Motherconcern is a fake NGO don’t fall for it !

By Shishir Kumar

Posted on October 31, 2016

Couple of weeks back I got a call from an executive from an NGO called Motherconcern. They told me that a baby enrolled with them by the name Gungun was suffering from blood cancer and they are looking to raise money for her operation. The baby is 2+ years of age and is being treated in LNJP Hospital.

They further told me that the baby needs Rs 1,75,000/- for operation and her family survives on the father’s monthly income of Rs 6000/- . They requested 5 minutes of my time and I said ok. Now the operator gives the phone to her manager, saying that the manager would give me full details. They made me visit their website, verify their details on Government portal for NGO Partnership (http://www.ngo.india.gov.in), and finally motivated me to pay Rs 1,70,000/- for the operation through their payment portal.

Now the begging starts by Motherconcern

I told them that I cannot help without verifying their physical presence. They gave me their full address, official email id, phone number etc. I was not convinced and I told them I won’t donate. Now they start begging money for the child, asking me to pay Rs 7000/- for one injection (that will supposedly save Gungun’s life, what happened to the 1.7 lakh worth operation?). They then asked for Rs 3000 and finally Rs 1000 for Gungun’s bed sheet. I told them that I know they are fake and I was listening to them only to write about them in my newspaper. They hung up the next minute.

Differentiate fake from genuine  

I got in touch with Krishnan Govindachari, co-founder of ShikshaDaan (https://www.shikshadaan.com/). ShikshaDaan’s partnership model is to ensure that near 100% of Donations go to the Beneficiaries. Mr Krishnan has been meeting NGOs since March 2015 and he says less than 2% of the registered NGO’s file their annual returns regularly. Many a times he got calls from fake NGOs but he always asked to visit premises and see IT returns. This is the best way to tell if an NGO is fake or not. Organizations like Give India (Mumbai) and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) certify genuine NGOs and till date have certified only 400.

NGOs are formed to give back to the society or take from society for personal gain. Registering an NGO is easy, provided you have all the documents right. But never donate to any NGO without looking at their past work, IT returns, and physical presence. These fake NGOs are formed to make money out of people by selling lies or to launder money. Website of Motherconcern is http://motherconcern.org/. Such a startup scam cannot last long. Read more on Startup Scams.

Motherconcern is a fake NGO don’t fall for it !