22 Democracy, Governance and Movement: Civil Society, NGOs and Middle Class

Contents

1. Objective

2. Introduction: Democracy, Governance and Social Movement

3. Learning Outcome

4. The Rise of Civil Society Organizations in India

5. NGOs, Participatory Democracy and Social Movements in India

6. Middle Class, CSOs and NGOs in India

7. Driving Forces Behind the Rise of Middle Class led NGOs

8. Class Based Nature of the NGOs

9. Political Implications of the profusion of Middle class led NGOs

10.  In Brief

1.   Objective

In this module you will learn about the role of civil society organizations and particularly non-government organizations in promoting democratic values, institutions as well as making governance participatory and transparent in contemporary India. It would also locate such rise in the context of increasing participation of middle class intellectuals in social movements in India today.

2.   Introduction: Democracy, Governance and Social Movement

Historically the development of civil society and promotion of democratic ideals happened almost simultaneously. This can be illustrated with the developments in the city of Mumbai. In Mumbai, civil society engagements span over centuries. These engagements have taken various forms: citizens’ movements for rights and privileges; interventions through the press; informal and formal workings of governance that cut across civil society and political society; working class movements; and movements around language and ethnicity. The evolution of Mumbai’s first kind of civil society is strongly embedded in the city’s colonial history. Even the most rudimentary forms of early civil society in the city were marked by an engagement with the state for certain specific rights. This engagement, spanning over a long period in colonial and postcolonial history, is also linked with the evolution of the discourse on citizenship, shifting power structures, class formation, formal and informal politics, and various forms of engagement with the state (See Hazareesingh 2000). Appadurai (2000) notes that throughout the 20th century—and even earlier, in the 19th century—Mumbai has had powerful civic traditions of philanthropy, social work, political activism, and social justice. These observations are reiterated by authors like Desai (1999).

In the changed political context of the 1990s the relationship between civil society organizations (CSOs)1 and the middle classes has become more pronounced resulting from economic liberalisation, the move towards democratic decentralisation after the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA), 1992, and the good governance discourse. The changed political context of the 1990s provided greater opportunities for NGOs to be involved in sectors that were so far dominated by government agencies. Increasingly CSOs proliferated in sectors like education, health, children and women’s welfare, governance, solid waste management, housing for the poor among others. With governance models encouraging participation of citizens and partnerships with government departments, middle class CSOs particularly NGOs became more visible and dominant. A non-governmental organization (NGO) is normally defined as a non-profit, voluntary citizens’ group that is organized on a local, national or international level (Ghosh 2009: 232). NGOs have assumed significance in the unfolding of social movements over the past decades in India. As forerunners of social change, NGOs carry the vision and road map to bring about social change and are therefore active agents in social movements. NGOs, as the name suggests, consists of those organizations that are essentially outside the realm of government. They operate, primarily, in the realm that is referred to as the ‘social sector’ or ‘third sector’ or ‘voluntary sector’. The social sector addresses concerns relating to health, education, self employment, promotion of arts and crafts, social security, child rights,

1In this module the term CSO applies to associations formed outside the domain of government and includes citizen associations, resident welfare associations (RWAs), citizen initiatives, non government organizations (NGOs), and community based organizations (CBOs). women’s rights, rights of workers, street vendors, slum dwellers, environment, good governance among many more. NGOs operate in various ways, are funded by various agencies like donor organizations based in developed countries, or corporate houses in India, vary in scale and function, and also vary in their interface with the government and beneficiaries. NGOs usually undertake advocacy programs, dissemination of knowledge, and spreading awareness in a bid to influence policy and laws that favour the causes they are fighting for. This is how they become important agents of social movement. Many of the laws that have been recently legislated in the country like Right to Information, Right to Food, Right to Education, and the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 are actually the results of relentless struggles carried on by NGOs and other kinds of related associations like community based organizations (CBOs), and peoples’ struggles at the grassroots levels.

The post-1990s provided an opportunity for the middle class—especially the ascendant middle class, elsewhere described as the ‘new middle classes’ (Fernandes 2004; Nandy 2010)—to lead such NGOs. There could be several reasons for this. First, the middle class has the resources to articulate and mobilise around issues of common interest and to develop an agenda with adequate economic and cultural resources. Secondly, many members of middle-class-led associations have strong ties with government officials who prove useful during their interactions and in ‘getting things done’. Some of the members of these associations are former insiders and are well versed with how government departments function. Finally, members of the middle class have access to various other resources including the printing press, television channels and the Internet, which significantly enhance their public visibility and profile (Singh 2012: 117-118).

This module focuses on understanding the functioning of NGOs from the perspective of class especially the middle class. For this one has to understand first, who the middle class in India is. Once we understand that, one can proceed towards understanding the forces that led to the rise of NGOs backed by middle classes in India with examples. The module would then carry forward the discussion of how one can locate class bias and particularities in the functioning of middle class led NGOs and the implications of the same for political mobilization and expansion of political space.

The rest of the module is divided into 7 sections. Section 3 talks about the learning outcomes. Section 4 discusses the relationship between CSOs, NGOs and social movements. Section 5 discusses the role of NGOs in participatory democracy with examples like SEWA. Section 6 brings out the different perspectives on the middle class, who does the middle class represent, its occupational and lifestyle pattern with particular reference to the proliferation of the middle class in the post 1990s. Section 7 identifies the driving forces behind the rise of middle class led NGOs in India. Section 8 brings out the class based nature of the NGOs through an analysis of the issues they address. Section 9 discusses the political implications of the rise of middle class led NGOs. Section 10 on Brief presents the concluding remarks of the module.

3.  Learning Outcome

This module would acquaint you with the way CSOs have assumed significance in the unfolding of social movements over the past decades in India. As forerunners of social change, they carry the vision and road map to bring about social change and are therefore active agents in social movements. However many of the CSOs especially citizen initiatives in recent times carry a middle class bias and operate in exclusionary ways detrimental to democratic values.

4.   Civil Society Organizations, NGOs and Social Movements

Civil society is considered to be a space for the enforcement and enhancement of social, economic and political justice. It is a healthy and necessary compliment to democracy. Interpretations of civil society, however, differ and contemporary social scientists seem to draw heavily on the liberal intellectual tradition to stress on ‘civility’ as the core of civil society (Ghosh 2009). The notion of civility considers ‘others as fellow citizens of equal dignity in their rights and obligations as members of civil society’ (Shils 1991: 12). According to Hall (1998: 33), the concept of civil society in more positive terms upholds voluntarism and freedom and offers individuals, irrespective of their creed, colour or culture an equal chance to create their own selves. According to Beteille (2001: 287), the core of civil society consists of the open and secular institutions that mediate between the citizens and the state in modern democratic societies. Kothari (1988) has equated civil society with non-state, non-government organisations even though the non-statist conception of civil society is argued to be weak in the Indian context. Notwithstanding differences of opinion about the nature and goal of civil society in the contemporary context, it may fairly be argued that autonomy of individuals, protection of individual rights to equal citizenship and access to decision-making apparatus and participatory framework are necessary conditions of civil society. States failure to guarantee these, argues Dhanagare (2001: 188), necessarily makes way for the entry of non-state associations and voluntary mobilisations. The salience of the NGO sector within civil society is understood from the fact that civil society needs a great variety of associations whose members have to relate to each other open-endedly, without exclusion on grounds of religion, gender, and so forth (Saberwal 2001: 193-4). If strong, vibrant and lively civil society is the foundation of modern open democratic polity, NGOs are the very live-force for the civil society. Civil society and NGOs seem to go together and one cannot exist without the other (Baviskar 2001: 7). NGOs are considered to be a means of strengthening civil society and fostering good governance (Beddinton and Riddell 1995). They are essential for the dissemination of new ideas and concepts with regards to social and economic development and fostering participation and democracy in order to improve civil society.

The concept of civil society as a space between the family, the market and the state, however, comprises a plethora of groups of all sorts ranging from charities to advocacy groups (Ghosh 2009). CSOs vary widely in membership and geographical coverage. They espouse all shades of causes and concerns (Nayar 2008: 19). NGOs constitute an important component of civil society as they work in the space of civil society although all CSOs are not NGOs (Ibid: 28). NGOs have become a part of a new development paradigm or New World Order in the today’s world. NGOs and particularly International NGOs (INGOs) are a part of globalisation as enormous amount of development funds are being channelled or rechannelled through them during the past three decades. The new policy agenda of civil society building and ‘NGO-ization’ (Ghosh 2012) also matches the neoliberal agenda of government roll back and decentralisation. The rise of market, media and the middle class particularly after economic liberalisation in India, for instance, has provided stimulus to the growth of CSOs. Simultaneously, the emergence of a new paradigm of ‘society-led development’ (Pieterse 2001: 17) so as to compensate for the failures of state as well as market-led growth has contributed to the great wave of ‘NGO-ization’ since 1980. NGOs are seen as vehicle for democratisation as well as for providing goods and services in the Third World countries where governments lack capacity or resources to reach them or where markets are inaccessible to the poor. As the post-Cold War considerations led to the diminishing importance of development aid for strategic and military importance for the Western industrialised countries including the United States, the donor community found it better to channel development aid through NGOs under the New Policy Agenda (Wagona 2002). Thus, in between 1970 and 1985, the total development aid distributed by international NGOs have increased tenfold and in 1992 international NGOs channelled over $7.6 billion of aid to developing countries. It is now estimated that over 15% of total overseas development aid is channelled through NGOs (http://library.duke.edu). It is worth mentioning here that since 1990s the World Bank has not only encouraged member governments to work with NGOs on development projects, but has also increased its direct funding of such projects. As a result, approved World Bank projects in Third World countries involving NGOs in 1997 were found to be 84 percent in South Asia, 61 percent in Africa and 60 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean (World Bank 1997: 49). Several other international agencies including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have increased their flow of fund through NGOs during the period (Wagona 2002).

Simultaneously, with the onset of alternative development thinking, the focus of development has shifted to alternative agenda like human development, community development, sustainable development, capacity building and the like. As NGOs plead for all these, it is quite commonplace to argue for the entry of this ‘third sector’ for the ‘enlargement of people’s choices’ as well as ‘people-friendly’ grassroots movement. The new development strategies perceive poor people including women as active agents of their own development and instead of a top-down, hegemonic character of development under both the capitalist and state socialist models, it calls for a bottom-up participatory approach like Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) – one where development ‘experts’ become ‘facilitators’ working with poor rather than directing them (Chambers 1997; Munck 1999). This is because development cannot be ‘given’ to the poor. It requires attention to local knowledge, and accumulated wisdom, respectful partnership and participatory practice that will empower the poor so that they can define their own developmental problems, goals and solutions (Freedman 2000). NGOs are frequently identified with alternative and participatory development; but given the wide variety of NGOs and NGO practices, such claims need to be critically evaluated today.

5.   NGOs, Participatory Democracy and Social Movements in India: the case of SEWA

In his study, Ghosh (2009) discusses the case of Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of Ahmedabad as a classic example of how an Ngo can help promote participatory democracy. SEWA had begun its journey as a trade union in 1972; but gradually it has been able to expand its activities and serve as a true representative of self-employed women in the unorganized sector. Today its membership has crossed 2.2 lakh and it has been able to come close to achieve two of its basic goals of full employment and self-reliance. SEWA now provides diverse opportunities to the families of its members including food security, income security and social security. In the initial years, SEWA attempted to collect loans for its members from nationalized banks; but faced with several difficulties to do so the organization under the leadership of Ila Bhatt formed SEWA Bank in 1973. Each of 4000 Seva members then paid Rs 10 as capital share. Initially, it acted as an intermediary to enable its depositors to secure loan from nationalized banks. But later on, SEWA Bank has begun advancing loan from its own fund. It has encouraged women to form groups in different localities and work as a team to cultivate the culture of continuous savings for withdrawal of loans for domestic and productive needs. The Bank has charged interests between 12 per cent and 17.5 per cent per annum for loans taken for a maximum period of 36 months. It has simultaneously provided technical assistance to its members for the use of loan money and closely monitored progress. As a result, the Bank has achieved 96 per cent repayment rate leading to improved income, employment and access to social security for its members. In the 2002–2003 fiscal year, SEWA had a working capital of nearly 85 crores and its audit classification has been consistently ‘A’ grade. SEWA has successfully linked micro-finance movement with much needed support services like insurance, health care, child care, legal aid, and training to reduce women’s vulnerability. This micro-finance movement has now become a model for others to follow and one can refer to some other successful experiences7 of empowerment of poor and the needy through micro-finance (ibid: 236).

The contributions of many other small and big NGOs in India are conspicuous by their salience. Thus, to name only a few, organizations like Narmada Bachao Andolan, Centre for Science and Environment, Working Women’s Forum, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres, Lawyer’s Collective, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Shakti Vahini, Child In Need Institute, Sanlaap, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, Bhartiya Patita Udhar Samiti, Prerana, Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust, Tagore Society for Rural Development, Sachetna, Paschim Bangla Kheria-Sabar Kalyan Samiti, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Voluntary Action Network India, Society for Participatory Research in Asia etc., have quite successfully intervened in protecting and preserving our environment, enlarging the rights of women and children, preventing the onus of illiteracy, trafficking and dowry and the like. It is worth mentioning here that Mazdoor Kishan Shakti Sanghthan, an NGO in a Rajasthan village, had started a campaign for right to information in 1990 and it is one of the pioneers of RTI movement in the country.

6.   Middle Class, CSOs and NGOs in India

The middle class in India not only contributes to India’s growth story but also shapes public debates and is the carrier of India’s aspirations. Authors like Beteille (2005), who have written on the middle class in India, trace its origin to British colonial rule in India when modern education opened up employment opportunities in the commercial, and administrative institutions set up by the British colonial government. Authors like Chatterjee (1992) and Fernandes (2000) distinguish between the colonial middle class that was based on relationship of subordination to the British colonial power simultaneously providing cultural leadership to the native people and the middle class in post colonial India which was identified as “Nehruvian civil service-oriented salariat, short on money but long on institutional perks” (William Mazzarella, “Middle Class”, p.1, available at, http://www.soas.ac.uk/csasfiles/keywords/Mazzarella-middleclass.pdf). The ‘new’ middle class is seen as negotiating India’s new relationship with the global economy both culturally and economically.

Difficult to define yet powerful in its presence, many authors like Nandy (2010), Fernandes (2004), Fernandes and Heller (2006) and (Mawdsley 2004) have theorised on the defining characteristics of the middle class in different ways. These authors have also admitted the difficulties in operationalizing the middle class given the size and diversity of the scale involved. For instance Mawdsley (2004) admits that the conceptual variance of the middle class can be found “in the sheer range of current estimates, from around 50 million to 300 million people out of a billion” (Mawdsley 2004: 84). In order to arrive at an understanding of the middle class, Fernandes and Heller (2006) suggest a more practical approach. They point out that it would be beneficial to understand the middle class as a “class-in-practice, that is, as a class defined by its politics and the every-day practices through which it reproduces its privileged position”, rather than as a static category” (ibid.: 497). India’s middle classes tend to be distinguished by cultural attributes such as higher educational attainment than working-class citizens, their command over the English language and more conspicuous consumption patterns. These distinctions build on pre-existing caste and class-based inequalities.

Post 1990s there has been a proliferation of the middle classes, sometimes referred to as the new middle class. According to a World Bank study “….from the early 1990s, India has experienced one of the fastest economic growth rates in the world, averaging over 6 percent and reaching 7-8 percent per year since 2003. While the country still continues to face the tremendous challenge[s]…, robust economic growth has already allowed millions to emerge from poverty creating a sizable middle class of 300 million people….”The proliferation of this ascendant middle class is linked to the new economic opportunities that became available after economic liberalization in 1991. With their occupations in finance, real estate and information technology, this ascendant middle class also benefited from global linkages resulting from the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991. This rapidly proliferating professional middleclass has particularly become visible and has gained in growing political prominence since the late 1990s. Upadhya (2004) gives an example of this professional middle class in her study of the software industry in Bangalore. The software industry has produced a new kind of capitalist class in India (distinct from the old Indian economy dominated by the public sector and a nationalist capitalist class), close integration into the global economy, building on its middle class origin, cultural capital of higher education (usually in engineering), and on the cultural and social capital (knowledge and networks) acquired through professional careers. Similarly, Fernandes (2004) talks about the rapid proliferation of the new middle class in many parts of Mumbai and other Indian cities, representing new cultural symbols based on consumerist lifestyles that did not exist during the pre-liberalised period of state controlled markets. This class is ideologically distinct from the erstwhile middle class that valued socialism and is increasingly pulling away from the poor and low-income classes. Fernandes further explains that a distinguishing marker of the ascendant or new middle class from the older variety of middle class is the “culture of consumption” (Fernandes, 2004: 2415). I would add that the older middle classes were the carriers of the Nehruvian vision of modern Indian values and also internalised the Gandhian values of frugality and simplicity. The new middle class is distinguished by the culture of consumption accelerated by the availability of wide range of goods and services post liberalization and the also the attendant changes in value systems brought about by increased exposure to images and symbols via satellite and internet based communication systems. This culture of consumption is not limited only to the goods and services that are available in the market but also include the consumption of collective services (demanded by the citizen/consumer) like solid waste management, and the demand for better services like open spaces, green spaces, better roads, footpaths, more greenery as well as accountability and efficiency from government agencies like the municipal authority.

Confident in its own economic success, this middle class also harbours new aspirations and visions for the future including about their surrounding environments and habitats. It is no wonder therefore to find an increasing number of NGOs, citizen groups, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the decades following the 1990s across India. This profusion of middle-class activism particularly through middle class backed NGOs/CSOs is witnessed in most of the prominent cities in India. Several studies corroborate this, including: Delhi (Rewal 2007; Harriss 2005); Hyderabad (Kennedy 2008); Chennai (Baud and Dhanalakshmi 2007; Harriss 2007; Coelho and Venkat 2009); and Bangalore (Ghosh 2005; Nair 2005; Kamath and Vijayabaskar 2009; Baindur and Kamath 2009; Ranganathanet al. 2009; and Vijayalakshmi 2004).

The government in turn relies on the middle class and in building consensus while framing policies. Government programmes like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) stress the importance of urban reforms and the significance of citizens’ participation and CSOs. For instance, Kamath and Vijayabaskar note that on-going urban governance reforms based around combination of user participation and marketisation of service delivery call for a greater role and consent of civil society organizations (CSOs) which has facilitated a profusion of resident welfare associations and other urban neighbourhood associations (Kamath and Vijayabaskar 2009: 368).

7.  Driving Forces Behind the Rise of Middle Class led NGOs

The rise of NGOs led by the middle classes is particularly visible in the changed political context of the 1990s driven by the following factors. First: In 1991, economic liberalization was ushered in, redefining the role of the state and opening up various sectors of governance to non-state actors including CSOs (Desai 1999; Baviskar 2001; Benjamin 2000; Chaplin 2007).

Second: The involvement of all kinds of civil society organisations (CSOs) including NGOs was further facilitated by constitutional changes like the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) in 1992 that stressed on decentralization and participatory governance. Along with the good governance discourse circulated from multilateral international agencies like the World Bank, contemporary urban reforms envisaged in government programmes like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), 2005, further reaffirmed the involvement of CSOs and NGOs in hitherto traditional domains of governance. These domains include: provision of basic services like solid waste management; water; housing for the poor; disaster management; city beautification; and urban infrastructure. Since the 1990s, the term ‘civil society’ has been increasingly invoked by India’s urban middle classes to describe their own expectations and aspirations for governance. This is reflected in the rise of government and middle class-driven civil society partnerships in many cities of India particularly big metropolitan and mega cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Third: A series of significant legislations during the late 1990s and 2000s further empowered the educated middle class citizenry in India. These laws include the Right to Information (2005), Public Interest Litigation, and the more recent Public Disclosure Law (2005) and Community Participation Law (2005). These legislations are very significant as they empower citizens for accountability and transparency in governance. These legislations also equipped the middle class and their associations to undertake several initiatives to negotiate and bargain with the government for better delivery of services (Singh 2013: 2).

The final impetus for the rise of middle class led NGOs growth of India’s was a spate of natural disasters that hit the country in the beginning of the 21st century. Disasters like the super-cyclone in Orissa in 1999, the earthquake in Bhuj in 2001, the Tsunami in Tamil Nadu in 2004 triggered greater involvement of NGOs in post disaster recovery work. These calamities reinforced the need for stronger partnerships between government and CSOs. The need for fruitful partnerships has been time and again established in various policy documents of the government (see Jain 2003).

8. Class Based Nature of the NGOs

Associational life, NGOs, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and collective action in the form of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and neighbourhood organisations bear a distinct class character across cities of India. In Bangalore the upper stratum, of highly professional associations, has been very much concerned with the problems of the urban environment ― roads, rather than public transport; garbage and pollution, rather than public housing; mosquitoes and public toilets rather than public health (Nair 2005: 336). In other words, the concerns have been with issues that are framed by middle class interests. Kamath and Vijayabaskar (2009) note that a major mode of producing consent for ongoing urban governance reforms based around combination of user participation and marketisation of service delivery call for a greater role and consent of CSOs including RWAs in the process of urban governance. This has facilitated a profusion of associations in the city of Bangalore that are increasingly visible in these processes as actors staking claims on public services, and as institutions representing the voice of citizens (ibid: 368). They also clarify ―this public sphere inhabited by middle class and elite NGOs is fragmented in terms of internal conflicts, differential economic interests and access to the arms of the state, local histories and geographies of development of specific neighbourhoods (ibid: 369). In Bangalore, large traditional middle class RWAs consisting primarily of retired or older middle and higher level bureaucrats and formal sector employees, located in stable, older, core areas which have not experienced much growth typically tend to focus their collective action efforts on local cultural and religious programmes that exist side by side RWAs of the new elites working in new globalised service sectors, living in enclaves and largely insulated from the problems of lack of amenities due to their location in gated communities. Zerah (2009) also notes prominence of the traditional elites and higher socio economic groups in geographical locations like Bandra (a suburban area in Mumbai) where citizen activism is more pronounced.

Coelho and Venkat (2009) add another dimension to the debate from their study on middle class activism in Chennai that seem to intercept political society and civil society as described by Chatterjee (2004). In contrast to studies that posit RWAs as exclusively middle class, their study found several bodies named and registered as ―RWAs in slums and low income neighbourhoods in the city and its peripheries armed themselves with the tools of civil society – registration, elections, and letterheads – to claim official attention, and are often more active than the middle-class associations (ibid: 359). These associations ―struggle over road conditions, drainage and water, focus on issues of tenure-security, titles, allotments and land acquisitions while middle class RWAs are concerned with land use, zoning, regularisation and the protection of real estate value… have sharpened the class-polarised politics of collective action over the single issue of land (ibid: 359). In his analysis Parthasarathy (2004) notes ― “Citizens for a Just Society in Mumbai, led by the Gandhian Usha Mehta had filed a Public Interest Litigation to proceed with slum demolitions near railway tracks stating that World Bank stipulations relating to resettlement and guidelines regarding rehabilitation conflict with Indian laws and therefore need not need to be adhered to” (ibid: 13).

Again in their study in Chennai, Coelho and Venkat (2009) note that middle-class RWAs, particularly in the southern wards and suburbs of their sample Besantnagar/Shastrinagar, Alandur and Perungudi were dominated by Brahmins and upper castes. The Brahminical character of RWAs was discernible ―not only in their composition but also in their visions and agendas which was driven by a pursuit of cleanliness and a sense of order based on a functional segregation of spaces, separating commercial and unauthorised activities from residential precincts (ibid: 360). In Chennai, Harriss (2007) argues that there  are organisations, concerned mainly with issues of urban governance and the interests of consumer-citizens, that are quite elitist, run by upper middle class people, mostly Brahmins. These organisations ―have adopted the formal language of citizenship and speak of participation in budgeting and of transparency and accountability in local government are run with substantial budgets with a high degree of genuine professionalism, but they do not have – nor even seek – a broad popular base (ibid: 2720).

9.  Political Implications of the profusion of Middle class led NGOs

In the absence of spaces for addressing concerns of middle-class citizens and a perception that the poor (favoured by elected representatives) are in a better negotiating position with the state, middle-class, educated, and professional citizens formed their own associations of varied hues including NGOs to voice concerns related to their class situations and particularities. First, the phrase ‘non political link’, often used to refer to the position of the members of middle class led associations, cannot be interpreted as the absence of politics rather as new strategies to stake claims to urban space and its governance and services and influence political action. The consensus approach of such NGOs is a political strategy that enables middle-class members to act as pressure groups on the government, get more visibility and help avoid some of the difficulties that arise from adopting the confrontation mode.

Second, the impetus for middle class led NGOs essentially came from supreme inefficiency in governance, corruption in public life, and a general distrust for the political class, particularly elected representatives. The shortfalls in governance had become quite acute: inefficient delivery of basic services like water and solid waste management; bureaucratic delays in accessing municipal services; corrupt practices in government offices; poor maintenance of roads, gardens and open spaces, footpaths; irregular collection and disposal of garbage; lack of scientific techniques in the management of solid waste that were affecting all sections of the population. Efficiency in governance, therefore, is an overriding characteristic feature of many NGOs run and supported by middle class members who are professionally equipped and well educated to address many such concerns. Examples include NGOs like PAC and Janagraha in Bangalore, Karmayog, AGNI, PRAJA and YUVA in Mumbai, PRIA and ADR in Delhi, Lions Club in West Bengal among several others.

The understanding of ‘efficiency’ draws copiously from the principles of new public management. These principles are often summarised as follows: “The market-based model of public management, with its emphasis on entrepreneurialism and satisfying individual clients’ self-interest, is incompatible with democratic accountability, citizenship, and an emphasis on collective action for the public interest” (Eikenberry and Kluver 2004: 132). From the efficiency perspective of governance, the ideas of zoning and elimination of street vendors and slum communities that encroach on urban spaces followed. Rewal (2007) points out that civil society groups like the Advanced Locality Management (ALMs) groups in Mumbai and RWAs in Delhi lacked faith in the elected representatives for their incompetence (due to their low educational levels and social status) and inefficiency. The councillors, they suspect, seemed to favour the urban poor whenever a conflict of interests arises, since the poor vote en masse in municipal elections, unlike the middle classes. The RWAs and ALMs perceived electoral politics as being characterised by vested interests (vote banks, corruption).

Third, autonomous citizen bodies with a considerable representation of middle class interests and ideologies like Bangalore Action Task Force (BATF) (involving multiple agencies – primarily corporate bodies), those created by the state government (the City Roundtable, the Mumbai Task Force) or even the judiciary (Road Committee) all hinder rather than facilitate the goals of democratic decentralisation and undermine the power of Urban Local Bodies like municipalities by ignoring their views. In other cities of India too, CSOs of this kind have emerged as a collective force and partnered with the executive wing of the local government and bypassed elected representatives in the process. In Bangalore, for instance, a collaboration of four NGOs like Janaagraha and the Akshara Foundation launched Public Record of Operations and Finance (PROOF), which established a forum demanding the Bangalore Mahanagare Palike (BMP) to publicise quarterly performance data and participate in sessions for discussion and debate with citizens. In a study of PROOF, Vijayalakshmi (2004) found that a majority of the councillors were not included and were often not aware of PROOF and concluded that it was taken for granted that elected representatives would fall in line, and even if they did not do so, the participation or cooperation of the elected representatives in the campaign was less relevant. Kennedy (2008), in her case study of Hyderabad (which is considered at the forefront of municipal reforms), noted that although the councillors entered office under new legislation, ostensibly designed to activate the 74th CAA, their scope of action has not changed substantially. In some respects, they may even enjoy less discretionary power than in the previous period further intensified by the involvement of international organisations like the World Bank, the UK development agency DFID, and UN-Habitat and Cities Alliance. She argued that these projects and the training programmes that have accompanied them have had an impact on urban governance by introducing new norms in service delivery.

Ghosh (2005) notes that BATF identified such municipal agencies that provide the core infrastructure for the city, and the services that most impact their businesses and private lives – land development and planning, water, power and telecommunication services, to the complete disregard of social welfare departments like Department of Education and Department of Health and the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board (KSCB) clearly indicating the bias in favour of the rich. All these suggest development of an exclusivist kind of civil society when it comes to partnering with the government.

The fourth political implication is in terms of the exclusionary discourse that emerges. For instance, Zerah (2009) points out that middle class backed ALM groups in Mumbai has “opened up opportunities for middle-class activism to enter new areas, including political action by using various mobilization strategies…however, the question of their attitude towards city restructuring and poorer localities remains” (ibid: 867). In Mumbai the ALMs that adopted public gardens from the municipal authority for maintenance invariably barred neighbouring slum residents from entry into the space (on the pretext of maintaining cleanliness), locked the gates, hired security personnel and kept the keys of the garden with themselves.

The appropriation of the term “civil society” by various groups including ALMs and the RWAs, their support from media and corporate houses, the attendant exclusionary discourse on governance, space and rights that develops excludes others in many ways. Such associations are heavily informed by class situations of the members (belonging to elites and the middle classes) who form such partnerships like the Bhagidari in Delhi. These in turn position them against other classes of people and are exclusionary in many respects. The membership profiles, prioritisation of issues, modus operandi are linked to certain class interests. Terms such as residents, citizens, law abiding tax paying citizen, encroachers, illegal habitants, and nuisance are frequently used in their narratives. Street vendors and slum communities are perennial problems, often categorised as ‘nuisance’ and therefore fighting such groups was a top priority for these associations.

Finally, the political space of middle class led NGOs is also fragmented in some sense. There are quite a few examples of NGOs with middle class leadership that champion the causes of the poor. For instance in Mumbai the NGO YUVA has mobilised several grassroots’ level activists and CBOs to articulate their interests and inform the revisions of the Development Plan that are underway in Mumbai. Similarly NGOs like LEARN, CORO, Apnalaya and Stree Mukti Sangathan have advocated for the rights of workers, slum dwellers and rag pickers for many years. like Janaagraha and the Akshara Foundation launched Public Record of Operations and Finance (PROOF), which established a forum demanding the Bangalore Mahanagare Palike (BMP) to publicise quarterly performance data and participate in sessions for discussion and debate with citizens. In a study of PROOF, Vijayalakshmi (2004) found that a majority of the councillors were not included and were often not aware of PROOF and concluded that it was taken for granted that elected representatives would fall in line, and even if they did not do so, the participation or cooperation of the elected representatives in the campaign was less relevant.

10. In Brief

In this module we have discussed the linkages between civil society, NGOs and social movements. We have traced the intellectual roots of civil society in Western and Indian thought and how its development is closely linked to the ideals of democracy and participation. The changed political context of the 1990s, with the opening up of the economy, and the march towards democratic decentralization provided constitutional status by the 74th and 73rd CAA witnessed greater participation of middle class led CSOs of varied hues in various sectors. Newly acquired legal tools like the Right to Information and Public Interest Litigations also empowered these middle class led associations to acquire greater accountability and transparency from government departments. The renewed interest in citizens participation and good governance (both at international and national levels) – have all provided new opportunities to middle class citizens to develop new political strategies to make things work in their favour. Whether to reclaim urban spaces or negotiate with the municipal officials to get better services, associations of middle class citizens like RWAs and ALMs have facilitated middle class politics in ways that were unknown earlier reaffirming what Nandy (1998)said that “the entire ideology of the Indian state is so formatted and customized that it is bound to make more sense—and give political advantages—to the urban middle classes” (ibid: 4). However this is not to suggest that the middle class for its own advantage usurps the whole of the terrain of civil society. CSOs with a significant middle class leadership also champion the causes of the marginalised to a great extent. The cases of SEWA, MKSS, NBA, YUVA and PRIA are just a few of these endeavours.