By K Pankajam
Pankajam |
While India is on
the threshold of celebrating 70 years of independence, it is prudent to sneak a
look into the agents that augment the economic development of the country in a
variety of fields. Such an analysis will not be complete without an elaborate
study on the role of NGOs. This article aims to explore the merits and demerits
of NGOs in India, their role in nation building and ways and means to improve
their efficacy.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi while dedicating the memorial of our late President Dr
APJ Abdul Kalam at Mantapam on July 27, 2017 to the nation said that the
fitting tribute to the late president would be to make India a fully developed
country by 2020 in all spheres which was his dream, his vision. ‘Stand up
India, ‘Amrut’ or ‘Clean India’ are all projects launched by the centre for
fulfillment of this vision (The Hindu, Jul 28, 2017). The involvement of NGOs in achieving this objective
could be significant.
An NGO
(Non-governmental Organization) is an association of people or institutions
formed primarily in the field of humanitarian assistance and poverty
alleviation, registered or unregistered, intended to support development at
local, national and international levels. NGOs registered with government authorities
are eligible to get all kinds of support including financing. They are engaged in a wide range of
activities.
Definition
According
to UN, any kind of private organization that is independent from government
control can be termed as ‘NGO’, provided it is not-for-profit. Some may have charitable status, while others
may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes (Wikipedia).
Objectives
The
main objective of NGOs in India is to serve the poor, the marginalized,
unprivileged, and under-privileged people, especially during natural
calamities. These are non-profit
organizations and the services offered by the members are voluntary. They serve the society without any
self-interest. Still they are supposed
to comply with the rules and regulations formed by the Government of India from
time to time. They are mostly engaged in
providing free education to the economically backward children, free medical
facilities to the rural poor, women welfare activities, providing shelter to
orphans, destitute and old aged, and the like.
It is not a trivial factor offering voluntary service and working for
the uplift of people at the bottom of social stratum that gives one high mental
satisfaction and a wonderful chance to work for the benefit of the society.
Scope of NGOs in India
Service
is the main motto of NGOs in India. Social
service has been an essential part of Indian culture since primordial times. Through Five Year Plans rural development was
given thrust soon after Independence. In India 65% of the population belongs to
rural areas. Development is not just economic
but all-round covering various fronts like social, educational, women and child
welfare, and quality of life. Therefore,
the scope of development is enormous and hence complex too. Government machinery alone cannot achieve
such a huge task; so private resource has to be geared enough to supplement
governmental efforts. In the Indian
context, collaborative efforts are required to achieve all-round economic
development. Various departments, agencies and NGOs in our country are involved
in this task. Some NGOs are also involved in environment protection like
afforestation, prevention of air and water pollution. The role of NGOs in human
development has also been widely recognized and accepted in many countries.
Future of NGOs
Despite
India being the fastest growing economy in the world, it is still a poor
country and NGOs can play a critical role in helping the poor come out of
poverty. As per the current guidelines of the government, corporate
houses are supposed to allocate funds for social obligation like sponsoring
villages, construction of schools, and community development in each financial
year. In discharging these
obligations, the help of NGOs can be phenomenal in the future days and hence
there is scope for increased involvement of NGOs in nation building.
Merits
As
NGOs, which are flexible in administration, are closer to the target groups,
they are quicker in decision making and plan execution, ensuring maximum
participation in the process of development. Hence NGOs are a major economic
and social force to bring about rapid development. As per available statistics, the number of
NGOs in India is rapidly increasing. Rural
development can be achieved through NGOs at low cost which is an important advantage,
as these agencies are working in close connection with local people and help to
mobilize local resources, which goes a long way in building sustainable
development and thereby a self-reliant
society. Many NGOs in India also offer job opportunities to the people at
various levels.
If we look at the
governmental plans it can be observed that with every five year plan, the role
of NGOs in rural development is increasing. Therefore NGOs in fact are the
facilitators of development, playing the role of mediators between government
and the beneficiaries.
The number of NGOs
worldwide is estimated to be 3.7 million. Russia has 2,77,000 NGOs. India is estimated to have had around 2
million NGOs in 2009, just over one NGO per 600 Indians, and many times the
number of primary schools and primary health centers in India. China is estimated to have approximately 4,40,000
officially registered NGOs (Wikipedia).
If the number of
NGOs is any indicator of welfare measures, then we can be proud that India is
not behind any other nation in safeguarding the economically backward people. No doubt they are powerful tools in poverty
alleviation and development.
Demerits
Lack
of governmental interference and mismanagement of funds are serious set-backs observed
in many NGOs in India. It is a fact that
some dishonest elements have made riches by floating NGOs and misappropriating
governmental aids for private gains. Moreover, the functioning of NGOs has
become bureaucratic in structure, which leads to inefficiency. It is also observed that young professionals
are not coming forward to take up social service. Monopoly in leadership is another
serious impediment in many NGOs as same person is holding various positions in
different organizations preventing fresh ideas and newer technologies to flow
into the organization.
Resources
Even
though the term ‘non-governmental organization’ implies independence from
governments, many NGOs depend heavily on governments for their funding. These
voluntary organizations are managed by the resources, besides the funds and
support from Government, support from other agencies, private donations, grants
and services offered by philanthropists, etc. They collect goods, medicines, clothes, food
etc. and distribute to the needy. These
include charitable and religious organizations as well. Some NGOs create and
maintain their own funds. They often
collect contributions from the public, private business organizations and even
international agencies.
Challenges
In
spite of the tremendous achievements of NGOs in various fields, they are facing
different problems, which differ from region to region. Finding funds for
developmental activities is the major hurdle faced by these agencies. As they
depend upon government funds or sponsorship of corporate business houses,
mobilizing sufficient funds for developmental activities becomes
difficult. One more challenge is that
these organizations lack trained staff equipped with the knowledge and
expertise to handle various activities.
Unlike ancient
times, charity is not finding favour among the people. Even people who come forward have the
ulterior motive of making quick riches and staying in power and eventually
enter into politics. The spirit of devotion and dedication is missing.
Most people wish
to serve in urban areas, while the services of the NGOs are by and large needed
in the rural sector.
Remedial Measures
Government
can liberalize the rules and regulations on grants and aids and also appoint
enquiry commissions to check and investigate misuse of such funds.
Opportunities for
democratic participation to the citizen have to be provided to attract people
who are genuinely dedicated in order to give a sense of partnership in
developmental activities and at the same time to serve with a feeling of pride
of performance. To achieve this it is
necessary to ensure a functioning that is free of political interference or
vested interests in the functioning of NGOs.
It is also important that there is no over-emphasis on targets from the
government side.
Government can
also reward those NGOs which are doing exemplary services. This will be a motivation boosting the morale
of those involved in social service.
New ideas,
initiatives and innovation should bring in enormous changes and efficiency in
the functioning of the NGOs, for which it is necessary to induct young people
into the decision making functions.
NGOs in India
A
large number of NGOs are operating in India.
Some of the most important NGOs
operating in India are listed here. We celebrate
‘Joy of Giving Week’ hosted by Give India Foundation, which was set up by an
IIM-A alumnus. This project has already
gained wide media attention. They have
won many awards for their exceptional work in creating accountability in the
area of donations. Give India Foundation
acts as an online and offline platform for donation for more than 200 NGOs that
have been scrutinized through its scanner for their lucidity and integrity in
operation. If you donate through Give
India, they will tell you where your money has gone and follow it up with a
feedback report too.
Smile Foundation is
another agency engaged in promotion of education amongst underprivileged
children, healthcare, women empowerment, etc.
On the eve of the second death anniversary
(27th July) of the great scientist and missile man of India, it
would not be out of place to mention here that
the famous award winning documentary ‘I am Kalam’ based on a cause for
children was supported by Smile
Foundation.
HelpAge India is yet
another great organization which provides support to destitute, elderly and the
poor. They also play a critical role in influencing
government policy changes for the elderly and also give material and emotional
support to the abandoned elderly. HelpAge India represents its cause in
National Planning Commission of India.
Avenues are plenty
in India to give away in kind or your time for community work, from a variety
of transparent options and methods of giving.
What is required is the will and the determination to support the
under-privileged. India is a vast country with a population of 125 crores. Like
the squirrel that helped to build Ram Setu, each one of us can do our bit for
the welfare of the society.
Conclusion
The
World NGO day is observed on 27th February which was officially
declared by twelve countries in the year 2010.
This was internationally marked and recognized on 27th
February 2014 in Helsinki, Finland by Mr Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP (United
Nations Development Programme) (Wikipedia).
That is to say that NGOs are globally
recognized by many third world countries as a machinery for economic
development, since they can reach out to the grass root level. In India they are playing crucial roles in the
development of the country and their number has increased significantly. If their governance can be improved, they
can be highly successful and can play still vital role in the overall economic
development of the country.
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular article!
ReplyDeleteIt's the little changes which will make the largest changes.
Many thanks for sharing!
Great write.
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