33 Emergence of NGOs and their Agenda & Impact on Tribal, Rural and Urban areas

Prof.A.K. Kapoor

Content:

1.INTRODUCTION

2.  EMERGENCE OF NGOs IN INDIA

2.1) NGOs in Ancient time

2.2) NGOs under British colonial rule

2.2.1) Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Brahmo Samaj

2.2.2) Swami Dayanand Saraswati

2.2.3) Mahatama Gandhi

2.2.4) Congress Party

2.3) NGOs Post-Independence

2.3.1) 1947-1960

2.3.2) 1960s-1970s

2.3.3)1980s-2000s

2.3.3.1) Action Oriented

2.3.3.2) Welfare oriented

2.4) NGOs in Current Phase

3.  AGENDAS OF NGOs

4.  IMPACT OF NGOs ON TRIBAL AREAS

4.1: NGOs help to preserve the tribal Indegenous knowledge

4.2: NGOS with collaboration of the Gram Panchayats

5. IMPACT OF NGOs ON RURAL AREAS

6.  IMPACT OF NGOs ON URBAN AREAS:

6.1: Urban NGOs and Urban poor

6.2: Urban NGOs and other social issues

6.2.1: Gender discrimination

6.2.2: Dowry system

6.2.3: Issues relate to the Elderly population

6.2.4: Issues related to unemployment

6.2.5: Issues related to children like Beggary

Summary

The learning outcomes:

The following e-Text will help the students-

• To know about the emergence of NGOs in India.
• To list various agendas of NGOs in India.
• To understand how NGOs have affected tribal areas.
• To understand the impact of NGOs on rural development.
• To understand the impact of NGOs on urban areas.

1. INTRODUCTION:

NGOs i.e. Non Governmental organizations as the name suggests are free from the government in its functioning. Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) can be defined as groups, organizations of voluntary persons who do not represent any action of government. Although NGOs are registered at Government registering authorities but all the functions are managed by its members and associated persons. These members work as per the rules, regulations prescribed by the Government but they are independent from government control. NGOs are not under direct control of government. NGOs work for human welfare and try to touch almost every aspect of life for the betterment and upliftment. Government makes many policies for the welfare of society but how to use the policies in a better way and as per the requirement of people is done by NGOs.

As per the requirement NGOs work at local, state, national and international level. The working of any NGO depends upon the requirement. Various operations and activities of NGOs are determined by its capacity. Certain NGOs work to support and implement various government laws and policies. The major concern of NGOs is to improve human life and to work in such a way so that every individual could lead a life free from any kind of harm. NGOs are private organizations which work all throughout without any government assistance. NGOs provide services which intend to improve life of human beings and spread awareness in society so that positive changes could be brought into society. These organizations are task-oriented and are comprised of people with common interests. NGOs enable and encourage people’s participation at community level. Certain NGOs are specific issue oriented while some are considered with a variety of issues.

For these voluntary organizations several terms are used interchangeably. Some of these terms can be listed as below:

·         VOs: Voluntary organizations

·         CSOs: Civil Society Organizations

·         NPOs: Non-Profit Organizations

·         GROs: Grassroots Organizations

·         LOs: Local Organizations

·         IOs: International Organizations

These entire organizations share the characteristics like non-profit in nature, independent and are voluntary.

2. EMERGENCE OF NGOs IN INDIA:

India has a long history of a society that is based upon the concepts of social services such as daana (giving) and seva (service). There were many organizations which were voluntarily working for education, health promotion without having any objectives of profit making. India have a rich and vibrant history of Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) both colonial and postcolonial, Indian governments have played an important role in shaping Indian NGOs over the past 100s years. With time changed the functions of NGOs in society and their relationships with the state.

History of NGOs in India can be traced back into ancient times. Various Indian ancient scriptures and writings like the Rig Veda, the ancient Aryan Scriptures, promoted the values of dharma, jeev daya. These ancient writings promoted concern for all living things and voluntary social service and philanthropy. During ancient period the provision of education, health services, culturalpromotion and dealing with all kind of emergencies was based on voluntarism rather than being a duty of the state. Various Indian empires maintained this voluntarism until in the late eighteenth century when British colonization took place. Impact of the British colonial administration was quite visible on Indian NGOs and an Indian NGO movement was started which continued till India got independence in 1947. The emergence of NGOs in India can be understood in the following manner:

2.1) NGOs in Ancient time:

Indian culture puts emphasis on charity. Since our childhood we have been listening to the stories of various kings and empires that set an example of charity and social service. Some of the examples of charity from ancient time are construction of temples and dharmashalas. In the ancient literature also like in the Upanishads practices such as daanam like Shramdaan, Anna-Daan, Vastra-Daan and Gyan-Daan are mentioned. Different religions also emphasis on charity like Christianity has its rules of Tyeth according to which one tenth of the income to be kept aside for charity. This practice is quite similar to Sikh religion, which also has its Dasvandh which means one tenth of income should be preserved for the poor and disabled persons. Such ideas inspired many missionaries to do service to the poor and people in need. In ancient times religion played a crucial role in promoting charity and philanthropy and lead to their origin which exists till date. Rulers or the village heads use to help a new couple by providing a free-kitchen so that they could start a new life with an ease. The emperors use to follow the rules of dharma shastra strictly so used to remain engaged in such activities of charity and social service.

2.2) NGOs under British colonial rule:

British colonization played a crucial role in the history of NGOs in India. In ancient time whatever social services were done were not put specifically under any category which could be named as NGO. But when Britishers came to India they brought along with them a new culture and new religion i.e. Christianity. Several churches were founded and Christianity was promoted among indigenous communities. In order to do so several educational, health, and cultural reforms took place and people were attracted by providing some free of cost facilities. On the other hand indigenous people to show anti-colonial resistance founded various organizations which were focussed on religious and social welfare reform. As these organizations were working against the state so did not took any help from government and were free from government control. Soon these organisations started getting involved in social movements which constituted voluntary members. These organizations were soon regarded as non-government organizations. Few examples of such social services while British colonial rule can be:

2.2.1) Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Brahmo Samaj: With efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy voices were raised against issues like child marriage and sati system. He emphasised upon widow-marriage.

2.2.2) Swami Dayanand Saraswati: Under his guidance issues like childe marriage, idol-worship and caste discrimination were dealt and he tried to tackle with such issues.

2.2.3) Mahatama Gandhi: In nineteenth century w hen Gandhi entered into Indian political system a change in these voluntary organizations was observed. Gandhiji emphasised upon reorganising people’s own resources in order to meet their needs. Numerous organisations entered into this social movement and supported indigenous products. This was the time when there was a fusion of politics and social movement.

2.2.4) Congress Party: Several social movements were started by the congress party for independence. But these movements were rooted into politics. Within the members of Congress party several conflicts of interest took place which led to the formation of various other organisations by its members. The major agendas of these organisations were removal of bondage and slavery, tribal rights, social and economic justice, rights of people etc.

2.3) NGOs Post-Independence

India after independence had a series of changes where various organizations were tried hard to uplift the situation of various communities. The development of NGOs post-independence can be understood majorly into three phases:

2.3.1) 1947-1960: The initial few years of independence were devoted to nation-building .This was the phase when Gandhian Organisations were the main organizations working for the betterment of villages and small communities which were ignored by the British Colonial Rule. These organizations at this phase were under direct co-operation of the state. The Indian government helped these NGOs by schemes like five-year plan. At this phase of time NGOs were not actually criticising the government rather supporting its policies which were made to uplift the rural poor. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) became the mechanisms for funding NGOs to develop village based industries. As the funding was only for programmes but not for infrastructure, only very less number of these NGOs could survive for long. During 1950s-1960s the number of NGOs increased to a great extent. And also in this phase missionaries spread more with institutions of health and education which were set up in several parts of the country. The major emphasis was in the southern part of the nation including the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and certain tribal parts of central and eastern India.

2.3.2) 1960s-1970s: In this phase many young people came forward and founded certain NGOs which were movement based. These young people were against the schemes and development programmes of government which were actually putting rich and poor people on two distinct poles. One of the major events leading to the development of NGOs was growth of the sarvodaya movement which was led by Jayaprakash Narayan and Vinova Bhave against the government of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The decline of this government in 1977 provided uplift to these NGOs which mainly included Gandhians.

2.3.3)1980s-2000s: In this phase NGOs were given formal recognition by the second Indira Gandhi government. Laws and regulations were made for NGOs. Some regulating laws were made for the funds which used to be procured from foreign agencies. The state recognised the role of NGOs in social services. Also the state was getting benefits from NGOs as these organisations were able to work more efficiently at local village level which the state was unable to do so. By this time more professional young minds were joining the NGOs and the Gandhian and politics based image of NGOs was fading away. During this phase issues like women empowerment and environment related issues started catching attention by NGOs. Funding was also increasing in this phase which led to emergence of two groups of NGOs. These groups were:

2.3.3.1) Action Oriented: These groups were involved in empowerment at a local level. As the empowerment issues include people’s rights and several related issues so these NGOs were concerned with political programmes and schemes.

2.3.3.2) Welfare oriented: These were mainly associated with the welfare of poor people and were often termed as Aid-managers. These groups were away from political issues.

2.4) NGOs in Current Phase

The history of emergence of NGOs had impact on its functioning and its relations with the state. Although we think NGOs are organizations that are free from the control of government but in actual the government keeps a check on the activities of NGOs. There is always a competition of resources among NGOs for funding either from the state and foreign sources. Growing economy lead to charity, rich people started donating lakhs to NGOs which not only improved condition of poor people but encouraged NGOs which were lacking behind due to lack of resources. Now a day’s thousands of NGOs are working in every region of the nation dealing with almost all possible kind of problems.

On an average India have around 1-2 million NGOs in various forms working in different parts of the nation. More than 50% of NGOs have no paid staff and there are millions of people in India who work voluntarily for NGOs without getting any money. In today’s India the increase in concern for the marginalised communities, the condition of women in domestic and public domain, empowerment and social justice, awareness about individual rights has lead to a drastic increase in the foundation of NGOs that could help to deal with all these issues. Now NGOs have become a part of development Programmes. Several NGOs and mainly International NGOs (INGOs) are a part of globalization, as these organizations have enormous amount of funds that is used for social welfare and to spread awareness among people.

3. AGENDAS OF NGOs:

Every NGO is established with certain agendas keeping into mind. Any NGOs may be focused on either one agenda or multiple agendas. These agendas are guidelines for future functioning of the organization. Whatever agendas NGOs have are meant for the development and welfare of the society. Some of the major agendas of NGOs could be listed as below:

• To work as a catalyst in order to fasten the implement of various government planning and schemes.
• The alleviation of poverty
• The upliftment and welfare of the neglected, marginalized and the weaker sections of the society.
• The improvement of women, children, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the backward classes who are deprived of their rights.
• To make efforts to empower oppressed and marginalized people.
• To help artisans, poor and marginal farmers in identity creation.
• To help in agricultural development.
• To inspire young minds towards social service and development.
• To make people aware about various environmental issues like Global Warming.
• To spread awareness about various health issues like HIV/AIDS and other STDs.
• To give counselling or organize seminars for various age groups as per the requirement and issues which are needed to be dealt with.
• To organize free health check-up seminars in village areas where medical facilities are not very much prevalent.

These are some of the major concerns of voluntary organizations today. Apart from these agendas there could be any other social, health, environment issue which is affecting human life and after dealing with them, human life could be made better.

4. IMPACT OF NGOs ON TRIBAL AREAS:

From time immemorial India has been known for is voluntary works and social services. But with time the mode of this volunteerism and social service has changed. In the pre-independence India the volunteerism was mainly aimed at charitable works, social reforms, and providing relief and rehabilitation for the people who lost their shelter due to natural calamities like flood, cyclones, etc. But in post-independence India the volunteerism has become modern volunteerism which majorly aimed at issues like income generating programmes, social services like providing education and health facilities for the deprived people, protection of human rights specially for women and children creating awareness about environmental protection, AIDS, work against child labour. Apart from all these activities in contemporary times one of the biggest concerns is “tribal development”.

In recent times in India, development of the tribal communities has become one of the major goal of the Centre and the various State Governments. The Government took many initiatives for the upliftment of the tribes as they can also contribute in the nation-building process along with the general population of the country. If they are also involved in the decision-making process, then the overall development can take place. The Government had founded various Commissions and Committees from time to time to keep a check on the tribal situation and to list what are their major requirements. But unfortunately even after doing many efforts the government could not uplift the marginalized communities to great extent. Then it was felt that only the Government cannot achieve the goal on its own and the help of NGOs in achieving these goals was realized. Various sociologist and anthropologists found out that the trial development and betterment cannot be achieved by merely applying the schemes and programmes. The tribal communities themselves have to realize the need and work along with social planners and organizations for their upliftment in order to bring a holistic development.

4.1: NGOs help to preserve the tribal Indegenous knowledge: NGOs can help in the development of tribal health and to preserve their indigenous knowledge which if not protected might extinct a day with the passage of time and generations. Tribal communities have great knowledge about the local forests and environment. Their knowledge about local trees and animals is very unique. But with advancement of technology and industrialization there is a threat to the forest. NGOs help in protecting the lands of indigenous communities by approaching the authorities and the government in power. NGOs work against environmental degradation and inspire youths to learn and adopt various medical practices of the tribal communities. Mostly the tribal communities are pre-literate societies and do not have any written script so whatever the knowledge is transmitted from generation to generations is via oral traditions either in the form of folk lore or stories. NGOs with the help of anthropologists and sociologists try to record this knowledge so that it could be passed to the next generations in the intact form without getting contaminated.

4.2: NGOS with collaboration of the Gram Panchayats: NGOs with collaboration of the Gram Panchayats and Aanganvadi approach these communities and inspire youth minds to take part in various activities and workshops organized by NGO professionals. With the help of audio-visual aids NGOs can involve these communities to take part in various activities as the effect of audio-visual aids is long lasting and also it is very interesting also. Thus NGOs have a great impact on rural areas specially by making the people aware about various government policies and to make them aware about the benefits of these policies and programmes.

5. IMPACT OF NGOs ON RURAL AREAS:

India is known as a land of villages and the major portion of the economy comes from the agriculture. Since independence the Government of India has been trying its best to improve the rural India so that over all development could be achieved. As we saw in the history of emergence of NGOs in India we found that the rural development has been a major concern or one of the major agendas of NGOs in India. There is a large number of NGOs that have been playing a very important role in rural upliftment and development. As we know that the Government alone cannot achieve the goal of rural development so the NGOs had to get involved in different phases of history at different levels like local, regional, national and international. With time a need was felt that both government and non- government organizations if work in collaboration could bring enormous efficiency and achieve the goal of rural development. We know that some of the major concerns of NGOs have been issues like women empowerment, human rights and socio-economic uniformity. But above to all these issues what made NGOs a vital force in rural development is the agenda of eliminating poverty and economic equality and equal division of resources among all. NGOs can help the rural poor in many ways like:

• By providing training facilities to village people where they can utilize these training skills to seek a job
• By initiating various vocational courses at school level which later on can help teenagers to get an employment on the basis of these courses.
• By starting various Self Help Groups (SHGs) for women in villages where women even with very less or no educational qualifications are able to earn money. Today in Indian villages there are several SHGswhich not only enabled village women a mode of earning and saving but help them in making an identity also.
• Various health programmes run by NGOs in Rural areas provide them with equipments like Smoke Free chulha which help women who spend most of their time in the presence of smoke emanating from chulhas which is very harmful for their health. NGOs also provide free medical care, safe drinking water by making wells in various parts of the villages.
• NGOs also work for trade and industrial promotion in rural areas where village based industries like Joot work and bamboo based products are collected from the village and sold in the urban cities in the workshops organized by these NGOs. Such activities not only give the rural people a source of income but provide them recognition through their art and knowledge.

Now the Government of India has also recognized the critical role of the NGOs in the Five – Year Plans, as these organizations have proved to be very fruitful in bringing about a change towards the development of rural India.

6. IMPACT OF NGOs ON URBAN AREAS:

NGOs are usually thought to be working for the rural and tribal areas but NGOs play a vital role in urban context also and help ion attaining the urban development.

6.1: Urban NGOs and Urban poor: With the increasing pace of urbanization where a large portion of rural population is moving towards cities either for employment or for a better life style the concern of government is also increasing as instability is rising in the urban development. These migrants not necessarily are leading a good life full of luxuries rather a huge portion of immigrants are living in the slum areas of cities in a situation of poverty where their children are lacking proper education and in fact some of them get involved in criminal activities like stealing, eve-teasing and acquire bad habits like alcohol, cigarettes and many other. So there creates an alarming situation where government has to look into all these matters but government alone cannot fulfill all the goals. This inefficiency of the Government leads to the rise of NGOs which are mainly concerned with the urban poor.

In urban context NGOs play a crucial role in order to work for the mobilizing populations, the migrants, and in policy reforms which could benefit both the rich and the urban poor. Several NGOs run schools in slum areas where mainly the college going youths are involved and work voluntarily without getting any pay. Also NGOs start various health programmes in peripheral areas of urban cities where people are made aware about various diseases and their preventive measure.

6.2: Urban NGOs and other social issues: Apart from marginalized urban people various other social issues are also taken care of by the urban NGOs. These issues include:

6.2.1: Gender discrimination

6.2.2: Dowry system

6.2.3: Issues relate to the Elderly population

6.2.4: Issues related to unemployment

6.2.5: Issues related to children like Beggary

In urban settings the NGOs are in close contact with state government so there is direct influence of all the policies of government and on the contrary government also keeps a check on the activity and functioning of these organizations. In urban areas apart from these activities certain NGOs also have to be in touch with other organizations in the form of a network so that if multiple organizations share their agendas so they can work in collaboration with more efficient outcomes.

Summary:

NGOS can be defined as groups, organizations of voluntary persons who do not represent any action of government but might help government in development of various sections of society. Members of NGOs work voluntarily for the welfare of society and upliftment of oppressed and marginalized people. The whole concept of NGOs in India has its roots in ancient time. The history of India tells us about philanthropy, the act of social services, the act of giving (daana) which with the course of time led to the formation of these voluntary organizations.

NGOs under British colonial rules spread with the motive of liberation and independence which took the form of social movements under Gandhian era. Various freedom fighters founded such organizations which work for deprived people in the country. Raja Ram Mohan Roy raised a voice against Sati Pratha which was a custom to be followed by Indian widows during ancient times. Post independence took place a series of changes in the functioning of NGOs where the socio-political conditions of the country affected them a lot.

In current India there is a huge variety of agendas that these organizations are dealing with. Human rights, gender discrimination, farmers’ land issues, awareness programmes are some of time. With different phase of time the agendas of NGOs also got modified. Several NGOs are working hard for tribal development and are trying to preserve their indigenous knowledge and their crafts based industries. NGOs in rural settings initiate various programmes which help the villages in identity creation and give them employment opportunities. NGOs in urban setting have entirely different agenda and functioning.

REFERENCES

• Kapoor, A.K., and Dharamvir Singh. Rural Development through NGOs. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.1997.p.11-31
• Kilby, Patrick. NGOS in India: The challenges of women’s empowerment and accountability. London: Routledge.2011.p.4-24
• Patel, A.K. NGOs and Social Work. New Delhi: Crescent Publishing Corporation,2010.p.1-56