monalisa patsani
Bhubaneswar, Sept 5: Mother Teresa is known worldwide for her noble work. She has influenced legions of social activists and inspired many people to work for the needy. Her death anniversary is celebrated as International Day of Charity, September 5.
Charity and benevolence are the noblest of qualities. Organisations both government and non-government are working to promote women’s education, working for the uplift of the deprived sections and working for a better life for slum children and the physically challenged.
Nowadays online donation is getting popular where a person who wants to help the needy and want to contribute to the noble cause donates as per his wishes. Facilities like net banking have made it easier to transfer money.
“Online donation is popular but there is a problem. Many shady organisations set up websites to fool innocent donors. Nowadays many people prefer online donation but they don’t check the validity of that organisation. There are those who have pots of money they have to invest somewhere; so they don’t bother where their money is being invested. It is a good thing that online donation is getting popular, but before donating people should check authenticity of the organisation,” said communication professional and social activist Ananta Prasad.
“I believe that there should be some system to prevent charity-givers from getting duped online. Recently I have been cheated `2,000 on one such website. There should be some regulation to check online fraud and proper audit is necessary. Customer awareness campaigns like ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ need to be launched to make people aware about choosing an authentic organisation before donating your hard-earned money. There are many good organisations that are working for the needy,” he added.
Rashmiranjan Sarangi, a telecom professional, loves to help the needy and donates regularly to orphanages and old age homes. He even spends time with these people. “Though I have never tried to donate online I often visit old age homes and orphanages to spend quality time with the inmates. I always believe in helping the needy but once I was cheated by an organisation where I donated `2,000. That organisation had claimed it worked for the education of the poor. I have stopped donating to new or unknown organisations. Now before donating my money, I make it sure that the money is being used in the right way,” he said.
People who work in NGOs also agree that online donation is getting popular but one has to keep details of the organisation one is donating to at one’s fingertips. “We have a child sponsorship scheme in which people donate online and take the responsibility of the education of one or more children. Immediately after we started the scheme it became popular and we received good response. The online donation system is popular as now through online banking people can transfer money easily. But one has to be very careful,” said Ghasiram Panda, programme manager at Action Aid.
“Before donating you should know everything about the organisation and its workings. You have to make sure that the money is being used for the purpose for which it was given. Like in our organisation: When a person invests for the education of a child, we regularly update him about how his money is being used and for what purpose,” he said.
“There is no problem with online donation but one needs to take proper precaution. Enquire about the attitude of the members of the charity organisation you are choosing online,” said Panda.