Thaindian News

Washington, Dec 15 (IANS) The US State Department is partnering with an Indian non-profit to create an online searchable database of credible Indian NGOs to work with potential American donors to build public-private partnerships.

The database will include all those Indian NGOs that have been vetted by an independent third party to ensure they are accountable, transparent and keep only a small percentage of a donation to cover their expenses so the maximum can go to the intended beneficiaries, according to Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake.

This site will also list all the intermediary institutions who can facilitate tax-deductible donations, he said at the annual fund raising gala dinner of American India Foundation, founded by a group of Indian-Americans responding to the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Former US President Bill Clinton serves as its Honorary Chair.

“By matching a list of certified Indian NGOs with potential American donors, we hope to create an efficient philanthropy marketplace that will grow the overall sector, making it a win-win proposition for all, including AIF,” Blake said.

“In today’s budget-constrained environment, such public-private strategies strengthen not only our international economic development efforts, but also the crucial people-to-people ties that bind our two great countries,” he said.

The State Department was also partnering with AIF on a project to build intercultural understanding and engage citizens across the Punjab through digital storytelling and the creative arts, Blake said.

The programme aims to create a self-sustaining Indo-Pakistani Young Education Professionals Network, a global network of Punjabi youth from India, Pakistan and the United States, and a “Punjabi Cultural Connections” publication for educators available to institutions and communities across the Punjab and the US.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)