By Sujata Jena

Bengaluru, June 1, 2022: As many as 140 priests and nuns from across India attended a two-day capacity-building training program on finance management in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.

The participants of the October 29-30 program at National Biblical Catechetical and Liturgical Centre represented 20 religious congregations and dioceses. The training aimed to capacitate them on good governance and financial management.

They came from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Paresh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

The program was organized by the Association of Franciscan Family in India (AFFI) in collaboration with the Salesian Father Xavier Packiam and his team.

“Every year we organize several national programs for formators, major superiors, social work directors, secretaries, and procurators. Since the pandemic we have extended these programs to international communities, covering more than 43 countries, reaching out to more than forty thousand participants”, said Capuchin Father Nithiya Sagayam, national coordinator of AFFI at the opening of the program.

He welcomed everyone and assured them that the team will provide quality inputs that would lead to the effectiveness and efficiency of good governance and financial management.

Father Xavier Packiam, rector and correspondent of Don Bosco Higher Secondary School and Don Bosco School of Excellence, Chennai, along with his team Anthony Selvam, were the key resource persons of the training program.

At the training, the participants learned, about governance and financial management capacity building, income tax department intimations, the latest development of income tax department, e-governance, the latest development of Tax Deduction at Source(TDS), Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA), Employee Provident Fund Employees State Insurance(ESI), Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE), Inception-to-date , and Goods and Service Tax.

One of the participants, Sister T R Rosy, the treasurer of St. Anne, Phirangipuram of Hyderabad province, said, “I was happy to attend the training program. It helped me to have a clear idea about good governance and financial management.”

“It was also very clear about taxation and came to know the importance of the cashless, paperless, and faceless transaction. The three pillars are Activity-based laws, Operational laws, and Fiscal laws. The information about Digital Document Management and FCRA is very useful to have transparency and smooth Governance of the Congregation,” added the nun who was attending training with forty-six other treasurer-sisters of her congregation.

Another participant, Sister Rosy Antony Puthusery, the procurator of the Guntur province of the Jesus Mary and Joseph congregation, said the seminar was “very informative regarding the recent changes and developments in the Income Tax Department.”

The nun added, “the topic of Governance Financial Management has given us guidance to carry on our Mission in Finance with Accountability and Responsibility. Although it is very challenging and demanding, we need to update and justify our activities in answering the Government and Income Tax queries. It also brought awareness to be alert and accurate at all times.”

The resource person, Father Packiam, is the financial consultant for many religious congregations. He promotes good governance among religious houses and in the church that is accountable, functional, transparent, responsive, oriented, participatory, inclusive, and efficient through following the rules and laws of the church and the country.

“This will in return help us to serve the poor without problem,” father Packiam said.
According to Capuchin Father Vijesh Loyed Menezes, treasurer of Holy trinity Bangalore province, the workshop was a timely event and undoubtedly was of the utmost importance.

He said, “the valuable interactive sessions, practical inputs, expert advice, down-to-earth sharing, and clear presentations, loaded with information, by the resource persons, guided all of us through the intricacies of our entities’ financial management, which will certainly be beneficial in the very long run.”

Father Nithiya said they plan to organize a similar training in Lucknow as a follow-up due to the many requests received from various parts of the country.

Capuchin Father Alwyn Dias, a provincial of Karnataka province and a member of AFFI, thanked Father Nithiya Sagayam for organizing the program. “The economy and its stewardship are important. Let us learn to be transparent and accountable to the government”, the friar said, who also addressed the gathering in the beginning.