfare schemes.
The volunteers will also provide immediate relief to disaster-affected communities before additional support from the government and other agencies arrives.The SERV programme was launched in Srikakulam in the month of October. The collector wants to involve the volunteers in the tacking of problems such as kidney disease in Uddanam, drug addiction, child marriage, road accidents, and migration deaths, apart from natural and man-made disasters. The collector has agreed to release Rs 12.3 lakh for the training of volunteers. However, the Red Cross Society has to worry about the GST that it has to pay for serving the needy.
