Exemption of tax under Sec. 80 G of Income Tax Act, which the 150 year-old King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam has been able to get, should help it to overcome the problem of providing more facilities to an extent, which it is not able to do due to paucity of funds.
“Till now those who not bothered whether their contribution is exempted under tax or not, are donating to the hospital understanding our need. I expect the tax exemption would encourage more individuals and organisations to donate liberally,” KGH Superintendent M. Madhusudhana Babu said.
The tax exemption announced about a week or 10 days ago showed an immediate effect as the Dredging Corporation of India came forward to donate Rs. 32 lakh worth echo cardiograph machine for the Cardiology Department and ultrasound equipment for the radiology department.
The advantage of receiving donations in the shape of equipment is that the donor could arrange supply of equipment which is costlier but much better than equipments with similar features.
Dr. Madhusudhana Babu along with auditors C.V.S. Murthy and Ravi Prasad approached the Commissioner of Income Tax Th. Lucas Peter and secured income tax exemption for KGH, since the oldest and probably the biggest general hospital in Andhra Pradesh needed a lot of support.
Another advantage the donations getting exemption under Income Tax is that the donor organisation can deliver the full sum it wanted to donate to the hospital. In the absence of donation, it has to donate the amount less the tax, he explained.
Incidentally there are many public and private sector industries and organisations that donate liberally under their CSR activities but the amount is taxed. Now a donation to KGH will not be taxed and both the hospital and the industries will be happy.
Ever-present needDr. Madhusudhana Babu says the demand for new equipment and facilities at the hospital will never reach a saturation point and the hospital needs to add infrastructure and facilities. “Expectations are such that patients at a government hospital want everything done quickly,” he pointed out.
