Budget 2019-2020 provides for a number of measures with regards to the National CSR Foundation as follows.
- The Foundation will be transformed into a National Social Inclusion Foundation to strengthen its role as a key Government agency in the fight against poverty and social exclusion and to further consolidate its support to NGOs to the benefit of poor and vulnerable groups.
- The Foundation will devise National Programmes for more impactful actions on poverty alleviation. Special attention will be given to education as means of combating child poverty. The Foundation will thus, in the first instance, propose National Programmes for crèches/nursery and educational support to vulnerable children at primary and secondary level.
- In order to better support vulnerable children and improve their educational performance, 50 primary schools in poverty areas will be converted into Fortified Learning Environment Schools and specialised educational support will be provided to students in the Extended Programme. Rs80 million has been earmarked for this initiative which will be implemented with the support of NGOs.
- The grant-in-aid is being increased by 10 percent and the grant paid for the maintenance of buildings of Residential Care Homes eligible under the Social Aid Act is being doubled.
- The Foundation will undertake a classification of NGOs to improve and better tailor its funding support to different types of NGOs. It will help to maximise the role and effectiveness of NGOs. Concepts of community based NGOs and NGO d’Utilité Publique will be introduced.
