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Government of Karnataka
ADMINISTRATIVE TRAINING INSTITUTE
Lalitha Mahal Road, Mysore - 570 011
Course; Role ofNGOs in the Delivery of Public Service,
August 27 -31, 2001
Sponsored by the Government of India - DoPT - State Category
READING MATERIAL
Course Director
Dr. Satyanarayana
(Faculty - Sociology)
Acknowledgements:
1. Social change through voluntary action, sage publications. New Delhi.
2. Development alternatives: The challenge forNGOs - World
Development, pergamon press oxford.
I
1
CONTENTS
Page
1
Introduction
i
11
Voluntary Organisation in India:
Motivations and Roles
11
HI
Rural Development through People’s
Mobilization: A case study of Ralegan
Siddhi
28
IV
Empowering the Poor through Micro
Finance: The SEWA Bank
46
V
NGO self evaluation: Issues of Concern
62
VI
NGOs and Social Transformation
69
i
I
1
I
I
INTRODUCTION
a t temp t s
last
the
Over
been
have
the rural
poor
five
made
by
the
from
ignorance,
illiteracy
a t temp t s t o
take
the
of
decades
Indian
different
vicious
governmen t s
to
of
hunger,
circle
ill-health.
and
economy
to
new
Independence
p ove r ty,
Also,
heights
there
of
a nd t o promote social justice
through
a
p Ians,
various
s tra teg ies
besides
formulating
programmes for the purpose.
In
series
lift
the
failed
to
more
part i cula rly
the
rural
poor.
Their
low .
Poverty,
ill-health, high fertility,
and
efforts
have
immeasurably
five
these
p Ians
r ema in
of
of
inves tmen t,
levels
hunger,
unemployment and
were
development
spite
huge
free
year
policy
and
poor
of
a
and
1iving
, deprivation,
unde r
employmen t
poor
has
c ontinue to haunt the rural folk .
S t a ti s ti cal ly ,
d own,
the
the
rural
of
but it has been conditioned by an enmasse
rural
in
poor
search
metropolitan
cities.
five
decades,
has
on
unemploymen t,
ro le
of
green
of
Planned
therefore,
under
development
not
made
masses.
to
and
the
last
s ignifleant
dent
hunger,
Unde r
of
urban
dur i ng
a
came
migration
pastures
employmen t,
exploitati on o f the rural
the
number
poverty
these
and
circurnstances,
non-g overnm en tai
or ganiza ti ons
(NGOs)
part
transformation.
It
recognized that NGOs can play a very creative
role
mo t iva t ing
the
resources
s ignifleant
people
and
with
a
can
also
the
local
social
su pe rv i s ing
view
Play
the various
in
to
a
the
ensuring
very
conditions
has
di s tribu t ion
of
their
utilization.
useful
and
Play
proper
ro le
in
providing
ma tchi ng
local
been
They
projects
kn ow-how
a
to
about
factors affecting productivity and marketing.
DEFINITION:
Non-governmental
collect!on o f pers ons
organize tion
formed
to
(NGO)
serve
some
is
an
organized
c ommon
Interest;
1
2
it is independent of
the
(Le siie,
is
1973).
paid or unpaid,
wi thout
a
control
class
resources
of
because
political
to
further
whether
organized
s ome
(Gharyulu,
in
by
their
imperatives
1991 ) .
of
group
common
m embershi p
1s
voluntary
mandatory
nor
acquired
of
in
sense
the
through
the
a nd
within
the
and
abuse
of
body
according
fraud
goodwill
governing
private
limits
set
of the organization (Joan,
Non-governmental
are
to
and
is
or ganiza tions,
in
order
members;
in
which
it
that
with.
variations
Slight
neither
that
are
exist
dependent
or
corporate
bodies
in
order
prevent
to
only
to
their
cons ti tut ion
1969).
voluntary
have
is
and
They
known
development movements,
organiza tions
merely
organization
particular
organizations
private
supporters
formed
under
a
action
groups,
variety of labels namely, voluntary movements,
voluntary agencies,
energy
incentives
accountable
the
on
economi c
1968) .
law
represent
depend
birth;
the
members
not
its
c i 11zens
by
f und s,
Th ey
are
miss ions,
that
independently of the state (Sills,
of
own
Non-governmental
interest
on
its
members
or
persons
voluntary
workers
1979).
tha t
is
its
by
organizational
(Brown and David Korten,
an
which,
freely
given
believe
is
members hi p
organizations
because they
of
one
and
is initiated and governed
external
distinct
and
It
state,
become
a
in
wide
private development
and
organizations
very
imp or tant
form
and
force
structure
people * s
to
reckon
apart,
all
these represent more or less the s ame kind o f organizations.
The growth o f these organize tlons all over
the
world
has
been really phenomenal
or so.
In fact,
particularly
their role
in
in
the
developmen t
past
two
decades
per
se
ha s
become
born
at
a
f ur ther
indispensable .
Action groups properly so c ailed are
stage in the historical evolution
they
began
to
perceive
the
of
exi s ting
voluntary
a gene ie s
when
social
s true ture
are
3
essentially
unj us t
with
into its social fabric.
the
of
forces
explo1ta tion
They call for a radical transformation
of society at the macro-level and give shape
movemen t s
within
the
system.
Their
to
and
the
of
the
whole
more
a
just
a
but
s ocial
macro-level
of
order.
are
They
vision
and
the
local
in
entrenched
res tructing
revolut ionary
perspective
championing the cause of the poor
society
built
oppressed
groups
ideology
with
wh i ch
more
sect ions
s oc ie ty
their
mi cro-level
no
is
for
have
such
deeply
roots
communit ie s
a
tha t
we
call action groups in the strict sense of the word.
If the
proliferation
of
is
any
indication,
the
by
day .
According
to
one
0.2
million
in
India.
NGOs
trade
unions,
those
registered
a s s i s tance.
The
handle now,
1s
budgets
anywhere
are
voluntary
schools
for
non-governmental
sector
conservative
This
and
ho sp itals,
of
magnitude
another
index
between
social
a
service
ske tch
of
years
of
chang e
wh i ch
the
twentie th
wa s
b e ing
the altered idea of the
excludes
includes
receiving
only
foreign
these
organizations
their
g rowth.
Their
annual
and
500
million.
This
be
viewed
to
Rs .30
in
isolation
d imens ion.
Voluntary
to
better
services
in
century ,
brought
are
f unds
appeared
voluntary
the
there
bu t
It has a global
theref ore
day
however,
for
phenomenon of action groups i s not to
as an Indian phenomenon.
is /expanding
estimate,
figure
certification
organize tions,
to
try
the
first
ind i ca ting
produce
eighteen
the
kind
of
c on s e q uence
of
for
the
over
the
became
the
about
as
a
resp ons ib i1ity
of
the
State
sprang
up
all
welfare of its members.
Non-governmental
c oun try
most
in
the
remarked
organiza tions
closing
years
phenomenon
continue to function today,
of
the
throughout
though
6 0s
the
not
and
1970s.
Th ey
still
the
s ame
vigour
with
o r growth in numbers. They seem to have sprung from a thousand
sources,
some,
though
spontaneously.
The
sources
of
origin
4
c ou Id
be
as
as
the
trad 11ional
charity
work
or
varied
agencies doing
the
relig i ous
radical
voluntary
Marx1st-Leninist
Communist Parties. Thousands were spontaneous in their birth
in the sense tha t ideal is tic
youth
from
colleges
touched
the light of the misery-ridden masses took up the challenge
to do something about it. The most pronounced characteristic
by
about them was that they were all bent
of
the
basis
these
of
groups
deprived,
rural
* empowerment•
of
a
their
unorganised
workers
or
among
tribals,
in
slums,
or
national
the
concentrated
the
areas,
the
on
people.
attention
or
for
the
s p r ead
also
women * s
and
human
a
activity
of
interest
up all
education.
liberation,
education,
of
to
the
the
the
of
heal th
environmental
host
of
with
a
action
o ther
public
group.
non-governmental
There
o rganizations
media,
s c1ence
About
public development
world-wide
now
no
al ien
t en
field
to
of
way
around
proliferating.
is
cultural
no
but they are certainly
aid
concern
was
is
folk
their
Indeed
aspect
in
working
protection,
things.
most
1n
nonr.,
poor
car e,
the
fisher
The voluntary groups were not only Interested
development
all
unemployed
e tc.
economic
And
on
the
renewal
the
counting
the
per
world,
cent
channelled
of
through
non-governmental organizations.
GENESIS OF THE NGOs:
India
work for
of
the
has
a
glorious
history
public
and
social
good.
country
were
partly
r esponsible
in
manifes ted
chari ty,
activities. Daana,
occupied
a
both
central
{a t
relief
the
position
Hindu way of life. Daana was
achieve
Moksha
(s alva ti on) .
m eans
of
to
Moksha,
and
to
in
organized
Cultural
e tho s
for
this
and
values
trad i t i on,
work
and
ph ilanthrop ic
individual
and
social
the
Dharma
s ch erne
deemed t o be a
People
adopted
purge
voluntary
themselves
1evels
of
the
requirement
Daana,
as
f r om
their
to
a
sins
5
a nd
mi s do ings.
Kings
to
aspired
so as to transcend their Kirthi
it
kingdoms;
could
even
become
(fame)
assure
benevolent
rulers
across their respective
them
a
berth
in
heaven.
Examples abound in Indian classics and epics.
In
the
ancient
and
expr es s ion
in
of natural
calami ties
people
came
a f fee ted
lot.
because
of
work
diverse
and
like
their
service
attracted
most
pooled
contingencies.
for
humane
their
earthquakes,
and
were
its
the
floods
They
to
voluntary
their
found
At
drought,
volunteered
concern
voluntarism
variety.
and
assumed
1n
form
India,
f o rward
their
c ommun i ties
med ieval
outbreak
for
work
brethren.
mainly
Voluntary
form
on
such
occa s ions
resources
to
hel p
£ho s e
Communitarian
values
the
when
affected
dominated
the
individual’s s elf-centered ones .
Prior
basis
to
the
N ine teenth
outside
the
religious
emergencies
of
the
like
S ixteenth
experienced
creed
a nd
and
s evere
a s s i s tance
the
ruling
extended
doles.
the
to
help,
tragedies
the
w1 thou t
In
voluntary
place
the
latter
centuries,
of
during
part
the
country
caste,
class,
flowed
to
the
needy.
support
to
the
indigent.
Kings
with
royal
chari ty
pitiable
Philanthropists
on
took
Irrespective
g ender,
to
floods.
Seventeenth
f amines.
charity
channels
and
or
r esponded
them
f amines
century,
s i tuation
belief
in
Daana
The
rich
Dharma,
mo t iva ted
confronted
victims.
V i Hager s
j o intly
s egrega ting
themselves
into
the
affected
a nd the unaffected.
the
Voluntary activities in
India
N ine teenth
was
namely ,
work.
on
century.
religious
Social
age-old
doctrines.
ref orms,
reformers
cus toms
The
It
in
and
rigid!ty
of
gained
a
new
1n
three
directions
ref orms
and
voluntary
evident
social
s timulus
in
the
Nineteenth
century
focussed
practices
rooted
in
religious
the
social
s tructure
framed
in
6
the
caste-mold of fe red
them
pro tes t and reform movemen t s.
by
modern
we s tern
all
od ds
of
the
thought,
time.
extens ive
opportunities
Reformers,
largely
began
mobilizing
for
influenced
people
agains t
who
Those
spearheaded
the reforms
included great social revolutionaries like Raja Ram Mohun Roy,
Devendranath Tagore, Sayyed Ahmed Khan, Dayananda S a ra swa thy,
Eswarachandra Vidya Sagar, Ke s ava Chandra Sen, Ram Krishna
P a ramhams a, Swami V ivekananda, Jyo t iba Phule, Ranad e,
Karve
and Vittal Ramji Shinde.
The
first
association
to be s tar ted wi th voluntary
efforts is reported to be an Institution for the aged established by Rev.Loveles s in Madras which began f undt i oning
in
the year 1807 . Following this, Atmiya Society,
founded
by
Ram Mohun Roy was formed i n 1815 . A number o f
organize tions
was born immediately
after
this.
The Un i ta r1an Commi 11ee
( 18 2 2), B rahmo Sama j (1828), Dharma Samaj ( 1830),
P rar thana
Samaj ( 1864), the National Council for Women in India (1875),
Sadharan Brahmo Samaj (1878), All India Mohammedan Educational
Conference
(1886),
Indian Social Conf e rence
(1887),
Maha
Bodhi Society o f India ( 1891 ) ,
Nat1onal
Council
of
Young
Men’s Christian Association o f
India
(1891),
Servants
of
India Society (1905) and the like.
Ranad e
started
Satya
Sodhauk
Samaj
(Truth
Seeker’s
Association) in 1873.
In 1916, Karve made history by s tar ting
the first women’s university of India. Vithal
Das Thakoor,
a textile mill owner gave a donation of Rs. 15 lakh
i n memory
of his mo ther. Ranade, also the f ©under o f P rar thana
S amaj,
supported
the movement s
of w i d ow
rema r r1ag e and women’s
education. A imed
from
their
from
in
giving
hardships,
Samithi in 1914.
ushering
at
education
Karve
founded
and
emanc ipa ting
the
All
India
women
Seva
The
efforts
of
radical
ref orms.
Ga ining
were meant for
s treng th and momentum
reform
organizations
voluntary
work,
these
/
this
nature
expanded
7
their activities to the
welfare
services
Christian
areas
targeting
miss i onar ie s
of
education
relief
the
poor
the
augmented
and
voluntary
work
and
neglected.
action
through
charity and relief work.
Miss ionarles
b elonging
c ongregations
initiated
voluntary
in
of the country.
In
the
miss ionaries
were
the
p ioneers
in
orphanages
and
institutes
for
the
old
and
there
were
for
the
setting
up
fact,
work
to
different
s everal
parts
infirm in the country.
With
f o rmed
the
many
beginning
all
of
India
emphas is
was
on
20th
century
organize tions
welfare of Scheduled Castes,
The
the
the
Tribals
especially
a nd
preventive
industrial
aspect, / i . e ;
of educational facilities, village upllftment
of
Indus tries,
are
a nd
there
no
check
is
mainly
dependent
on
their
upon
the
growth
of
non-governmental
greatly
influenced
by
the
movemen t
opened
service-minded people.
for
independence
freedom
expans ion
and
development
government
activities.
period
new
this
organize t ions
was
movement.
The
of
voluntary
action
Loyalty
to
the
and
many
nation
people
grants
During
vistas
brought
workers.
freedom
for
the
together
the
desire
into
the
ideals,
and
fold of the freedom movement.
Gandhi's
s trong
adherence
p r agma ti c
approach,
insp ir ed
workers
f ollow
h im
with
the
potential
His
wise
to
conf idence
in
reali za ti on
guided
him
to
that
s oc ial
welfare
the evils
that
c ons truc t ive
included
education,
India’s
concentrate
development was his
his
mission.
A
programmes,
had
plagued
programme,
among
a
removal
of
high
social
s incere
and
g enu ine
of
soul
lies
energies
large
the
charka,
of
dedication.
India,
in
on
her
of
for
the
the
and
villages,
villages.
number
Rural
cons truc t ive
removal
of
were
ini tla ted.
His
dur ing
1915-45,
and
society
evolved
conscientious
sense
rural
des igned
wh i ch
o thers
to
khad i,
gramodyog,
basic
and
prohibition
found
\
untouchability
8
ready acceptance among people.
p rog ramme
a nd
in
also
of
rural
Wardha
in
known
before
as
developmen t
1938 .
manual
He
village
transforming
n on-v iolence,
first
the
constructive
hl s
tha t
1917
volunteers,
take
vow s
wo rke rs.
They
are
celibacy,
palate,
in
workers,
reconstruction
of
his
Champaran
in
proposed
non-stealing,
control
tested
reconstruction
into
truth,
labour,
Gandhi
non-possession,
f e arle s sne s s,
equal
respect f or all religions and the spirit of brotherhood.
Women were also in the forefront o f f orm ing associat ions
w h i ch were neces s i ta ted by the then social
s11ua t ion,
and
their subjugated position in the s oc ie ty .
like Sa r oj Nalini,
Saroj ini
Na idu
and
made
s ign1fleant
c on t rlbutions.
In
Enlightened
Annie
1917 ,
the
leaders
Be s ant
Women’s
have
Indi a
Associat ion,
was born with Annie Besant a s President, Margaret
the
secretary
and
Saroj ini
Na idu
a
member.
All
Cousin,
India Women’s Conference, known as Akhil Hind
was born in 1926.
The
level
function and
are
of
all
the
India
activities
level.
There
regard to
at
range
of
non-governmental
their
organizations
o thers
is
the
which
Mah ila
activities
concerned
P ar i shad
organizations
also
vary,
some
a
wide
range
with
are
at
the
dis trict
similarly
a
wide
r ange
of
variation
disposal
of
these
resources
at
the
or
sub
district
with
organiza
tions.
In the 1950*s most of the NGOs were
in
institutionalised
programmes
hospitals.
In the 1960s
with
economic
of
weak
basis
institutionalised
s olve
their
many
problems.
productivity-oriented
sponsored
of
them
were
unable
programmes
and
Etiorts
Efforts
were,
technology
and
oriented extension work.
e1ther
by
realised
to
that
get
relief
s cho ols
or
and
that
families
the
bene f its
relief
therefore,
on
in
could
not
focused
on
f unc t ional 1iteracy-
9
Non-Governmental
in
P lay
order
the
1980*s
founded
on
expans ion
of
organiza tions
and
early
social
had
1990’s
justice.
important
in
This
a
pha s e
large
people
were
was
very
rapid
d omes tic
this
and
the
foreign
period
separatist
rise
was
and
the
of
of
aims.
training,
evaluation
there
f unds
from
feature
of
organizations
and
with
feature
voluntary
new
because
of
Another
intermed iary
a
because
dis tinct ive
proliferation
fundamentalist
provided
A
saw
both
availability
sources.
the
es tabli shment
that
in
to
accelerating
non-governmental
organizations
1 os ing faith in
government
and
a
role
was
organizations
documentation
to
front-1ine non-governmental organizations.
The causes of proliferation of NGOs however,
periods
beginning
50's,
were
no t
analogous.
If
derived
from
the
involvement
in
the
mind s
the
from
the
na t i onal
s entiments,
the
freedom
s truggle
reigned
s uprerne
motivated
them
form
people
that
in
the
50’8,
the
period
s inee
then.
of
more
in
NGOs
g enera t ing
reasons
to
were
One
could
developmental
programmes
in
in different
the
in
voluntary
obviously
then
notice
In
the
for
the
expans ion
as
such
the
the
organizations
different
activities
60 * s .
of
latter
income
part
of
the 60’s and early 7 0’s the concern of the NGOs was changing.
The shift was turned in f avour o f
issues
a s socla ted
with
ecology ,
environment
technology
matters concerning human rights
and
developmen t.
dominated
the
When
80 ’ s ,
the
a 11emp t s
to sustain the degrading environment due to ruthless exploltat ion or the anti-poor policies of the State, gave the impetus
for the formation of NGOs in the 90 ' s .
However,
in
dif ferent
the
number
to
the
size
the growth has
parts
of
of
to find out any
of
the
voluntary
the
not
been
country.
geographically
More
o rganizations
population
association
oft en
does
uniform
than,
not
not,
correspond
in
the
States.
It
between
the
number
of
is
hard
voluntary
10
organizations and the size of the population.
on. Highly populated
States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, for instance,
have a very weak. presence o f
voluntary organizations. Even
after independence the
trend
continues
unabated with
the
convergence of voluntary activity
in the developed
parts
o f the country.
The preference
of the voluntary workers
for regions where
the availability
of
infrastructure
and
resources are better perhps explains the
skewed distribution
of voluntary work in the country. S om e
states like Maharashtra,
West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala are ahead
of
others
in
the number of organizations.
Dr.SATYANARAYANA
(Faculty - Sociology)
Il
Voluntary Organizations in India:
Motivations and Roles
Rohini Patel
Just as all societies, irrespective of their stage of development, have
generated economic and political institutions, all societies also have
voluntary institutions.1 Depending upon their political and economic
context and the cultural milieu, voluntary organizations perform a
variety of functions. The specific arrangement as to what tasks and
functions are undertaken by which institutions varies from society to
society. In one society the State may take upon itself to provide certain
goods, for instance, education, which may be supplied by religious
institutions in another.2 Sociologists and anthropologists see voluntary
institutions as instruments to meet the needs of the members of a
society.3 This way of looking at the institutions gives us a good handle
to understand the veritable explosion in the number of voluntary
organizations in India in the last four decades.
Voluntary organizations in India are shaped by a variety of factors;
they have been nurtured and threatened in turn as the dominant
political outlook has oscillated between liberalism and statism. Diverse
in their functions and purposes, they serve primarily a vast and assorted
population of informal workers. A sizable sum from public and foreign
sources is expended by this sector. And yet the sector has ‘received
surprisingly scanty attention from academic researchers and social
analysts’.4
Available literature is limited in its scope and range. What is written
falls mainly into two categories: (41) volumes containing accounts of
scores of organizations5 and (&) detailed portraits of a handful of
organizations.6 Writings in the first group tend to be impressionistic;
the second are usually evaluative, often undertaken at the behest of a
funding agency. There have been very few articles studying the pheno
menon of voluntary organizations as a whole.7
A second feature of existing literature on voluntary associations is
that there is a dearth of factual information. For example, we do not
have even a rough estimate of the total number of voluntary organiza
tions functioning in India; estimates range between 50,000 and
100,000!8 On the other hand, there are no less than 18 directories of
voluntary organizations, compiled for different purposes by various
government departments and independent agencies!9 This massive
information is, however, both inadequate and fragmented.
An important reason for this is the absence of an agreed definition
of the basic term. ‘Voluntary organizations’ vary so much in their
size, goals, nature, scale of activities, style of functioning and sources
of support that an all-enveloping definition may not even be useful
—it may end up becoming a Procrustean bed. Thus, there are no
unambiguous answers to relatively simple factual questions, such as
how many voluntary organizations are currently active.
,
On the other hand, diverse as they are, voluntary organizations'are
distinct from both public (government) and private organizations
and, accordingly, should be brought under a common conceptual
umbrella. Since voluntary organizations do not exhibit characteristics
of cither public or private sector organizations, the concept of yet
another sector—variously called the third sector, independent sector,
voluntary sector, or non-profit sector—is necessary to encompass all
voluntary associations.
One argument against bracketing voluntary organizations under a
common label is their extreme heterogeneity. But then, the same
argument can be advanced against lumping widely varying economic
and political institutions under their respective sectors. Nchaika/jalla
(tea-stall) at a street corner belongs to the private sector as much as
does the Reliance Industries Limited, although they differ in all their
characteristics such as the nature and scale of resources employed; the
type of product sold; and the level and sophistication of technology
used in production, marketing and accounting. Nor do we hesitate
to describe as political institutions the UN General Assembly, the
42
Rohini Patel
Indian Parliament, and a gram panchayat, dissimilar as they are.
Similarly, voluntary organizations could be placed under a common
umbrella, making it possible to view them as members of the same
species rather than as merely distinctive entities. Such treatment can
bring out their common as well as unique features. Indeed, ‘voluntary
sector’ is emerging as a field of multi-disciplinary research in the West,
especially in the United States.
A third feature of discussions on voluntary organizations is that
they tend to be emotional and ideological rather than reflective and
rational. Accounts of voluntary organizations tend to either praise or
denounce them—what is missing is an effort at understanding and
interpreting them. Voluntary associations have been seen alternatively
as the ‘harbingers of silent revolution’.10 ‘handmaidens of global
imperialism’,11 and ‘footnotes in India’s development’.12 This chapter
considers some of the ways in which they can be understood and
interpreted.
Contextual Factors13
The cultural conception of society itself can either encourage or
discourage the rise of voluntary association. For instance, Indian
traditions tend to see society as autonomous and not subordinate to
the State, unlike Confucian and contemporary Chinese concepts of
society. This cultural concept partly explains the ‘baffling’ phenomenon
of the continuation of the liberal democratic regime in India in the
midst of escalating violence, severe deprivations, and persistent
disparities.14 The same liberal democratic regime, committed to
normative pluralism, encourages voluntary organizations. The role
of the State in supporting or undermining voluntary associations
cannot be overestimated. Just as a liberal democratic regime promotes
them, an authoritarian one restricts their growth, and a totalitarian
one may obliterate them altogether.
Religion plays an important role in shaping voluntary action,
negatively as well as positively. It may promote values which can prove
an important source of inspiration for voluntary endeavour. On the
Other hand, if it is an all-encompassing religion, prescribing every
thought and action of the believer, it will leave little space for voluntary
effort. Hinduism is not an all-consuming religion and hence allows
i.
14
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivations and Roles 43
voluntary effort to flourish.15 Like religion, secular ideologies also
stimulate or deter voluntary endeavour.
Specific environmental factors that have promoted the growth of
voluntary associations in India can be summed up under four headings:
Hindu traditions, Gandhi’s influence, ideology of the Left, and
perception of system failure. A number of other facilitating factors
have been operational as well.
Hindu Traditions
Voluntary actions are performed of one’s free will, impulse, or choice;
they are not constrained, prompted, or suggested by another.16 These
actions spring from a variety of sources; some lie within the individual,
others in shared experiences.
In the Western societies, voluntary action finds its expression
typically in an organization, a formal and relatively easy to measure
manifestation of collective action. Voluntary action in India, however,
does not always take the form of an organization. Many of our
charitable customs are individual in their essence; for instance, the
tradition of madhukari which frees Brahmin students from the trouble
of obtaining two square meals a day. The custom of romroti ?o feed
the sadhus is another non-orgahized type of voluntary activity. While
lughlighting the non-organized nature of the activity, these customs
also point to the caste-based character of philanthropy in India.
Like other religious traditions, Hindu traditions also nurture
charitable action, although mainly as a religious ritual and within a
narrowly defined religious space. The Hindu belief system cherishes
service to others, esteems sacrifice and places the highest value on
renunciation.17 The Gita’s prescription is to act with no expectation
of reward. These values and beliefs promote voluntarism. However,
some other Hindu norms, beliefs and practices tend to restrict it.
Among them are an emphasis on ‘the life hereafter’ instead of‘the life
hcicin , the view that this world is an illusion
and the convi
ction that one’s lot in this life is the result of one’s deeds in a previous
life (karma'). Ihcsc beliefs tend to downplay the virtues of charity
and compassion.
Equally relevant is the kind of importance attached to benevolence
by a Hindu priest. He may coax the faithful to give money to restore
\5
44 Rohini Patel
a shrine, but he is unlikely to urge them to donate money to help the
indigent. His role is more of an expert, guiding the common man in
his search for his own salvation through the labyrinth of rituals, while
showing the spiritual path only to the more sophisticated. Finally,
there is little incentive to be philanthropic to ‘strangers’ in the name
of religion because Hinduism is non-proselytizing in nature.
And yet, charity flourishes in India. It is limited, however, by the
Hindu world-view in three ways. First, it would seem that charitable
acts are usually performed with the intention of discharging one’s
obligation towards a departed kinsman or to fulfil promises made to
a deity. For example, a man may donate money to an orphanage so
that his deceased father’s soul may rest in peace or because he has
taken a vow to do so.
Second, charity is confined to the religious space; it does not readily
expand into the wider, secular space. For instance, going on pilgrimage
is important for a traditional Hindu. Therefore, temples and shrines
have to be kept in good repair and basic amenities provided to the
devotees. It is customary for pious, wealthy families to build
dormitories for the pilgrims and provide for their upkeep. Households
with more modest means also offer their mite towards the same.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that this type of activity dominates
philanthropy in India.
Third, when not occurring as a religious ritual or in the religious
space, charity takes place in the confines of kinship groups, since Indian
cultural norms impose an obligation to tend to the needs of fellow
members of primordial groups such as the extended family and the
caste.
Thus, on the one hand, the Hindu belief-system stresses the prece
dence of society over the State and encourages voluntary action. On
the other hand, it restricts its expression to certain channels. It is
hardly surprising, therefore, that Hindu traditions are not indicated
ah providing ideological roots for voluntary action, although Gandhi,
Marx, Jesus, and Mohammad are.18
Given the limited role of religion in inducing organized voluntary
action, the source of inspiration for proliferating voluntary associations
must be sought elsewhere. Gandhi’s influence, the ideology of the
I .eft, and the perception of system failure suggest themselves as
alternative sources.
1G
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivation^ and Roles
45
Gandhi's Influence
The concept embodying the precedence of society over State was
strongly reinforced by Gandhiji’s distrust of formal power, and was
an integral component of both his vision of future India and the path
he recommended for realizing that vision. He never held an official
party or government position; his renunciation of power bolstered
the anti-power orientation that characterized Indian political culture
in the early years after Independence.19
Second, Gandhiji believed that with Independence, the Congress
party had oudived its utility cas a propaganda vehicle and a parlia
mentary machine1. He urged Congress members to leave politics for
‘constructive work’ which he considered more important.20 Constru
ctive work docs not separate issues of material well-being from those
of spiritual well-being; it stresses social and cultural regeneration of
the individuals as well as of society as a whole.21 Gandhiji exhorted
Congress members to abjure power and dedicate themselves to pure
selfless service to others. He suggested that constructive workers
should not aim at entering Parliament, but should work to k^cp
Parliament under check by educating and guiding voters.22 He called
on the Congress party to turn itself into a Lok Sevak Sangh.
His call to the Congress party to disband as a political party went
largely unheeded, but scores of his followers pledged themselves to a
life of constructive work and austerity. Although very few combined
the missionary zeal with a complete indifference to their own well
being as did Vinoba Bhave, several hundred men and women founded
groups and organizations to serve the poor while adopting Spartan
life-styles themselves.
Since nationalist mobilization and the inculcation of Gandhian
values had their deepest impact in Gujarat, the state ended up having
a high concentration of Gandhian social workers and village-based
reform projects.23 These projects are run by voluntary organizations
with those Gandhians and erstwhile Congress party workers who could
not or refused to find a place either in the party or in the government.24
n
46 Rohini Patel
Ideology of the Left
I he second important source of voluntarism lies in the ideology of
the Left. Even before Independence, the growing hegemony of the
centrist faction in the Congress party had brought into open the
ideological splits within the party. Consequently, some leftist factions
in the Congress party established themselves as independent political
parties and began mobilizing and organizing people.25 Later on, party
workers, especially of the Communist party, became disenchanted
with the party since it had resolved to function within the framework
of pai liamentary democracy and competitive electoral politics, attenua
ting its goals, strategics and tactics. Frustrated as the party workers
were by these constraints, they were utterly disillusioned when they
found that the party had failed to perform even this circumscribed
role effectively.26 Consequently, many party workers severed their party
connections and began to work independently in voluntary organiza-
System Failure
In the 1960s and 1970s, a mood of disenchantment set in. Both the
official planning system and the market economy had failed to make
a significant dent in India’s problems of poverty and inequality. This
gave rise to scepticism about the ability of the institutional structures
of democracy—legislatures, parties, unions, panchayats—to address
the problems and needs of the poor. Formulated policies were not
suitable enough to reduce poverty and inequality, and when they were,
they were not implemented effectively.27 The government-sponsored
model of development was seen as having failed to deliver benefits to
the poor, and the formal political establishment had lost its legitimacy.
More specifically, the Congress party, a dominant, long-standing
institution epitomizing democratic processes and norms, was
crumbling.28 The deterioration of the Congress party disturbed the
precarious balance that the ‘Congress Party System’ had maintained
by accommodating diverse claims on the limited resources of the
State.29 This decline in intermediate structures created a void in the
18
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivations and Roles
47
process of political mediation between State and society. To fill the
vacuum, ‘a new class of social mediators’ arose which led local protests
and civil rights movements.30 Thousands of urban, well-educated
young men and women, averse to electoral politics, swelled the ranks
of activists founding or joining voluntary organizations.31
Other Facilitating Factors
If voluntarism was inspired by religion and political ideology, commit
ment to normative pluralism facilitated its growth. National elites,
already steeped in the indigenous cultural conception of society as
autonomous of the State, readily embraced normative pluralism. Their
commitment has been manifested in several ways. Formally, the
Constitution guarantees the right to form organizations to Indian
citizens. In addition to diis legal provision, certain practices and norms
were developed which promoted voluntary organizations.
First, from the very outset Indian policy-makers had developed a
tradition of consulting societal elites and groups. Representative
committees were created to secure opinions from various groups in
society, and their views were solicited in formulating major domestic
policies, even as a centrally planned model of development was
adopted.’2
Second, voluntary organizations were involved not only in formu
lating policies, but their help was also sought in implementing
programmes. The Planning Commission itself had realized at the
outset that the task of development was so large and so complex that
the State alone would not be able to accomplish it. Accordingly, the
very First Five-Year Plan document had carried a plea to voluntary
organizations to become involved in the task of development, mainly
by implementing government programmes. Appropriate financial
provisions were also made for them. Beginning with an allocation of
Rs 4 crore (1 crore = 10,000,000) in the First Plan, the voluntary
sector has been receiving increasing amounts of public funds. In the
fust thiec plans the total subsidy, in cash and services, was equivalent
to Rs 180 crores; in the Seventh and Eighth Plans it rose to Rs 200
and Rs 750 crore respectively.”
Finally, the stance of international aid agencies, an extraneous factor
has also played a conducive role. In the 1970s, the philosophy and
19
48
Rohini Patel
strategy of the international development community began to change.
Foreign aid donors started to focus their attention on voluntary
organizations as supplementary delivery vehicles for development.
I hey began to channel large amounts of developmental aid to those
organizations which worked directly for the poor instead of for the
governments. This access to financial resources led to mushrooming
of voluntary organizations. Thus, a constellation of events and trends
gave an impetus to men and women to establish voluntary associations.
Theories of Origin
Whereas the contextual factors explain the genesis of voluntary organi
zations in particular societies at specific time-periods, theories of the
origins of voluntary associations help explain this phenomenon on a
different plane.
Westei n scholars have put forward several theories regarding the
oiigins of the voluntary sector. The disciplines from which they
emanate range from economics and political economy to sociology,
political science and anthropology. The theories are partial in/that
they are not incompatible with one another.
The contract failure theory, an economic theory, explains why
particular kinds of goods are produced by voluntary rather than by
the private sector. It argues that when consumers feel unable to evaluate
accurately the adequacy or quality of the goods, they choose voluntary
organizations as suppliers rather than profit-making firms. Consumers
distrust for-profit firms for such goods because the manager of a forprofit firm may supply inferior quality goods and pocket die additional
earnings thus made. The opportunity to do so does not exist for
managers of non-profit concerns as they arc forbidden by law from
garnering the extra profit.34 An enlightened consumer thus protects
his interests by sponsoring voluntary associations.
The theory as it is formulated does not appear applicable to the
Indian situation since in India most voluntary organizations arc set
up to meet the needs of the vulnerable and those who cannot protect
their interests, and to deliver merit goods. A modern welfare state is
expected to provide them, but India has failed to do so. The reasons
for failure are many: First, the State lacks resources. Therefore,
2.0
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivations and Roles
I
49
voluntary associations frequently supplement the supply of such goods,
e.g., health care. Second, often, negligent public servants fail to
perforin their duty, even when they have no material gains to derive
from this. Of course, there are corrupt officials who can and do subvert
enacted policies and reap unauthorized profits from them. In'either
ease, those who arc too weak to assert their rights arc left out. Third,
the weak and the vulnerable often do not know how to access merit
goods; sometimes they even have to be convinced of their benefits.
These are the tasks that typically a voluntary organization is capable
of, and predisposed to, performing. Avast majority of Indian voluntary
associations are set up by the organizers to address this shortcoming
of the public system.
The second economic theory, the subsidy theory, argues that non
profit organizations benefit from a variety of implicit and explicit
subsidies, such as exemption from taxes. Thus, once set up, a part of
the financial burden shifts to the government, a prospect which acts
as an incentive for setting up a voluntary association.35
The theory seems particularly applicable to the Indian situation
since voluntary organizations here often obtain even their initial funds
either from the government or foreign funding agencies. This theory
explains the phenomenal growth in the number of voluntary organiza
tions as a result of the abundant availability of funds, both foreign
and domestic (mainly governmental), which began to characterize
the voluntary scene from the late 1960s onwards.
The exchange theory offers yet another way of understanding
voluntary associations. It views a voluntary association as a benefit
exchange: the group organizer offers a set of benefits to the members
and receives benefits in return. To join and continue as a member,
one may have to pay a subscription, attend meetings, etc. These are
the costs a member has to bear to receive the benefits. The organizer,
on his part, has to devote time and energy to recruit members and to
obtain and deliver benefits to retain them. The organizer’s benefits
may take the form of fulfilment of much-cherished goals or monetary
compensation. The benefits that either party receives could be material,
solidary, or purposive.36 This theory conceives of the organizer as a
political entrepreneur. In exchange, the leaders receive returns (i.c.,
profits). Only a mutually satisfactory exchange—an adequate flow of
benefits both to members and organizers—can sustain the organi
zation. The organizer must earn sufficient returns in the form of
‘J. 1
50
Rohini Patel
membership support to enable him to continue his work of providing
the benefits.37 When benefits or profits diminish or disappear the
organization weakens or closes down. This theory offers a framework
for understanding why some organizations thrive and others wither
away. The benefit exchange perspective also affords a more balanced
view of organization and particularly of the organizer (entrepreneur):
he needs to be seen neither as a pure altruist nor as a crass opportunist,
but rather as a rational person. These theories lend a fresh perspective
on voluntary associations.
Activities30
Not only the origins of voluntary organizations, but also their activities
can be seen in a new way. Many typologies of voluntary associations
have been developed, and the proposed typology makes no radical
departure from them.39 It differs from them only in emphasizing the
political activities of voluntary associations.40
The activities can be considered under three heads: developmental,
political and catalytic. Developmental activities aim at the poor directly.
I hey comprise the delivery of a wide range of sendees and take various
forms. Voluntary organizations may (a) actually deliver the benefits;
{h') they may act as a bridge, providing information about relevant
government schemes to the poor; or (c) they may help target groups
meet procedural requirements so that the poor may ‘reach up and
pull down to them the benefits of development’. For example, a
voluntary organization may seek to have all eligible children living in
an urban slum inoculated with the triple antigen. In pursuit of this
goal, the organization may set up a clinic in the slum; it may inform
the parents in the area about the municipal clinic that immunizes
children and facilitate their visit to the clinic; or it may help parents
fill out a form and obtain the child’s birth certificate, which may be
required to qualify for inoculations.
Voluntary associations also perform the role of a catalyst.41 A catalytic
activity aims to influence the public in a way which the voluntary
oiganization expects will initiate action. As a catalytic activity, a
voluntary organization may launch a public campaign to disseminate
information. For instance, it can publish statistics on deaths of children
who were not inoculated with the triple antigen with a view to move
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivations and Roles
51
the public to action. The concerned public may decide to raise resour
ces to start an immunization programme or persuade the government
to do the same.
Political activities, on the other hand, arc directed at a governmental
authority. The aim is to persuade the authority to take action to create
such conditions as would improve the lot of the poor. When a
voluntary organization convinces the municipal health department, a
public authority, to launch a scheme to inoculate children in city slums,
it is engaging in political action.
Political activities arc important because, they attempt to bring about
changes at the policy level. If implemented effectively, the policy-level
action can have far-reaching consequences since it encompasses all
who fall in the defined category. For instance, if an organization
succeeds in persuading government to fix a minimum wage for the
readymade garment workers, all workers in the occupational category
will avail of the benefit, whether they arc members of the said
organization or not. On the other hand, if the organization successfully
negotiates with the employers to pay higher wages to its members,
its members will benefit, but not all readymade garment workers.
Organizational members would normally form only a part of a much
larger occupational category of readymade garment makers. Thus, if
a voluntary organization engages in a policy-influencing exercise,
can have an impact well beyond its members, transcending its usual,
local sphere of influence. This is possible, and indeed inevitable,
because when a policy is formulated it holds good for the entire
category (in this instance an occupational category) as defined in the
policy.
Developmental, catalytic and political activities arc not mutually
exclusive, and most voluntary organizations pursue some combination
of all three, often in conjunction with each other or as a scries of
successive steps. However, both voluntary associations themselves and
the researchers have shied away from focussing exclusively on political
activities.
Conclusion
lb recapitulate, after the introductory remarks concerning the literature
on this topic, this chapter discussed the contextual factors influencing
52
Rohini Patel
the emergence of voluntary organizations in India. It then reviewed
some major theories of the origins of voluntary organizations and
their applicability to the Indian situation. Finally it presented a
framework for classifying activities of voluntary organizations with a
view to underscoring the importance of their political activities. It
has, in this way, indicated the issues which can, and ought, to be
explored.
Marx was in despair because everyone was trying so hard to interpret
the world, when the point, according to him, was to change it.42 One
could stand his comment on its head: voluntary organizations arc so
busy transforming the world that it is time academicians made efforts
to understand and interpret them!
Endnotes
1. The terms institution, association, group and organization are used interchangeably,
as also the terms voluntary, non-profit, and independent when used as adjectives for
the organizations.
/
2. Goods’ include services, as far as this chapter is concerned.
3. Ram A. Canaan, Felice D. Perlmutter and Chul-Hcc Kang, ‘Voluntary associations:
Societal variations in response to human needs’, paper presented at the Third
International Conference of Research on Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations,
Indianapolis, 11-13 March 1991, p. 1.
4. D.L. Sheth and Harsh Sethi, ‘The NGO sector in India: Historical context and
current discourse’, Voluntas 2, 1991, p. 51.
5. For instance, Arthur Ronner, a journalist, presents a record of selected voluntary
associations in his Averting the Apocalypse: SocialM^ements in India Ibday (Durham:
Duke University Press, 1990). He has devoted a page or two to each organization.
Although Pandey’s study (Shashi Ranjan Pandey, Community Action for SocialJustice:
Grassroots Organizations in India. New Delhi: Sage, 1991) is based on his doctoral
dissertation, it ends up as an impressionistic account, as he has examined 17
organizations in a slim volume of less than 300 pages.
6. Sec, for instance, Ghanshyam Shah and H.R. Chaturvcdi, Gandhian Approach to
Rural Development: The Valod Experiment (New Delhi: Ajanta, 1983). Also, Vanita
Viswanath, Nongovernmental Organizations and Women’s Development in South Asia:
A Comparative Analysis (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991).
7. Some instances of the third category are: Harsh Sethi, ‘Whither voluntary action?’
Seminar, May, 1985, pp 18-23; Harsh Sethi, ‘Groups in a new politics of
transformation', Economic and Political Weekly 19, 1984, pp 305-16; Harsh Sethi,
‘Ihe immoral others: The debate between party and non-party groups’, Economic
^4
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivationn and Rolon
B3
and Political Weekly 20, 1984, pp 378-80; D.L. Sheth, ‘Grass-roots stirring and the
future of politics', Alternatives 9, 1983/4, pp 1-24; D.L. Sheth,‘Grass-roots initiatives
in India’, Economic and Political Weekly 19, 1984, pp 259-62; D.L. Sheth,‘Alternative
development as political practice’, Alternatives 12, 1987, pp 155-71.
8. Smitu Kothari, ‘Social movements and the redefinition of democracy’ in Philip
Oldenburg (cd.), India Briefing, 1993 (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993), p. 142.
9. Pandcy, Community Action, n.5, pp 249-50.
10. S.L. Sharma, ‘Social action groups as harbingers of silent revolution’, Economic
and Political Weekly 27, 1992, pp 2557-61.
11. Prakash Karat, ‘Action groups/voluntary organisations: A factor in imperialist
strategy’, The Marxist, April-June, 1984, pp 19-54.
12. Indian Journal of Public Administration, Special Number on 'Voluntary
Organisations and Development: Their Role’, July-September, 1987.
13. The discussion on contextual factors draws heavily from Rohini Patel, ‘The
pressure group role of voluntary associations: A ease study of the Ahmedabad Women’s
Action Group and the Self-Employed Women’s Association’,unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1995.
14. Myron Weiner, ‘The Indian paradox: Violent social conflict and democratic
politics’ in S.N. Eisenstadt (cd.), Democracy and Modernity (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991),
pp 69-85.
15. It makes little difference to our discussion whether Hinduism is thought of as a
religion, a philosophy, a way of life, or a set of cultural norms and beliefs.
16. The Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1989), p. 754.
17. K.M. Sen, Hinduism (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1961), pp 23-24.
18. Devaki Jain, ‘Voluntary agencies and their role’, Indian Express (New Delhi), 1
July 1985.
19. Myron Weiner, ‘Struggle against power: Notes on Indian political behaviour’,
World Politics 7, 1956, pp 393-96.
20. Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. and Stanley A. Kochanck,Inrf/a.- Government and Politics
in a Developing Nation (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1986),
p. 52.
21. Sheth and Sethi, ‘The NGO Sector’, n. 4.
22. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, ‘Voluntary work as countervailing power’, Economic and
Political Weekly 21, 1986, p. 599.
23. John R. Wood, ‘Extra-parliamentary opposition in India: An analysis of populist
agitations in Gujarat and Bihar’, Pacific Affairs 48, 1975, p. 327.
24. Rajni Kothari, ‘NGOs, the state and world capitalism’. Economic and Political
Weekly 21, 1986, p. 2178.
25. Sheth and Sethi, ‘I hc NGO Sector’, n. 4, p. 52.
26. Harsh Sethi, ‘Groups in a new politics of transformation’, n. 7.
27. Sheth and Sethi, ‘The NGO Sector’, n. 4, p. 50.
28. Leslie J. Caiman, Toward Empowerment: Women and Movement Politics in India
(Boulder, CO: Westview, 1992), pp 21-46.
29. Amrita Basu, Ilvo Faces of Protest: Contrasting Modes of Women's Activism in India
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), p. 16.
30. Subrata Kumar Mitra. ‘Crisis and resilience in Indian Democracy’, International
Social Science Journal 43, 1991, p. 565.
B4
Rohini Patol
31. It must not be overlooked that they were unable to find employment in the
public or the private sector.
32. Stanley A. Kochanek, Business and Politics in India (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1974), p. 64.
33. Dincsh Shah, ‘Voluntary agencies in the seventh plan’. Voluntary Action 27 nos
9-10, 1985, p. 259.
80'
Hansmann, ‘The role of non-profit enterprise’, Tale Law Journal 89, 197935. E. Fama and M. Jensen, ‘Separation of ownership and control’, Journal of Law
and Economics 26,1994, pp 301-26.
36. Material benefits are the tangible rewards of goods and services or the means,
such as jobs or skill upgradation, by which goods and services may be obtained’
Solidary benefits are those which are experienced directly and within the self such as
socializing, congeniality and the sense of group membership. Purposive benefits are^
the goals of the organization or group which transcend personal goals (Peter B.
Clark and James Q. Wilson, ‘Incentive systems: A theory of organizations’
Administrative Science Quarterly 6, 1961, pp 129-66.
37. Robert Salisbury, ‘An exchange theory of interest grou
Afuiwest Journal of
Political Science 13, 1, 1969, pp 1-32.
38-Thc discussion on the activities is based on Patel, ‘The Pressure Group Role’,
39. John Clark, Democratizing Development: The Role of Voluntary Organizations
(London: Earthscan Publications, 1991); David C. Korten, ‘Third generation NGO
strategies: A key to people-centered development’, World Development 15, 1987, pp
145-59; Korten, ‘The role of nongovernmental organizations in developmentChanging patterns and perspectives’ in Samuel Paul and Arturo Israel (edsj/NwOrganizations and the World Bank: Cooperation for Development
(Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 1991); Harsh Sethi, ‘Groups in a new politics
of transformation’, n. 14, pp 305-16.
40. Two outstanding exceptions are: Philip Eldridge, ‘The political role of community
io^cBr°U^SJ,n Ind'a and Indoncsia: In scarch ofa general theory’. Alternatives 10
1984/5, pp 401-34 and David C. Korten, ‘Micro-policy reforms: The role of private
voluntary agences’, working paper no. 12, The National Association of Schools of
Public Administration, Washington, D.C., 1986.
41. The term ‘catalyst’ has been used in two different senses. Terry Alliband (1983)
uses it to refer to the dispensability of the organization. Once a change is initiated
the organizer, who is almost always an ‘outsider’, withdraws from die group to avoid
fostering dependency. The agent is only a catalyst for change. Alternatively, the term
refers to the mediating role voluntary associations play between the State and the
people, creating inter-linkages between the two by facilitating the two-way flow of
information, know-how, and understanding. This is how Kishorc Saint (1974) defines
the role of voluntary association. My usage of the term departs from both.
az ' K?x1MaUt’ ‘ThCSCS °n Fcucrbach’in Eugene Kamenka (cd.), The Portable Karl
Marx (New York: Viking, 1983), p. 158.
26
Voluntary Organizations in India: Motivations and Roles
56
References
I
Alliband, Thrry (1983). Catalysts of Development: Voluntary Agencies in India. West
Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.
Basu, Amrita (1992). Tiro Paces of Protest: Contrasting Modes of Women’s Activism in
India. Berkeley: University of California Prcss.
Bonner, Arthur (1990). Averting the Apocalypse: Social Movements in India Tbday.
Durham: Duke University Press.
Caiman, Leslie J. (1992). Toward Empowerment: Women and Movement Politics in
India. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp 21-46.
Clark, John (1991). Democratizing Development: The Role of Voluntary Organizations.
London: Earthscan Publications.
Clark, Peter B. and James Q. Wilson (1961). ‘Incentive systems: A theory of
organizations’, Administrative Science Quarterly 6, pp 129-66.
Canaan Ram A., Felice D. Perlmutter and Chul-Hci Kang (1991)^ ‘Voluntary
associations: Societal variations in response to human needs’, paper presented at
the Third International Conference of Research on Voluntary and Nonprofit
Organizations, Indianapolis, 11-13 March, p. 1.
Eldridge, Philip (1984/5). ‘The political role of community action groups in India
and Indonesia: In search of a general theory’, Alternatives 10, pp 401-34.
Fama, E. and M. Jensen (1994). ‘Separation of ownership and control’, Journal of
Law and Economics 26, pp 301-26.
Hansman, H. (1979/80). ‘The role of non-profit enterprise’, Tale Law Journal 89,
pp 835-901.
/
Hardgrave, Robert L., Jr and Stanley A. Kochanek (1986). India: Government
and Politics in a Developing Nation. San Diego: Harcourt Brace.
Indian Journal of Public Administration (1987). Special number on ‘Voluntary
organisations and development: Their role’, July-September.
Jain, Devaki( 1956).‘Struggle against power: Notes on Indian political behavior’,
World Politics 7^ pp 393-96.
--------------- . (1985). ‘Voluntary agencies and their role’, Indian Express (New Delhi),
1 July
*
Jhunjhunwala, Bharat (1986). ‘Voluntary work as countervailing power’, Economic
and Political Weekly 21.
Karat, Prakash (1984). ‘Action groups/voluntary organisations: A factor in imperialist
strategy’, The Marxist, April-June, pp 19-54.
Kochanek, Stanley A. (1974). Business and Politics in India, Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Kortcn, David C. (1986). ‘Micro-policy reforms: The role of private voluntary
agencies’, working paper no. 12, The National Association of Schools of Public
Administration, Washington, D.C.
--------------- (1987). ‘Third generation NGO strategies: A key to pcoplc-ccntcred
development’, World Development 15, pp 145-59.
--------------- (1991). ‘The role of nongovernmental organizations in development:
Changing patterns and perspectives’ in Samuel Paul and Arturo Israel (cds),
Nongovernmental Organizations and the W)rld Bank: Cooperation for Development.
Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
56
Rohini Patel
Kothari, Smitu (1993). ‘Social movements and the redefinition of democracy’ in
Philip Oldenburg (cd.), India. Briefing. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, p. 142.
Marx, Karl (1983). ‘Theses on Feuerbach’ in Eugene Kamenka (cd.), The Portable
Karl Marx. New York: Viking.
Mitra, Subrata Kumar (1991). ‘Crisis and resilience in Indian democracy’, Inter
national Social Science Journal 43, p. 565.
Pandey, Shashi Ranjan (1991 )„ Community Action for Social Justice: Grassroots
Organization in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Patel, Rohini (1995). ‘The pressure group role of voluntary associations: A case
study of the Ahmedabad’s Women’s Action Group and the Self-Employed Women’s
Association’ unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State University.
Saint, Kishorc (1974). ‘The role of the catalyst institution’ in John Sommer, Pratima
Kale and Ranjit Gupta (eds), Rural Development at the Grassroots: The Catalyst
Role. New Delhi: Ford Foundation.
Salisburg, Robert (1969). ‘An exchange theory of interest groups’, MidwestJournal
ofPolitical Science 13, no. 1, pp 1-32.
Sen, K.M. (1961). Hinduism. Baltimore: Penguin Books.
/
--------------- (1984a). ‘Groups in a new politics of transformation’, Economic and
Political Weekly 19, pp 305-16.
(1984b) The immoral others: The debate between party and non-party
groups’, Economic and Political Weekly 20, pp 378-80.
Sethi, Harsh (1985). ‘Whither voluntary action?’, Seminar, May, pp 18-23.
Shah, Dincsh (1985). ‘Voluntary agencies in the seventh plan’. Voluntary Action 27
nos 9-10, p. 259.
Shah, Ghanshyam and H.R. Chaturvedi (1983). Gandhian Approach to Rural
Development: The Valod Experiment. New Delhi: Ajanta.
/
Sharma, S.L. (1992). ‘Social action groups as harbingers of silent revolution’.
Economic and Political Weekly 27, pp 2557-61.
Sheth, D.L. (1983/4). ‘Grass-roots stirring and the future of politics’, Alternatives
9, pp 1-24.
19
r59-624) 'Grass'roots in‘tiatives in India’, Economic and Political Weekly
(1987). ‘Alternative development as political practice’. Alternatives 12
pp 155-71.
’
Sheth, D.L. and Harsh Sethi (1991). ‘The NGO sector in India: Historical context
and current discourse’, Voluntas 2, p. 51.
Viswanath, Vanita (1991). Nongovernmental Organizationsand Women’s Development
tn South Asia: A Comparative Analysis. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Weiner, Myron (1991). ‘The Indian paradox: Violent social conflict and democratic
politics’ in S.N. Eiscnstadt (cd.), Democracy and Modernity. Leiden: E. J. Brill pp
69—85.
’1 4
Ill
4
Rural Development through
People’s Mobilization:
A Case Study of Ralegan Siddhi
/
Ramesh Awasthi
In trod action
Ralegan Siddhi, a village with a population of about 2,000 in the
drought-prone Parner taluka of Alimednagar district, Maharashtra,
has of late attracted significant public attention and media publicity
as a model village. The village, located off the Pune-Ahmednagar
load, about 75 kms from Pune, has undergone remarkable transfor
mation in the last two decades under the leadership of Anna I lazarc,
a local resident. The success of Anna I lazarc in shaping the develop
ment of Ralegan has raised hopes, but also many questions. It is not
investment alone or the faithful implementation of government
programmes that has made Ralegan an outstanding phenomenon
Social development towards an ethical and egalitarian society has
preceded as well as accompanied economic development in Ralegan,
giving it a special place on the development scene.
2.9
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization 75
A Devastated Village in 1975
I
The cities and villages of India form two different worlds. The.villages
arc still marked by outmoded technology deep-rooted superstition,
poverty unemployment, malnutrition, ill-health and the socio-cultural
environment of India’s feudal past. Recurring droughts have degraded
the land. The avenues of secondary employment have hardly grown.
It has led to marginalization of the poor and increased migration to
cities. A large number of rural families cannot survive without sending
at least one member of the family to work in the city.
Ralegan Siddhi was one of the worst victims of this process. Soil
erosion, falling water table and scanty rainfall had dragged Ralegan
into a recurring cycle of drought. Many people took to distilling illicit
liquor; there were 40 illicit distilling stills in the village in 1975. Most
families lived in a state of absolute poverty. Impoverishment of the
villagers, bullying by the vested interests, and alcoholism had so vitiated
social life that no one from the neighbouring villages would marry
their daughter to an eligible bachelor from Ralegan.
The Process of Change Begins
i
When Anna Hazare started his work in 1975, he did not have any
specialized education or expertise in development issues. His selfless
leadership and moral appeal mobilized the village youth. Other people
in the village also came around in course of time. The critical factor in
Ralegan s success have been the people of the village themselves. Some
of the most remarkable aspects of Ralegan’s overall development merit
a careful look:
I
i
i
(a) T hcie have been no significant financial or managerial inputs from
any industrial house, charitable institutions, or foreign funding
agencies. As a principle, the people of Ralegan do not accept
donations. The entire development effort has been financed
through government loans and assistance which can also be
available to any other village. The mobilization of local people,
thcii voluntary contribution of physical labour {shrcimdaan) as
30
76
Rameah Awasthi
well as local ingenuity in adopting and implementing development
schemes have been exemplary.
(b) A strengthening of the moral fabric of the village and bringing
the people together were considered necessary bcfore.undcrtaking
any development effort. Anna Hazare felt that individual morality
and moral reconstruction of the village community were essential
for laying the foundations of any socio-economic development.
He derived morality from religion, but without orthodoxy and
superstition.
Regular prayers, chanting of hymns and bhajans, reading of
scriptures and lectures on spirituality and morality have now
become part of the daily routine of schools. Religious songs and
talks are also broadcast from the public address system installed in
the temple. Their is a ban on non-vegetarian food and smoking,
which are presumed to arouse evil thoughts. Listening to film
songs and watching films or dance sequences from them on
television are also prohibited activities.
Such emotional unity has been achieved in the village largely
through the renovation of the village temple. The temple in
Ralcgan, constructed many years earlier in memory of a saint Yadav
Baba (considered a god in the village), who preached and also
breathed his last in Ralegan, had been in a dilapidated staZte. Anna
started the reconstruction of the temple with Rs 20,000 from his
provident fund and gratuity. I he deeply-moved villagers contri
buted Rs 90,000 in cash and kind. The youth group supervised
the construction work.
The villagers gave priority to the integration of harijans and
other lower castes into the village community. This transformed
the village into a united force and provided a unique foundation
for undertaking development programmes.
(c) 'The guiding principle of economic development in Ralegan has
been: ‘growth with equity’. Special attention has been paid to the
eradication of social discrimination and the achievement of greater
economic equality by implementing special economic programmes
for lower income groups. All sections of the village saw a stake in
the development programmes because they knew that the gains
would be distributed equitably without discrimination. The village
decided that 50 per cent of the surplus generated by the develop
ment scheme should go to the beneficiaries, 25 per cent to repay-
3.1
Rural Dovolopmont through Pooplo’a Mobilization
77
mcnt of loans, and the remaining 25 per cent to a village fund or
teserve capital for future community benefit programmes.
{A^Sh-amdann was an essential component (worth Rs 30 for a govern
ment grant of Rs 100) in the implementation of every programme
in the village. For digging a well, construction of check dams,
planting of trees, or building a Jhostel for the outstation students,
one adult from every household contributed his or her labour to
the project without any wage. As a result, the government grants
foi these schemes were utilized with 130 per cent results, where
as elsewhere in India, 30 to 85 per cent of the grants commonly
leak out or are misappropriated for personal benefit.
The Development Process
The entire development programme in Ralegan was charted out by
the people themselves. Local ingenuity, people’s understanding of
the roots of the problems, their oppenness to ideas from all sources
Anna’s honesty and attitude of a hard taskmaster, and above all the
collective response of the people in taking up and implementing
various schemes, brought about the overall transformation. Tile
process of transformation in Ralegan, therefore, does not fit into any
textbook model of development.
According to the Gandhian perspective, change should begin with
the individual. If the individuals change, the village will change- if
the villages change, so will the country. The development approach
followed in Ralegan Siddhi confirms the validity of this dictum.
Abstention from alcohol was considered a basic step towards creating
a new sense of social responsibility and the growth of the spirit of
development.
r
1 he concept of personal morality has been drawn chiefly from
Hinduism. The oath to give up drinking is taken at the temple. All
(- isputes are also settled at the temple, because people believe that
no one will lie there. Anna went on fast against corruption in the
state, once at Alandi, outside the famous Sant Dhyaneshwar temple
and twice in the temple at Ralegan.
* ’
Normally, religion-based personal morality docs not go beyond
one’s personal life. If it docs, it takes the form of charity or philanthropy.
*
78
Ramesh Awasthi
A person can continue to build up his wealth and amass riches by
exploiting others and still feel self-righteous by undertaking a work or
two of charity. In Ralcgan, however, personal and social morality have
been interlinked to a broader vision encompassing social equality and
egalitarian distribution of the benefits of growth.
In economic development ptogrammes, socialization of costs and
of benefits or surpluses are two outstanding features. The shmmdaan
socializes the project costs and develops among the people a sense of
ownership of the project because of their contribution in creating it;
therefore, they maintain it well. Shramdaan also reduces the financial
costs and the burden of bank loans to be repaid. As a result, the
surplus accrues much faster. The village ensures that all the village
households get some benefits, directly as well as indirectly from the
community projects.
/
The practice of untouchability and discrimination on the basis of
caste or wealth have been banished from social life. Special attention
has been paid to the development of the deprived sections of society,
so that inequality is reduced. It is a remarkable example of social
morality that the better-off farmers were involved in cultivating the
lands of harijans to free them from the debt trap. Hence, despite
rapid economic development, disparities within Ralegaji have
decreased, not widened.
Anna Hazare’s Moral Leadership
Though the people of Ralegan deserve the credit, duly attributed to
them by Anna Hazare himself, the importance of leadership in
Ralegan’s success should not be understated. Today Anna has become
a charismatic leader. The bureaucracy and the politicians fully support
all the schemes suggested by him. The people of Ralegan, however,
had accepted his leadership long before he won recognition outside.
Anna could not boast of a celebrated ancestry or a distinguished
past to serve as a pedestal to launch him into a leadership role. He did
not go to the people with a political agenda or with promises of
economic benefits. He did not mobilize people by distributing
personal favours through his contacts with persons in power. Anna’s
leadership is ‘moral’. Ralegan’s example has shown that moral
ZO"O
08191
^>Q|
X.
-a
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization
I
i
i
I
I
79
leadership works with the people even 50 years after the death of
Mahatma Gandhi. Sacrifice has always been highly valued in Hindu
philosophy It established the moral authority of a person.
Renunciation of worldly desires and aspirations has been considered
the only way to achieve nwksha (salvation) in the Hindu scriptures.
Anna’s renunciation of his money, land, property and family attach
ments (including a decision not to marry) for the common good has
made him an outstanding leader in the village. People’s faith that all
his actions are directed towards people’s interest has made him a near
saint. His opponents could not stand up to him. Moral leadership
also has the advantage of bringing out the best in ordinary people.
Over the years, Anna has tried to build a second line of leadership
in the village. He has also started training programmes for young
workers from different villages. He insists that, as far as possible,
these workers should remain unmarried (although of late he has
softened his stand on this point). To ensure that the anxiety of a
worker about his livelihood docs not in anyway affect the implemen
tation of the project, Anna arranges for a fixed deposit of around Rs
40,000-50,000 in the name of a selfless worker, who then devotes
himself fully to village development work. An effort is thereby made
to inculcate a sense of sacrifice and morality in the leaders to be. /
The people of Ralcgan are not blind followers of Anna. Every new
scheme is thoroughly discussed in village meetings. Pros and cons arc
considered. The procedure of implementation and code of conduct
are decided upon. A separate committee is selected by the people to
look after the implementation of each programme. Involvement of
people in every programme is exemplary. The local^rawsevak1, talati2,
school teacher and youth explain the details of various programmes
to the visitors.
Development with Equity
In India, the poor are deprived in every way, socially, economically,
politically and culturally, with a limited access to information, educa
tion, skills and health. As a result, they lack initiative, self-confidence,
and leadership for change. Government programmes for the poor arc
cither diverted by the bureaucracy (in collusion with the rural leader-
80 Ramesh Awasthi
ship) to benefit the rich, or they remain only on paper. The money
allocated for anti-poverty programmes is either diverted or the grant
is allowed to lapse. As a result, the poor have lost faith in government
programmes and do not have any stake even in village development
activities.
In Ralegan Siddhi, the people made sure that the benefits of
development reached the poor first. They broke the age-old barriers
and, consequently, the poor too acquired a stake in the development
of the village. The result was the participation of the poor in the
development process with renewed energy. Mobilization of this energy
has contributed to the rapid and integrated development of Ralegan
Siddhi.
According to a survey of Ralegan conducted by its gram sevak in
1986,41 dalit families lived in the village (including Mahars, Chamars,
Matangs, Nhavi, Bharhadi and Sutar). Five of these families were
landless. Mahars, Chamars and Matangs are the three lowest castes in
the Hindu caste ladder. Untouchability in many forms did exist in
Ralegan earlier. The dahts were not allowed to enter the temple. They
were given water from the well but not allowed to participate in
community functions and marriages. During community lunches, they
had to sit separately and were served last.
/
On Anna Hazare’s initiative, the people of Ralegan decided to
remove both social and economic disparities. The dalits now
participate in all social functions. Their marriages are held as part of a
community marriage programme together with those of other castes.
As members of the Tarun Mandal (youth association), Mahila Mandal
and the^raw panchayat, the harijans are part of the team cooking or
serving food in community lunches, even to the higher castes. Once,
even the Satyanarayan puja (a long prayer to Truth seen as a god) in
a local temple was performed by a dalit. These activities have helped
to remove the social barriers between the dalits and other castes.
Effort for the economic uplift of dalits has taken an interesting
form. In 1972, the dalit families had jointly borrowed Rs 22,500
from the Ahmednagar Bank for bringing their land under irrigation.
They dug a well and laid pipelines to their fields with this money. A
few years later, because of some internal discord, the electricity bills
were not paid; nor was the repayment schedule of the bank loan
honoured. As a result, the bank decided to recover the arrears (loan
and interest totalling about Rs 75,000) by auctioning their land.
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization 81
Anna Hazare intervened and on his advice, the Tarun .Mandal took
the responsibility of cultivating the land on lease for 10 years and
repaying the loans. The bank officials agreed to allow a grace period.
I he Tarun Mandal paid off the loans in just three years through
collective farming. Later, a part of the land was brought under farm
forestry by planting subahul (luccila) trees, which yielded fodder and
firewood. During the lease period, the dalit owners received 25 per
cent of the produce and after the end of the lease, die land was returned
to them.
In all other economic programmes also, the oppressed caste persons
were chosen to be the first beneficiaries. Twenty-five women bought
cows and/or goats with government subsidy and bank loans and
became members of a cooperative society. Wells used by the dalits
were repaired or deepened with government grants and a Cooperative
society was registered for sharing the water. A community centre with
an electricity connection was built, landless families were given land
(five acres each), and nine houses were constructed with an NREP
(National Rural Employment Programme) grant. As in any other
village in India, dalit houses in Ralegan were also located on the
outskirts of the village. The new houses were built in the centre of the
village, next to the temple. The villagers contributed their labour for
the construction of the houses, all of which have an electricity
connection and a smokeless chulhd (oven). Dalits have also benefited
from subsidies and loans for sewing machines, irrigation pumps,gobar
(dung) gas plants, common toilets and bathrooms, and free text
books, notebooks and uniforms for the school children. Seventeen
families are members of the lift irrigation schemes on Krishna river.
The only barber in the village received training in poultry farming,
and with a bank loan of Rs 9,000, he was able to start a poultry farm
as an additional source of income. With bank assistance, three carpenter
families received loans to buy cows, one of them dug a well and bought
a pumpset and another opened a grocery shop. The people of Ralegan
have demonstrated that development with equity is real development.
Economic Growth through Watershed Development
Ralegan is located in a drought-prone zone in a rain-shadow area
with erratic rainfall fluctuating between 200 and 850I mm per year.
82
Ramesh Awasthi
According to the 1971 Census, only 55 acres of land were irrigated.
During that period, most of the rainwater was wasted as run-off water;
it also removed the valuable top soil and lowered the productivity of
cultivable land. The older generation of Ralcgan recollects the existence
of a lot of green bushy vegetation on the hill slopes. By the 1970s,
however, it had disappeared and no soil conservation measures had
been undertaken. The villagers used to construct small mud bandharas
(check dams) across the nallahs (streams) to divert the water to irrigate
their fields. But there was no water-harvesting effort as such. Most of
the wells used to go dry by December or January. A few wells barely
met the drinking water requirements of the people.
When Anna Hazare started his work in Ralegan in 1975, the
importance of water harvesting was recognized. Anna and his Tarun
Mandal volunteers supervised every programme to ensure the quality
of work and observance of construction standards, to maximize
benefits and minimize waste. Seeing the enthusiasm of the people,
the then collector of Ahmednagar district announced COWDEP
(Comprehensive Wasteland Development Programme) for Ralegan,
and the agriculture department selected it for the Krishi Pandhari (farm
training and visits) scheme as a corollary to the COWDEP./ Soil
conservation and social forestry departments also joined'in to
strengthen the soil conservation and watershed development efforts.
The strategy was to check the run-off water by contour bunding
and constructing check-dams to hold die water within die watershed
area. Land shaping and grading were strengthened through massive
tree plantation and pasture development programmes. About 300,000
trees were planted by 1986—on the roadside, on bunds of check
dams, on boundaries of individual fields, on community lands, wastelands, and on die barren hills which surround Ralegan.
Ralcgan has implemented the idea of ‘social fencing’ for the
protection of trees. Recognizing the critical importance of trees to
overcome the cycle of environmental degradation and drought, the
villagers banned open grazing by catde. A couple of households initially
resisted and flouted the ban; but Anna Ilazare and some members of
the larun Mandal went on a ‘fast’ and, as a result, the deviant families
yielded to the collective will of the people.
31
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization 83
Utilization of Harvested Water
Accoiding to Anna Hazare, it is not the water in the fields that brings
true development; rather, it is water in the eyes, or compassion for
fellow beings, that brings about real development. Therefore, water
resouices created through community effort were shared by the people
through water supply cooperatives. To supplement this effort, a lift
in igation scheme was taken up in 1986, under which water from the
nearby Kukdi canal was lifted to irrigate another 500 acres. For all
the irrigation schemes, the beneficiaries provided the labour as
shramdaan. The Bank of Maharashtra provided the loans.
When the villages around Ralegan faced an acute shortage of fodder,
the people demonstrated a unique sense of social corrimitmcnt by
growing more fodder (instead of cash crops) and supplying it to the
neighbouring villages at prices below the market rates. Within Ralegan,
all the families, which have benefited from the extension of irrigation’
contribute 25 per cent of their increased incomes to other community
based projects to share the gains. The villagers have also contributed
cash to iehabilitate farmers whose land was acquired to construct the
Kukdi canal and the feeder dam.
/
Drinking Water and Agricultural Production
Before watershed development, people had to walk 2-3 kms to fetch
water. Now after watershed development, several bore-wells have been
dug in different parts of the village. No one has to walk a long distance
for water and there is no crowding for drinking water.
About 700 acres of land were brought under well irrigation.
Another 500 acres are irrigated through a lift irrigation scheme on
the Kukcli canal. The farmers now grow high-yield varieties of their
crops and the cropping pattern of the village has changed. Rain-fed
Z-Az«v/-scnson bnjra has been replaced with high-yield hajrci, thanks to
assured irrigation. Irrigation has also increased oilseed production
without any substantial increase in the area under oilseeds. The area
undei irrigated jonw; wheat and oilseed crops and the production of
vegetables during rabi season have grown substantially. Vegetables of
Ralcgan find a ready market in Pune and Mumbai.
38
84
Ramesh Awasthi
Milk Production and the Grain Bank
Cattle wealth of the village has been improved through artificial
insemination, timely guidance and help of the veterinary surgeon,
and the purchase of new breeds of cattle. With an increase in milk
output, promoted as a secondary activity, balwadi children in Ralcgan
and in Pimpalner (a neighbouring village), are given some milk under
the child nutrition programme sponsored by the zilla. parishad.
With its surplus, the milk cooperative society has purchased a mini
truck and a thresher. The truck takes milk to Ahmednagar, and also
transports vegetables and other produce directly to the market, thus
eliminating intermediaries. The thresher is rented out to the farmers
during the harvesting season.
A grain bank, operated with die small contributions made by farmers
with a surplus to donate, supplies subsidized foodgrains to the farmers
in need. It also prevents distress sale of grain after the harvest and its
subsequent purchase at a higher price during the lean season.
Utilization ofEconomic Gains and Social Development
Like most villagers, the people of Ralegan have invested the initial
increase in their income to improve agriculture by buying a pump,
PVC pipeline for irrigation, a pair of bullocks, or cross-bred cows’
The higher income is used to improve nutrition-levels, to educate
children, and to seek timely treatment of health problems. Improve
ment of houses is the next priority. Initially, only two—three house
holds with earning members in the city renovated their houses; but
later, many new houses were added.
Economic gains can even lead to social and cultural degradation in
the form of terrorism, juvenile and organized crime, drug addiction,
vulgar display of wealth, and total neglect and antipathy towards the
poor. Any system that supports or tolerates gross disparities is bodi
inhuman and immoral and cannot further human progress. Often
the newly-rich urbanites and professionals blame die poor for their
poverty; and brand them as illiterate, ignorant, inefficient and lazy.
1 he poor internalize these perceptions and develop low self-esteem,
39
Rurfll Development through People's Mobilization
85
so that the consequences of poverty appear as its causes. When, led
by Anna Hazare, Ralegan shed the burden of poverty, and charted a
new path, a difficult personal- and community-level struggle for social
change followed.
Campaign against Alcoholism
When the people gathered at the temple, Anna told them that if
Ralegan was to progress, the production of liquor had to be banned.
Finally, a village meeting at the temple decided to impose a total ban
on the production, sale and consumption of liquor. The villagers took
an oath in the name of Yadav Baba, and also decided on a code of
discipline. The person who started the first liquor still was also the
first to close down his business.
. :
The ban on the sale and consumption of liquor was not easy to
implement. The former producers and sellers of liquor were helped
to find alternative vocations. The drunkards were persuaded and
warned; the incorrigible ones were thrashed in public. Some known
goondas or village bullies defied the village unity. After a few incidents
of public punishment, however, the opposition to the ban died down
and alcoholism was eradicated.
Collective Marriages and the Abolition ofDowry
Most rural poor get into a debt-trap by incurring heavy expenses on
customary pomp and show at the time of their children’s marriage.
The residents of Ralegan have begun collective marriage celebrations,
with a communal feast. To minimize the costs, the Tarun Mandal
cooks and serves the food and also arranges for the vessels, the
loudspeaker system, the mandctpy and the decorations.
Residents of Ralegan do not accept any dowry when their sons
marry However, when their daughters marry outside the village, the
rule cannot be enforced. Until other villages ban dowry, it remains a
one-sided rule for the people of Ralegan.
40
86
Ramesh Awasthi
Fighting Superstitions
Ralegan has also fought irrational traditions. Goats had been sacri
ficed earlier at the temple during the annual festival of Padmavati
(the village goddess). After a ritual offering to die goddess, the people
feasted in their homes, with meat and alcohol freely served to relatives
and guests. During the puja, some persons (often called devarishis or
bhagats, i.c.,the devout), pretended to be possessed by the goddess
and started vigorous dancing. The villagers would then seek solutions
to tiieir problems from persons supposedly blessed with divine powers.
The process had strengthened many superstitious practices. People
had trusted the mumbo jumbo and the ash provided by the bhagats,
even to treat infectious diseases. These practices were not peculiar to
Ralegan, but its people, especially the Tarun Mandal, decided to put
an end to them.
As a first step, the Tarun Mandal argued with the people that if
sacrificing goats made the goddess happy, she should be happier if
the sacrifice remained with her, and was not taken home for the feast!
People were persuaded and stopped sacrificing the animals. Second,
some persons, supposedly possessed by the goddess, started behaving
normally, when the Tarun Mandal members beat them. The exposure
of the hoax helped to end the superstition.
Women’s Status
At an informal meeting, the women of Ralegan were asked what
development meant to them. They replied that earlier the men drank,
wasted money, neglected their homes and children, and harassed them
both at home and outside. Sometimes, the women had even starved.
They had had to work at home and in the fields apart from looking
after their drunken husbands. Now, they have to work much harder
in the fields due to larger agricultural output; but the construction of
public latrines and bathrooms has been a great relief for them and has
also contributed to better public health. The increased prosperity is
confirmed by the gold jewellery worn by women.
A registered Mahila Mandal in the village had once elected an all
women gram panchayat, but an active women’s group has not yet
41
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization 87
emerged. Video films of popular television serials like Ramayana and
Mahabharata were screened to induce women to attend the meetings.
During the film shows, Anna spoke to them on village development
issues.
Recently, four women’s savings and credit groups have been started
in Ralegan. About 100 women come together once-a-month to
deposit their savings, and to disburse credit to women in need.
Masum, a non-governmental organization, has set up similar micro
finance groups of women in Ralegan and seven neighbouring villages?
Masum’s rural information centre at Ralegan provides detailed
information to visitors from other villages on different projects and
schemes implemented there.
Multiplier Effect
!•
i
Ii
Ralegan Siddhi has been radiating its message of self-help to other
parts of the country. People from all over the country visit Ralegan
and carry its message to their own villages. Some young worker, either
the^raw sevak, a teacher from the school, or a member of the Tarun
Mandal takes the visitors around. Conversations with Anna Haza^e
fill the visitors with a sense of fulfilment. The visiting villagers apprcciate that development of Ralegan has been brought about by people
like themselves, with the help of government schemes which are
accessible to them as well. On returning to their villages, they try to
mobilize their fellow, villagers for development. They do not look for
a messiah in the form of any individual or organization. The group
visits are generally followed by a visit by Anna Hazare himself to the
villages that invite him. He holds detailed discussions with the local
youth and the panchayat members. In many villages, programmes
like ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, and environmental
conservation through the construction of check-dams and tree
plantations have already started showing results.
A typical example of such demonstration effect was seen by the
author of this chapter in two villages in Purandar taluka of Pune
district, where he has been working with an NGO promoting
development since 1987. In Malshiras village, the villagers and their
youth association members had heard of Ralegan Siddhi through
newspapers and television programmes. About 35 of them visited
88 Ramesh Awasthi
Ralcgan in August 1987. After returning, the members of the Village
panchayat and youth association together banned the sale and drinking
of liquor in the village. The five liquor-sellers were called to a meeting
of the villagers and told to ‘pack off’. Thus, the ground was prepared
for Anna’s visit. Anna held discussions with the young workers of the
village and inspired the village youth and panchayat leadership to
take up other development programmes.
In Satalwadi village, the educated youth decided to devote them
selves to agriculture and develop the village on the lines of Ralcgan.
They invited Anna to a village gathering; after the public meeting,
Anna had a discussion with 45 workers of the youth association.
Inspired by this interaction with Anna, the youth have taken up the
task of developing their village with an unprecedented zeal.
To strengthen the multiplier effect, Ralegan has started training
programmes of various durations (three days, fifteen days, three
months, and two years) for inspired and motivated youth from
different villages. A hostel has been built for the trainees and other
students.
Ralegan: Model for Maharashtra Villages
Replicability of model experiments has always been a very difficult
issue. Social experiments like that of Ralegan are particularly difficult
to emulate because the charismatic leadership plays an important role
in providing momentum and direction to the process. Ralegan had
an advantage over other such experiments since there were no external
catalytic inputs or agents to be withdrawn to test its sustainability or
replicability.
However, in 1994, Anna launched an ambitious programme to
develop 300 villages of Maharashtra (one in each talukcf) on the lines
of Ralegan. The state government offered support by setting up a
separate division (known as the Ideal Village Plan) in the department
of Agriculture under the charge of Anna Hazare.
The scaling up exercise involved introducing four critical inputs of
the Ralegan model, namely, social change, people’s participation,
motivated leadership, and utilization of government schemes
according to local needs.
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization 89
(a) The social change process was to be initiated by stipulating that
for joining the Ideal Village Plan, the entire village would agree
to complete prohibition, and a total ban on open grazing of cattle
and felling of trees.
(b) Participation of people at every stage was die mainstay of the
programme. People were to be actively involved through gram
sabhaS) and shramdaan was made an essential part of the scheme.
(c) Initially, Anna tried to substitute natural and motivated leadership
by involving an NGO to implement the scheme, and by training
a three-level cadre—a local person selected by the village, a
nominee of the NGO, and a technically-qualified person (one for
every five villages) chosen centrally by Anna. The cadres were to
be trained to develop motivation and leadership qualities.
(d) Anna believed that government funds meant for soil conservation,
watershed development, and for other rural development
activities, should be utilized for the intended purposes. Therefore,
he tried to work out an arrangement with the Maharashtra
government so that government funds were allocated and made
available for die Ideal Village Plan. However, the arrangement
ran into rough waters when he tried to free die programme from
the clutches of die government, and protested against rampant
corruption in the departments he had to deal with to implement
the plan.
/
Sources of Conflict
The conflict can be attributed to the clash between two different
streams of perceptions about die programme. Anna Hazare wanted
it to be a people’s programme, by involving vilagers in planning,
control of funds, and in vigilance over implementation at every stage.
Government officers at every level (from a villagc-lcvclgram sevak to
the ministers) sec any programme backed with govt funds as an oppor
tunity to maximize personal gains through corrupt practices. In spite of
Anna’s sustained struggle and the pressure of his anti-corrupdon
campaign, the programme could not escape the stifling hold of govern
ment machinery. The 15-member district committee constituted to
oversee the programme had 12 government nominees. The taluka
committees had an even higher proportion (eight out of nine
L\-L\90
Ramesh Awasthi
members) of government nominees. The government controlled the
release of funds by keeping the amount sanctioned for the district
with the DRDA (District Rural Development Agency), to be released
through the taluka officials, and to be handled by the^raw sevak at
the village level. Such routing of the founds retained within the
government pipeline is known to permit unauthorized leakages at
different levels.
Three years after launching the programme, a frustrated Anna
Hazarc wrote in a local Marathi daily (Pune Sakai): Tt seems three
years of my life have gone waste.’ Anna continued to wage an untiring
struggle against corruption in his own characteristic style. He went
on fast thrice as part of his protest against corruption: once during
the Congress rule and twice against the Shiv Sena-BJP government.
Despite tremendous public response during his visits to different parts
of Maharashtra, a mass movement against corruption is yet to take
off.
During 1997, Anna Hazare resigned from the presidentship of the
state steering committee for the Ideal Village Plan. The programme
has now become a mere government scheme, with an uncertain future.
The acceptance of Anna’s resignation from the presidentship of the
Ideal Village Plan committee, by the Shiv Sena chief minister, has
taken the spirit away from the programme. Anna plans to continue
his work through voluntary effort without government funds in a
few selected villages, where the people show the resolve to pursue the
goal of their social and economic development.
Conclusion
Ralcgan Siddhi may well remain an island like most other development
experiments, but it has shown that, if people decide to take up their
own development through self-help and by integrating all sections of
society, rhe united force of the people, aided by motivated leadership,
has the capacity to transform the village. In Ralegan, the bureaucracv
and vested political interests had collaborated to share the glory of
success, but they soon realized that they could not make money
through corrupt means. The same realization did not occur when the
programme was taken up on a larger scale, since the stakes were higher.
If many Ralegans spring up, tremendous pressure may be created on
Rural Development through People’s Mobilization
91
the system to change, with a hope that the corrupt bureaucracy and
politicians might ‘get off the people’s back’.
Endnotes
1. Village-level worker entrusted with extension work.
2. Village revenue officer-in-charge of land records, etc.
3. The author of this chapter is a founder-trustee of Masum.
iv
Empowering the Poor Through
Micro-Finance: The SEWA Bank
Ela R. Bhatt
rhe poor need timely and adequate credit at affordable rates of interest
to raise their earnings and improve their living standard. However, in
India, the poor, particularly women, have not received adequate
institutional credit. During the past 50 years, the Government of
India has tried to increase institutional credit to the poor by streng
thening the cooperative credit structure through the commercial banks
and through 196 regional rural banks.1 Despite schemes of differential
interest rates and a waiver on the recovery of loans, ‘Finance against
Poverty’ appears to defy solution.
A few voluntary agencies have taken up the challenge of financing
the poor, and have achieved noteworthy success. The Self-Employed
Women’s Association (SEWA) is one such agency and the success of
Shri Mahila SEWA Sahakari Bank Ltd or the SEWA Bank merits
careful study.
Self-Employed Women Workers
According to SEWA, all workcis who do not have a regular salaried
job arc self-employed. They include: hawkers and vendors; home-
!fe?P?wering tho Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
147
based woikcrs, viz., weavers, garment-makers, food processors, and
crafts workers; and manual labourers and service providers, namely,
agricultural labourers, construction workers, paper pickers, domestic
workers, minor forest-produce gatherers, cart-pullers, etc. On this
basis, SEWA considers about 93 per cerit of all workers in India to be
self-employed.2 A majority of the women workers are self-employed.
Self-employed workers generally have only insecure employment
and low income; they have limited capital and assets. Because of the
lack of direct access to mainstream markets and limited institutional
support, their productivity tends to be low and they suffer high levels
of poverty and vulnerability. For long, financial institutions did not
reach them; even now very few do.
Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
The labour movement in India had bypassed this large majority of
poor workers. The self-employed women of Ahmedabad formed a
union named SEWA in 1972. SEWA’s main goals are: (a) full employ
ment and {b') self-reliance for all its members. Economists and planners /
usually consider full employment only at the macro level. For SEWA,
full employment means employment for every single family, which
ensures food security, income security, and social security (basic health
care, child care, and shelter). The goal of self-reliance is in fact the
ultimate goal; the aim of SEWA is to make its members independent
both individually and collectively, not only economically but also in
terms of their decision-making ability.
SEWA today has an all-India membership of 2.2 lakh (1 lakh =
100,000) members, and continues to organize women to help them
enter the mainstream of the economy through the twin strategies of
struggle and development. The struggle is against the many constraints
imposed on women by the society and the economy, through
development activities which would help them strengthen their
bargaining power and expand the range of alternatives before them.
43
148
ElaR. Bhatt
Ten Goals of SEWA Members
Being a democratic organization, the priorities of SEWA are decided •
by the priorities of its members. SEWA’s activities are based on the
realities and issues faced and articulated by the members. SEWA seeks
to measure its impact on the life of the poor women workers in terms
of the following 10 goals which have been identified over the years as
the central concerns of all the members, group leaders, the executive
committee and the staff. They are: (a) Employment for more mem
bers; (b) an increase in income; (c) adequate food and nutrition; (af)
safeguarding health; (e) care of the children of members: (f) improve
ment in the living/housing conditions; 0') creation of own assets; (Z?)
increase in the organizational strength of workers; (») increase in the
capacity Of workers for leadership; (;) collective and individual selfreliance. The first seven concerns are related to the goal of full employ
ment, while the last three are concerned with SEWA’s ultimate goal
of self-reliance. Of course, all the issues are interconqected. These
goals also provide the framework for assessing the SEWA Bank.
1
I
i
SEWA Bank
When the SEWA Bank was established, poor self-employed women
had been facing two major financial problems: lack of working capital
and non-ownership of assets which can be used as collateral for credit.
As a result, a large portion of their meagre incomes went towards the
payment of interest on working capital and rent for trade equipment.
A possible solution to free SEWA members from this vicious circle
was to link them with registered banks. In 1973, SEWA made an
arrangement with some nationalized banks to provide loans to selfemployed women, with SEWA acting as an intermediary.
Unfortunately, the women faced many practical difficulties in dealing
with nationalized banks. The officials had no experience of dealing
with illiterate women unfamiliar with banking procedures. Because
of their hectic schedule, women were unable to keep to the hours
prescribed by the bank. They would arrive with the amount to be
repaid at the bank to find the cash counter closed. They would then
have to take the money home or would end up spending it. Often
i
i
i
i
i
4-9
Empowering the Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
149
they gave the amount to the money-lenders for safe-keeping to prevent
their husbands or sons from spending it. Difficulties with the banks
kept mounting and both women and bank officers felt increasingly
fiustiatcd. finally, at a meeting in December 1973, the members
decided to set up a ‘bank of [their] own’, where they would be accepted
on their own terms and not feel inferior. ‘We may be poor’, they said,
but we arc so many5, and 4,000 women contributed a share capital
of Rs 10 each to establish the Shri Mahila SEWA Sahakari Bank Ltd.
In May 1974, the SEWA Bank was registered. Since then, it has
been providing banking services to the poor, illiterate, self-employed
women and has become a viable financial venture. The SEWA Bank’s
working capital consists entirely of the money contributed by the
women, with no grant ever from any source. Since the second year of
operation, the SEWA Bank has paid to its members the highest permis
sible dividend (15 per cent in 1996).
Managing Banking with Poor Women
Banking for the development of poor women requires a flexible
approach to meet their needs and capabilities. With its experience of /
20 years, the SEWA Bank has decided to assign high priority to
savings. Savings have an important impact on the lives of the members
of SEWA Bank: (n) They ensure financial discipline and result in
improved repayment rates; (&) they expand the total pool of resources
available to the poorest, opening more options for living and liveli
hood; (r) the bank balance becomes an asset, which increases the
women s capacity to. borrow and raises their status as breadwinners
in the family and the community; and (rf) savings arc an autonomous
route to economic growth for the women. Savings bring the growth
of business under the control of members and can be supplemented
by loans. Savings also become a form of social security in times of
crisis.
Most women would like to save even from their meagre earnings,
but they have no place to deposit their money. It is very time
consuming and expensive to go to a bank to deposit their tiny savings.
Also, it is difficult to find a ‘safe’ place for the savings. To illustrate, a
rag-picker used to save a little every day and hide it in her trunk. The
savings accumulated to Rs 300. Once, on returning from work, she
50
I
160
Ela R. Bhatt
discovered that the money had been taken by her husband. Because
of this incident, she stopped keeping her savings at home and gave
them to a ‘good’ neighbour for safe-keeping. But when she demanded
an amount of Rs 1,000 from him, he behaved as if she was a stranger!
Such experiences are quite common among poor women, both rural
and urban. Institutions such as the SEWA Bank provide a secure place
for poor women to store and build up their cash assets.
While the members are ready to save, they need financial services
that suit them. Savings need to be collected from their homes and/or
the market place; a photograph on the passbook instead of a signature
has to be the means of identification. Often, the members want the
bank to maintain the confidentiality of their accounts, particularly
from die men of their family. They require special loan procedures
and rules that take into account their economic situation, e.g., the
repayment schedule has to be based on their cash flow. They require
savings and credit schemes that allow for small savings and adapt to
their crises situations. They also require training and assistance in
understanding and dealing with banking procedures.
Village women initially tested the reliability of the SEWA Bank by
depositing very small amounts. Now they invest their savings in long
term bank securities. Also, SEWA Bank has distributed about 70,000
savings boxes among its members for their daily savings.
Savings are crucial for the sustainability of die Bank. Local savings
deposits help build the capital for operations. The interest earnings
of savers and the increasing availability of loans help to maintain the
commitment of members, which is essential for the growth and viabi
lity of the bank.
Integrated Approach
The SEWA Bank’s integrated approach distinguishes it from other
micio-crcdit efforts. Credit or access to financial services, though
important, is not adequate for sustained and substantial employment
or to transform the economic activities of the poor into profitable
ventures. Io build up sizeable incomes, assets and a livelihood, the
poor need access to :
51
Etnpoworing tho Poor through Micro-financo: The SEWA Bank
1B1
♦ Market information and commercial linkages;
♦ technology and methods to improve productivity;
♦ market infrastructure;
♦ health and social security services;
♦ information, know-how, entrepreneurial ability; and
♦ representation in decision-making bodies.
The SEWA Bank works closely with SEWA, the trade union, and its
other economic organizations, such as the Women’s Cooperative
Federation and the Women’s District DWCRA (Development of
Women and Children in Rural Areas) associations working as pro
ducers groups. The Bank not only provides financial services but has
also set up a contributory work security or insurance fund and a
housing loans section.
/
Appropriate Mechanisms
Any self-employed woman can open an account with the SEWA Bank.
As the majority of account holders arc illiterate, the SEWA Bank has
evolved a unique system of identification—a card which has a photo-/
graph showing her holding a slate with her account number written
on it. Her name and account number are thus associated with her
photograph and not her signature, as is the usual banking procedure.
Over time, the illiterate account holders have also learnt to sign and
to read their passbooks.
Asset Creation
Pei haps the one single factor which pushes self-employed producers
into the poverty cycle is the lack of assets. For women the condition
is worse. Creation of assets owned by women is a priority of the
SEWA Bank. It supports transfers of agricultural land and houses in
the women s name; their acquiring their own capital, bank accounts,
shares, savings certificates, etc.; and the release of mortgaged houses,
land, pawned silver and gold.
I
152
Ela R. Bhatt
Growth of SEWA Bank
The SEWA Bank’s board of directors consists of elected representatives
of the major trade groups, drawn from the membership. All major
decisions about the Bank’s operations are taken by the board, which
meets once a month. It sanctions all the loans and, keeping the
prevalent rates of interest in mind, decides the interest to be charged
for different categories of loans. Illiteracy of the members has rarely
proved a hindrance in taking decisions or finding solutions.
Initially, the SEWA Bank concentrated on mobilizing self-employed
women to deposit their savings and acted as an intermediary to enable
depositors to secure loans from nationalized banks. Later, the Bank
began advancing money from its own funds to its depositors, and
since then it has developed into a viable financial unit. As Table 9.1
shows, the SEWA Bank has grown slowly but steadily over the last
20 years, with a spurt in growth after the liberalization policies of the
last five years.
Tabic 9.1
Growth of the SEWA Bank: Key Indices
(figures in thoi^ands)
Year
1975-76
1980-81
1985-86
1990-91
1995-96
'Number of
shareholders
6.6
7.5
9.8
13.2
17.5
Share
capital
(^)
76.0
80.7
538.1
1,460.0
4,259.0
Depo
sitors
(Nos)
Deposits
10.5
14.0
22.2
27.9
44.8
950
2,729
11,279
24,466
72,165
W
Working
capital
(R^)
1,660
3,195
13,537
34,417
98,206
Profits
(^)
30
54
222
741
1,001
The SEWA Bank started as an urban bank, but in recent years it has
extended its operations to the rural areas, serving the growing rural
population of self-employed women. As mentioned earlier, along with
savings, credit, financial services, and financial counselling, the SEWA
Bank offers deposit-linked work insurance schemes and housing
services. The SEWA Bank has been consistently given an ‘A’ grade
since its inception by the auditors.
NGo -1 CD
G8191
pofe
Empowering the Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
153
Savings Services
All banking activities start with savings. Women are encouraged to
save and all facilities to do so are provided. Usually, a woman is consi
dered eligible for a loan if she has saved regularly. The SEWA Bank
interacts with its members as individuals and as groups. Generally,
the group approach is used in rural areas and the individual approach
in urban areas, although as the Bank grows the group approach is
encouraged in urban areas as well.
Women in each village form a savings group. The size of the group
varies between 10 to 50 women and the monthly savings amount
varies between Rs 10 and Rs 25 per woman. The women are trained
in banking procedures, each woman has her own passbook, the group
passbook being maintained by die two or three group leaders. The
group leader maintains contact with the Bank, motivates and creates
awareness among members, and serves as a link between the Bank
and the women. Mobile vans service each village at previously announ
ced time. In the initial stages, the Bank’s ward-level fieldworkers
collected the savings, but as the management capacity of the group
grew, the women leaders themselves came to the Bank to deposit
their periodic savings.
/
‘Consumption’ loans arc also badly needed by poor women. The
SEWA Bank has never distinguished between a consumption and a
productive loan. Consumption loans contribute to income of the poor
because of the inseparability of their productive and consumption
activities. ‘Consumption’ expenditures for food, health, or even
housing help to maintain their key productive asset: labour. Obtaining
a cash loan rather than selling an animal enables the family to earn an
income (and surplus) later when the animal produces offspring.
Experience shows that the dichotomy between production and
consumption does not apply to the poorest, and micro-banking should
make provision for both.
Credit and Repayment
The SEWA Bank started advancing loans to its members in a modest
way. The advances rose slowly initially as the SEWA Bank had to
5^154
Ela R. Bhatt
learn about the credit needs of the self-employed women. There was
no blueprint for banking with the poor and dicrc were many problems,
such as, for example, the non-availability of any collateral or security
The women did not have any banking track record on the basis of
which financial decisions could be made. Written information on their
businesses was absent because no account books were maintained by
diem. Since most women were illiterate, different kinds of mechanisms
like door-to-door service and simpler procedures were required. Of
course, the lending risk was high because of die financial vulnerability
of the poor women and their groups.
With experience and with the active cooperation of the SEWA union
and its members and group leaders, the SEWA Bank evolved creative
solutions to these problems and developed its own blueprint of lending
to the poor. The solutions involved assessing their credibility with
respect to financial behaviour rather dian collateral or security. The
emphasis was on group pressure of the trade group. Extension service
was made an integral part of all loans. The challenge was to create
Bank’s own track record of women’s banking and to design simple
and suitable procedures. Linking loans with other much needed
support services like insurance, health care, child care, legal aid, and
training has helped to reduce women’s vulnerability. Continuous
personal relationships and interactive contact with customers have
forged a bond with the SEWA women. They regard SEWA Bank as
their mother!
As Table 9.2 shows, credit has expanded rapidly and die repayment
rate has been excellent. Every year about 50 per cent of the funds
advanced have been repaid by the members and they become available
for further advances. Interest rates range from 12 per cent to 17.5 per
cent per annum, and most loans have to be repaid in 36 monthly
instalments. Technical assistance is provided to borrowers when needed
to enable them to use their credit productively by identifying direct
sources of purchase of raw materials, better tools and equipment,
links with the market for their goods and services, etc. The Bank also
helps them acquire skills to make new products and identify work
opportunities. Close monitoring of loans ensures that they are used
for economic activities. It facilitates repayment. The fact that loans
are advanced to members of the SEWA union, and that SEWA
encourages and assists its members to become economically viable,
has a significant bearing on their repayment. The rural group itself
decides about loans to its members. It also decides about the interest
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Empowering the Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
155
rates. This helps the groups to capitalize and manage their own
growing fund.
Tabic 9.2
Advances and Repayments ofSEWA Banks Funds
Tear
No. of
women
Advances
(Rs)
1975-76
1980-81
1985-86
1990-91
5
163
3,366
9,132
11,522
680
2,48,975
43,12,237
1,20,15,000
2,30,20,000
1995-96
Repayments
(Rs)
2,62,738
34,92,911
93,24,070
1,55,25,000
Repayment
rate
96%
93%
95%
96%
Perhaps the most important indicator of sustainability is the repayment
rate, which has been between 93 and 96 per cent. It could be achieved
because the credit advanced by the Bank led to a real growth of econo
mic enterprise and to higher incomes and ownership of assets. The
improved economic conditions translated into high repayments also
because of close monitoring by the Bank, the links between the group
leaders and borrowers, and constant communication between the
Bank, SEWA, the cooperatives, and other village groups.
Repayment is a complex process for the poor who lead a vulnerable
life and often face a crisis. At such times, the Bank attempts to und^fstand their problems, reschedules their loans and links up with SEWA
to provide supportive services. The SEWA Bank is also involved in
banking activities with T’arivartan’, a World Bank project on slum
improvement. It networks and collaborates with the Ahmcdabad
municipal corporation to upgrade the infrastructure in 100 slums
under the leadership and management of local women. The SEWA
Bank also has special schemes for rehabilitating mill workers’ families
belonging to closed mills in Ahmcdabad city.
The Growth of Rural Banking
SEWA began organizing a union of rural agricultural labourers in
1977, but soon discovered that in rural areas, developmental activities
were the greater need. Women needed credit but the rates charged by
private money-lenders were exorbitant and the women had no access
to banks. Unfortunately, the Reserve Bank of India rules did not permit
S6
186
ElaR. Bhatt
the SEWA Bank to extend its activities to rural members. So, while
rural women continued to organize themselves into cooperatives,
producer groups and unions, their activities could not be supported
by granting credit. Finally, after years of lobbying for policy changes,
thanks to the Marathe Committee Report (1992), the SEWA Bank
was allowed in 1994 to extend its activities to five rural districts.
Expansion in rural areas came about through village-level groups
which are unregistered but have formed a district-level registered
savings and credit association (see Table 9.3). Apart from lending,
the SEWA Bank also trains the village- and district-level organizations
in the five districts.
Table 9.3
Savings and Credit Groups, Five Riiral Districts, Gujarat, March 1997
Number of savings groups
Number of members
Totalsavings
Number of loan receivers
Amount of loan outstanding
77\ z
21393
Rs’3,351,781
13 503
Rs 2,677 707
Housing
In response to the members’ demands, the SEWA Bank has gradually
increased its share of loans for housing. Today, more than one-third
of its credit portfolio is allotted for housing loans. For self-employed
women, home is a productive asset, which plays a central role in their
economic activities. Housing loans for poor women range from loans
to repair a wall or a door, to ‘monsoon-proofing’, adding a room, or
even buying a new house. They also include loans for water or electri
city connections, installing toilets, etc. Until now, the SEWA Bank
has loaned Rs 50,000,000 to 6,000 women for housing purposes.
Many housing loans of SEWA are used to upgrade the house of the
beneficiary. Most SEWA members are primarily home owners or long
time tenants with secure occupancy, who live in substandard dwellings
in slum neighbourhoods. Their dwellings are usually ‘temporary’
structures with walls of un-nailed planks or mud mixed with straw.
Roofs may be made of a variety of scrap material and dirt floors are
the rule. Dark and damp houses make for low productivity and insecure
work environment. Dampness during the rainy season and lack of
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Empowering the Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
157
ventilation all year round have negative health implications for the
residents. A loan of Rs 10,000 to 25,000 permits the borrowers grad
ually to upgrade such homes into brick structures with plastered walls
and tiled floors. Windows are installed to improve lighting and the
circulation of air. Corrugated sheets are used on roofs.
In one part of Ahmedabad, housing loans from the SEWA Bank
have enabled the borrowers to replace their temporary shacks with
three-room permanent houses. The process has been incremental and
has followed a consistent sequence beginning with reconstruction of
one room, rebuilding of the walls and the levelling of the floor.
SEWA has only one type of loan regardless of the stated purpose of
the loan or whether it is secured or unsecured. Its terms arc: a threeyear long term; a ceiling of Rs 25,000 on all loans; interest rate of 17
per cent per annum, paid on outstanding balance; monthly repay
ments; one guarantor for loans of under Rs 2,000 and two guarantors
otherwise. While an individual’s earnings may not suggest a strong
ability to pay, SEWA Bank’s emphasis on regular savings as a criterion
to assess die creditworthiness seems sound. As in many odicr countries,
the poor in India are often willing to spend as much as 60 per cent of
their income on housing if they have the title to this asset. In many
households, all the members assume responsibility for the repayment
of housing loans.
/
Integrated Work Security Scheme
As mentioned earlier, the poor women are vulnerable to all types of
crises. They arc continuously subject to individual crises such as
sickness, social crises such as riots, natural crises such as floods, and
economic crises such as unavailability of raw materials and collapse
of markets. To support its members in times of crisis, the SEWA
Bank has started its own insurance scheme and has demonstrated
that such a scheme for SEWA members can be self-reliant and
financially viable.
In 1996, 20,000 members were covered by a scheme run by the
SEWA Bank in collaboration with the Life Insurance Corporation
and the United India Assurance Company (Table 9.4). The scheme
covers death, accidental death, sickness, widowhood, and loss of
household goods and work tools in case of flood, fire, riot, or storm.
S8
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158
Ela R. Bhatt
After considering the high rate of maternal mortality among poor
women, coverage for maternity benefit has also been added. The
SEWA Bank members availed of die benefit of maternity protecdon
insurance to the extent of Rs 82,800 in 1996.
Table 9.4
Premium Paid vs. Claims Paid
(Rs. in thousands)
Premium
Lie* •
Claims
1992-93
7,50
1993-94
1,50
1994-95
1,80
Total_______________ 10,80
5,70
9,60
11,61
26,91
Year
Premium
1,50
2,10
3,00
6,60
UIAC*2_____
Claims
1,28
3,70
4,81
9,79
* LIC: Life Insurance Corporation of India.
UIAC: United India Assurance Company.
In 1995, Professor Helzi Noponen carried out a study of die crises,
setbacks and chronic problems—the determinants of economic stress
—that disrupt die household economy of SEWA women. The study
analyzed the incidence, frequency, costs, and subsequent coping stra
tegies. The analysis revealed that women who had been members of
SEWA for longer periods, who had savings accounts in the SEWA
Bank, and who contributed a greater share to total family income,
had a lower incidence of stress. The analysis underscores the positive
effect of SEWA’s programmes in financial services, social security, and
cooperative and trade union activities. The findings lend support to
arguments in favour of the efficacy of credit-plus rather titan minimalist
credit programmes for poor women.
Performance ofSEWA Bank
The real performance of the Bank is reflected in its impact on the
lives of its depositors and borrowers. The SEWA Bank has demons
trated that it is not only possible but also profitable to run a bank of
and for poor women. When poor women themselves own the bank,
they take a keen interest in its management and try to ensure high
repayment rates, maximum surpluses and efficient use of resources.
Table 9.5 compares the performance of SEWA Bank with that of
other public and private sector banks in India.
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Empowering the Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
169
Table 9.5
Comparative Performance of SEWA Bank According to
Different Criteria, 1994
Financial ratios
PublicPrivate
SEWA Bank
sector
sector
banks
banks
Stability
(Capital + Reserves/
As % of deposits)
Profitability
Profit-Deposits
ratio (%)
Profit-Advances
ratio (%)
Liquidity
Loans-Deposits
ratio (%)
7
3
13
2
1
1
-3
1
3
46
49
/Z 34
The figures show that the SEWA Bank has a high degree of stability
as measured by its ratio of own to borrowed funds. Capital adequacy
ratio and debt-equity ratio are the two major indicators of the financial
health of any bank. The SEWA Bank has achieved the norms prescribed
internationally and is performing better than the public and private
sector banks in the country. The performance figures also show thav
the poor women do contribute to capital-formation, and the common
perception of the poor as a ‘burden’ on the economy, needing endless
subsidies, is not correct.
Conclusion
Prom the viewpoint of the sustainability of the micro-credit pro
gramme itself, if the people own the institution and participate in its
management, the benefit of the small group guarantee approach will
extend to all the operations. Collective responsibility involves not
merely agreeing to loan proposals and ensuring repayment for a small
gioup, but also raising and maintaining capital, and setting reasonable
interest rates on savings and loans to ensure the viability of the entire
banking operation. Active participation of the members and the board
is crucial to the impact created by a bank such as the SEWA Bank. In
other words, the banking system should be driven by those who save
and borrow, and not by inflexible rules.
(dO
160
Ela R. Bhatt
From the point of view of the women themselves, their involvement
in, and ownership of, a successful institution enhances the collective
strength and empowerment that comes with organization. Poverty is
characterized by not only the lack of finance but also vulnerability,
powerlessness and dependence. Collective organization and ownership
of wealth help overcome the psychological consequences of poverty
and help challenge the wider structure of society
From a wider perspective, member-owned or controlled micro
credit institutions can help strengthen our democratic systems. Demo
cracy and development require active and informed participation at
the grassroots. Democratic organizations and institutions can provide
a valuable learning environment for the poor, leading to their active
participation in wider democratic structures. In a democratic society,
just as the political process helps to express the wishes of the voters,
the economic process must articulate concerns of the majority. The
political economy of nation-building can then better the life of the
poor and ensure the uplift of all.
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Endnotes
(
I
1. The commercial banks have 63,000 branches, 33,000 of them in rural areas. The
regional rural banks have 14,500 branches.
2. According to the quinquennial surveys of the NSS during 1987-88 and 1993-94,
about 13 to 14 per cent of the usually employed (among both males and females
taken together) were regular employees and 55 to 56 per cent were self-employed,
(the rest were casual labourers). Among women workers, about 57 to 59 per cent
were self-employed and about 34 to 37 per cent were casual labourers; the regular
employees formed only 6 to 7 per cent. The self-employed women workers formed
about 34 to 35 per cent of all self-employed workers according to the two NSS
surveys. These estimates are based orf: Visaria (1998).
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Empowering the Poor through Micro-finance: The SEWA Bank
161
Reference
Visaria, Pravin (1998). ‘Labour force in India: Retrospect and prospect’, paper
presented at the seminar, organized by the National Council of Applied Economic
Research, New Delhi, April 29-30.
/
/
NGO Self-evaluation: Issues of Concern
BISWAJ1TSEN
PRADAN, New Delhi, India
Summary. — This paper addresses the issue of self-evaluation among non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). In general, self-evaluation is seen to be a non-priority area for NGOs for
three reasons: there is little performance pressure on NGOs, the perspectives available for
evaluation do not match the context in which NGOs function, and the existing methodologies for
evaluation arc not appropriate for the evaluation process to become institutionalized within the
NGO. The author discusses each of these in turn and proposes action to be taken by the NGOs
and by those with whom they work (e.g., the poor, the donor agencies etc.). These
recommendations, if adopted, should encourage NGOs to engage in more systematic evaluations
of their own programs and, thus, to improve their impact and efficiency.
1. INTRODUCTION
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are,
as a sector of society, a diverse entity operating
under different paradigms. The historical origins
of the NGO movement provide the initial basis
for segmentation. In India, NGOs doing grass
roots development work arc largely the product
of various social movements such as the Gandhian, Christian Missionary, Marxian and the
student movement of the late 1960s. NGOs can
be further segmented according to scale and
program type.
Ideally, NGOs represent the nucleus of
experimentation in grassroots development and
mobilization work with poor communities. A
variety of approaches exist in their work in the
tradition of “letting a hundred flowers bloom,”
where experimental work on a small scale has an
impact on the larger society as much through
direct results as through innovative idea
dissemination.
At best, a majority of indigenous NGOs have
become efficient welfare delivery systems with
substantial legitimacy from the community, and
drawing support from programs designed by
either the state or the private funding agencies.
At worst, they have become inefficient managers
of resources trying to implement a diverse set of
programs requiring a managerial competence for
integration beyond their existing capacities.
Given the above scenario, critical selfevaluation by NGOs of their role and work in the
overall development and societal context is an
important exercise to remind themselves of their
original purpose. At the more operational level,
self-evaluation ensures that they measure their
own performance in terms of impact and effi
ciency.
However, the NGO reality as
exists today,
has certain characteristics that make selfevaluation difficult. Factors such as diffused
goals, lack of performance pressures, absence of
formal systems and the perception of evaluation
as a non-legitimatc activity make self-evaluation
a non-priority area for most NGOs.
At the conceptual level there has been in
adequate development in areas such as mcasuring intangible performance parameters, measur
ing overall organization effectiveness and judging
synergetic factors in effectiveness.
The result is that most current evaluation
practice tends to be either impressionistic of
limited to program impact evaluation (as
opposed to ongoing implementation analysis)
through rigid but limited quantitative survey
methodologies. 'Phis too is limited to evaluation
by funding agencies rather than any fell need for
self-evaluation on the NGO’s part.
The paper will address itself to the above
problem, focusing more specifically on:
(i) Evaluation as a formal exercise rather
than an ad hoc one.
(ii) Self-evaluation rather than evaluation
by outsider agencies.
(iii) Indigenous NGOs doing grassroots
community work rather than inter
mediary and funding NGOs.
The paper has been divided into three broad
sections, each attempting to answer the following
161
G3
questions within the above framework:
G) How do we increase the need for self
evaluation within NGOs?
(ii) What kind of perspectives are required
required
for evaluation given the contextual
setting of development work?
(iii) What kind of self-evaluation method
ologies will be appropriate if NGOs arc
to look at their own work more criti
effective demand system for the services of the
NGO. However such a situation is possible only
when there are competing NGOs. Alternatively,
can the NGO establish processes whereby the
poor view the services as their right rather than
services provided by an act of benevolence? For
this to function a high level of integrity as well as
a systematically thought out process 6f mobiliza
tion is required.1
cally?
2. EVALUA’i ION AS A NON-PRIORITY
AREA 1OR NGOs
The environment within which NGOs function
today is relatively resource rich. Private funding
agencies as well as the state are keen to finance a
majority of grassroots NGOs, especially those
that are politically non-controversial and whose
work is more development oriented. Through
effective networking with such funding agencies,
by the articulate among the NGO leadership,
they are able to raise substantial resources for a
variety of programs. As a result, the survival of
NGOs has become delinked from their perform
ance.
The absence of pressures for performance for
the NGOs has made self-evaluation of their own
work a non-priority area. By contrast, for com
mercial organizations working in a competitive
market economy, the pressure for performance is
far greater than for the development NGO. The
performance parameters of the two, however,
arc completely different.
If wc take the poor as the client system for
development NGOs we find that because the
former arc unable to pay for the NGOs’ services
and because initially the power equation between
them and the NGOs is biased in favor of the
NGOs, they are ineffective or not prone to the
application of pressure on the NGOs.
Given such a context, if self-evaluation is to
emerge as an important agenda item in NGO
operations, it is necessary to build up surrogate
pressures for performance on the NGOs not
provided by the market. Such pressures for
performance may be generated through the
mechanisms described below, many of which are
being implicitly adopted by the more effective
NGOs. Critical self-evaluation of performance
would follow automatically.
(a) The poor as a demand system
This in sonic ways is the ideal solution: the
poor with whom the NCR) is working become an
(b) Donor NGOs as performance monitoring
systems
To a large extent current evaluation of NGO
work falls within this category. However, current
evaluations by outside donor agency experts fail
to institutionalize the evaluation process within
the NGO; their departure fails to generate an
ongoing evaluation exercise. Further, outside
experts with a limited knowledge of local con
texts and limited time arc better suited for im
pact evaluation than an /bngoing evaluation
of implementation. To institutionalize self
evaluation it would be necessary to spend much
more time in each NGO so that the process of
evaluation is internalized by the NGO staff and
leadership. It also implies tha/the evaluation
process involves the NGO staff at different levels
of the evaluation exercise.
(c) Leadership providing the evaluation pressure
Those NGOs doing some amount of critical
self-evaluation fall into this category. I lore the
NGO leadership establishes a direct rapport with
the community, empowering the latter to judge
the NGO’s performance. Alternatively, the lead
ership consciously introduces processes of self
evaluation through periodic review meetings and
other formal forums within the organization.
(d) Intermediary agencies as change agents
Intermediary agencies providing a variety of
consultancy services to NGOs may devote ade
quate time and professional skills to set up
processes and formal systems within the client
NGO in areas such as prospective planning,
monitoring and information systems, and evalua
tion systems. All these can contribute towards a
process of self-evaluation. The intermediary
agency in effect acts as a change agent to
transform the NGO system. Intermediary agency
monitoring is superior to donor agency monitor
ing because intermediary agencies can commit
G4uncertain and unpredictable world of human
actions prevails.
Development thinking and concomitantly
NGO work has seen a shift from the more
tangible economic growth and welfare delivery
(e) Initiating economic programs where the
programs, to problems of access for the poor and
market functions
restructuring of power equations and social
NCiO’s programs should include a certain relations. At the same time, a particular NGO
economic or business component where the may be pursuing goals at one or the other end of
NGOs bear the risk of business failure. These the above spectrum.
The sectoral service approach, amenable to
pressures from the market would make NGOs
conscious of performance as a survival issue greater direct control constitutes the primary
which could in turn have a demonstration effect agenda in only a minority of grassroots-level
NGOs today. Any intervention, however non
on other program areas.3
conflict oriented, has the potential to disrupt the
status quo.
Once its initial role has been legitimized, an
(f) Crisis as a pressure point
NGO finds that restricting its activities to the
Usually a critical self-evaluation exercise is initial single entry point is no longer feasible and
undertaken when an organization faces a crisis. its role expands. The dynamic inter-relationship
The possibility of triggering a crisis which would between the NGO and the community cannot
force an NGO to critically look at itself is one ever be restricted to a single set of well-defined
mechanism for initiating' a process of self- activities. All NGOs tend to move their activity
set from single goal-single activity to a multiple
evaluation.4
goal-activity set. NGO work is characterized by
indivisibility. Strict boundaries and formal plea
(g) Clear statement of goals and objectives
sures for the intervention process become diffi
cult to define. Any intervention has a synergetic
Finally, clarity in goal making and making effect on the local social context.
Related to the above context is the issue of the
these goals explicit to all participants such as
donor agencies. NGO staff and the community emotional involvement of the NGO leadership
with whom the NGO is working would provide a and staff; in some circumstances it can become
clear benchmark against which performance can difficult for them to distance themselves from the
be evaluated. A formal planning system would be process of social change at each stage, to analyze
an extension of this process.
objectively, and to take action. Interventions
also create change and instability in the com
munity, especially at times when their reactions
3. PERSPECTIVES FOR EVALUATION.
arc subjective rather than objective.
In the light of the above context of NGO work,
traditional evaluation perspectives and methodo
One of the reasons why evaluation of their own
performance has become a non-priority area for logies become redundant. The goal attainment
NGOs is because of the very nature of their task.
model of evaluation which involves the method
Social development programs do not lend them of measuring actual performance against preset
selves to the same design and analysis as pro objectives using positivist methodologies (sur
grams of a physical nature such as building veys, quantification of performance measures) is
infrastructural facilities or programs of a com of little use by itself. Such a perspective assumes
mercial nature where performance is quantita a clear, rational, explicit, ordering of goals.
tively measurable in money value terms. Social
In reality:
programs entail much more than providing inputs
(i) There are certain hidden goals which in
efficiently and producing desired outputs.
actual practice predominate and guide the
Social programs arc implemented in a setting
behavior of the participants.
(ii) Many of the goals are inter-related and to
that is qualitatively different. Goals are multiple,
diffused, and intangible. The variables in an open
extract individual goals for evolving measur
community setting are many and largely
able indicators may be both infeasible and
more time and (heir services are not tied to
resource generation for the NGO.2
uncontrollable. There are several human actors
reduce the meaning of complex goals.
and interest groups whose goals conflict, whose
stakes vary and whose actions do not seem to
follow a rational logic. In short, a complex,
(iii) There may be several conflicting goals of
the different interest groups.
(iv) Explicit tangible goal setting at too early
G5
a stage may reduce (he flexibility and operat
ing space fo (he NGOs.
Perspectives for evaluation of NGO perform
ance must therefore be much broader than what
is being currently used. It is necessary (hat such
perspectives include the measurement of overall
organizational effectiveness as compared to final
program impact; measurement of intangible pro
cess variables such as morale, participation,
leadership, and measurement of other para
metres such as values, goal conflict and congru
ence, interest groups and power equations, com
munity needs and capabilities.
Part of the resistance to evaluation by out
siders is motivated by the limited perspectives
used in NGO evaluation. Part of the lack of
interest in self-evaluation among NGOs can be
attributed to the limited knowledge and exposure
to more holistic evaluation perspectives. Table 1
outlines the appropriateness of different perspec-
lives to different kinds of NGOs and types of
programs.
A very brief outline of some of (he alternative
perspectives that would be ueful is given below:
(a) Strategic management
The organization’s strategies for imple
mentation of programs are evaluated against
its goals and environment. Related para
meters such as organizational structure
management style, staffing patterns, informa
tion and planning systems, relationship;? with
the community and its external environment,
and resource position are matched with each
other.
The main body of knowledge is derived
from strategic management and organization
theory literature as developed in mainstream
management science.5
Table I. Mf-evaluaiion by NGOs: A framework for applicatio/i
NGO type
Program type
Pressure mechanism
Evaluation
perspective
Large hierarchical
NGO
Single service
Relatively large
program implement
ing NGO
Delivery of multiple
services to single
sector or economic
programs
Large NGG
implementing
multiple sector
programs
Inlegraled programs (i) Leadership
Strategic manage
having specific
providing
ment
sectoral components performance pressure
mlerhnkagcs
(ii)
(ii)Intermediary
Intermediary
professional agencies
acting asconsuitants
Small dynamic NGG
with intangible social
goals
Initiating community (i) Crisis as pressure
Community change
self-reliance
point
(ii) Leadership
providing
performance pressure
Politically active
NGO
I’olilicnl mobilization (i) Crisis ils pres.
and social change
w of- sure point
,hcP<w
(ii) The poor as a
demand system
(i) Donor agency
monitoring
(ii) Clear statement
of goals
(iii) Economic
programs where the
market functions
Methodology
(i) Goal attainment
(ii) Strategic
managment
Introduction of a
planning system
(i) Strategic
management
(ii) Intcrorganization
networks
(i) Introduction
of planning
systems
(ii) Participatory
performance
review meetings
Social systems
perspective
(i) Planning systems
(ii) Participatory
review meetings
(i) Participatory
review meetings
(ii) Goal clearance by
constituents
(iii) Eliciting
community responses
Community responses
6G
(b) Inter-organization networks
The NGO is not looked at in isolation but as
the focal point in a network of development
institutions such as donor agencies, intermedi
ary NGOs, state-owned program organiza
tions, the development banking sector, etc.
This evaluation perspective assumes that
development requires organized effort that is
beyond the purview of any single organiz
ation. It would look into the existence,
stability, and viability of such a network
through formal and informal mechanisms; and
conflict, cooperation and goal congruence of
members in the network.
(c) Community change
Ihis views the NGO’s performance from
the community’s perspective and studies the
impact and dynamics of the changing rela
tionships, values, and state of being of the
community brought about by the NGO in
terventions. Variables such as expansion of
the role of women, production and social
relationships, community leadership and
kinship structures will be evaluated.
Social anthropology provides the know
ledge base for such a perspective.7
(d) Social systems
This takes a broader perspective, asking
what is the significance of the NGO’s work in
the overall societal framework. Given the
state of society, what course of action should
it pursue — political mobilization, develop
ment programs, welfare or economic upliftment services? How effective have NGOs
been in pursuing the relevant approach? 'Hie
answers to these meta-lcvel questions would
automatically determine (he strategic and
operational questions.
Marxian political economy and social sys
tems theory provide the theoretical base for
such a perspective.
The above perspectives are not new to the
social sciences. However, their application to the
evaluation field has been largely neglected.
These perspectives arc not mutually exclusive
although they have different value premises.
What distinguishes these perspectives is that
they are more holistic, and ask qualitative ques
tions without distinguishing between means and
ends. They arc not restricted to questions of
economic efficiency or specific sectoral program
impact.
For these perspectives to gain legitimacy as
well as to be made more operationally applicable
to the field of evaluation it is necessary to have a
new research agenda in evaluation research.
First, comparative studies in evaluation must
gain ascendancy. A comparative evaluation of
multiple but similar projects has greater chances
of throwing light on the failures and successes of
an individual project. Such an exercise will pin
point the kind of variables that need to be looked
into for determining causality in performance.
Second, abstract variables need to be given
concrete shape in the form of measures that arc
easy to sec and measure in a field situation. One
of the reasons why the above perspectives have
been little used is because-in the applied social
sciences, variables which arc easily measurable in
a western society are not the ones which exist,
are easily measurable and are relevant in more
traditional societies. Such surrogate measures
include the level of participation of women in
community meetings; the negotiating methods
used by the community in discussing program
outputs; the statements of program staff on key
issues, etc.
4. METHODOLOGY FOR SELF
EVALUATION
For self-evaluation to become institutionalized
as a process within NGOs it is necessary that the
skills and capability of the NGO staff are taken
into account. If self-evaluation is to become a
tool for improving NGO performance then it is
necessary that the process be participatory and
concerned with both goals and field-level
implementation issues, in addition to impact of
the final performance. The analytical techniques
used should also be simple and easy to under
stand. Methodology becomes even more impor
tant than perspective if a constituency is to be
created within NGOs for an objective self
evaluation.
Some of the methodologies that have been
found useful for self-evaluation include the
following.
(a) Participative review meetings
Regular review meetings should be held by
NGO staff members to evaluate their own
performance with their peers and the com
munity. Such a methodology is used by a large
number of NGOs. However, these meetings
tend to be too unstructured and hence not
focused on the performance question. It is
necessary that NGOs make explicit perform
ance evaluation in their agenda and specify
some criteria for evaluation.
The above methodologies might reduce the
rigour of the evaluation process but by being
more participative help institutionalize the evalu
ation process. Current evaluation practice tends
to be restricted to what the outside expert per
ceives to be the NGO’s goals and performance.
(b) Introduction of planning systems
5. CONCLUSION: A FRAMEWORK FOR
APPLICATION
The introduction of planning processes,
especially through staff meetings, automatic
ally pins down responsibilities and solicits
evaluation at a later date.
(c) Client system or community response
A formalized system of presentation of the
NGOs work to the clients or through open
meetings with the community will elicit re
sponses on their work which could become the
starting point for a more rigorous evaluation
process and set certain minimum standards for
performance.
(cl) Goal clearance by different constituents
As congruence of goals by all the different
stake holders is difficult to achieve it is
necessary to elicit what each constituent group
perceives as the goals of the NGO program.
'Phis will lead to a greater clarity of the goals,
if not their congruence, which would become
the benchmark standard for future perform
ance.
This paper begins with the statement of the
problem that NGOs are not being self-critical
enough of their performance. Current evaluation
tends to be impressionistic and unsystematic. J'hc
need is for an ongoing self-evaluation process
within the NGOs that is a formal, institutional
ized process.
Such a situation has arisen for three reasons:
(i) There are not adequate pressures for
performance on the NGOs.
(ii) The perspectives available for evalua
tion do not match the context within which
NGOs function.
(iii) The methodologies for evaluation are not
appropriate for the evaluation process to
become institutionalized widiin the NGO.
To transform this situation a variety of
mechanisms, perspectives, and processes exist
that need to be adopted by the NGOs. However
given the diversity of NGOs and types of
programs being implemented no unique solution
exists.
Table 1 attempts to integrate the three inter
related issues and their appropriateness under
different organizational settings and in different
program types. The table provides a broad
framework for application.
NOTES
1. An action research project has attempted to
introduce this concept in the government delivery
system. Sec Malhai (1982).
2. PRADAN
’s’s approach
PRADAN
approach inin itsits professional
professional assist
assistance to NGOs includes this function.
3. PRADAN’s more recent, direct programs for
rural industry development in Kesla Block, Hoshangabad District, Madhya Pradesh arc a conscious adoption
of this approach.
4. For a discussion of how crisis reoriented the goals
and strategics in a social movement and NGOs sec
Mies (19«0) and Sethi (1980).
5. For a well integrated presentation of the theoreti
cal perspectives in strategic management as applied to
social development programs sec Paul (1982) and
Johnston and Clark (1982).
6. For a review of the literature and theoretical
perspectives in organization theory see Astlcy and Van
de Ven (1983).
7. For a general introduction to sociological perspec
tives in rural development see Long (1980). For specific
measures for community participation sec Cohen and
Uphoff (1981).
68
REFERENCES
Astlcy, Graham W., and Andrew II. Van de Ven,
“Central perspectives and debates in organization
theory,” Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 28
(1983), pp. 245-273.
Cohen, John M., and Norman T. Uphoff, “Rural
development participation: Concepts and measures
for project design, implementation and evaluation,”
Monograph Series No. 2 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University, 1981).
Johnston, Bruce I ., and William (’lark. Redesigning
Rural Development — A Strategic Perspective (Balti
more, Ml): Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982).
Long, David, An Introduction to the Sociology of Rural
Development (London: Tavistock Publications,
1980).
Mathai, Ravi, “The district administration and the
creation of a demand system,” Mimco (Ahmedabad,
India: Indian Institute of Management, June 1982).
Mies, Maria, “A peasant movement in Maliarastra —
Its development and perspective,” in Bhasin and
Vimala (Eds.), Readings on Poverty, Politics and
Development (Rome: FAO, August 1980).
Paul, Samuel, Management of Development Programs
— The Lessons Prom Success (Boulder, CO: West
view Press, 1982).
Sethi, 1 larsh, “Alternative development strategies — A
look at some micro experiments,” in Bhasin and
Vimala (Eds.), Readings on Poverty, Politics and
Development (Rome: FAO, August 1980).
VI
NGOs AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
Voluntarism is an important ingredient of the democratic
way of
life.
to
relenties s
the
of
human
efforts
made
Centur ies
have
history
volun tary
by
w i tnes s
borne
agencies
to
ameliorate the sufferings o f the weaker and oppressed s ec t ions
of
society,
for
social
along side
the
official
governmental
have
generally
welfare.
These
i nsp iration
with
a
human!tar ian
been
and
charity.
relief
sacrifice
they
have
s i tuations
and
processes
all
Is
these
it
1 n,
all
are
the
they
that
impor tant
more
approach.
the
to
strike
r elig ious
focus
Their
to
change
the
to
question
and
wha t
at
the
has
self
and
altruism
rise
neces sary
of
little
did
give
Consequently
sufferings
not
With
put
of these activities.
been
programmes
the
neces s i ty
arose
whether
causes
them.
of
thes e
root
social problems by removing the economic and social dep endence
o f o ne section of s ocie ty on another? This line
g ave
rise
The
ef f ec t ivenes s
and
s treng th
propor tion
to
the
direct
to
the
developmental
community becoming aware o f
measur es
for
activities
the
begin
removal
where
of
number
social
of
of
such
charity
imbu ded
started
with
and
spirit
c on t r ib u t e
to
Wi thou t a ny
polltleal
the
managed
end s .
by
social
of
well-being
action
a nd
a
service
i nvolvemen t
given
Development
Developmental
social
basic
this
groups
e conomi c
and
p roduct ive
and
in
s u ppor ting
people-volunteers
of
work.
are
in
problems.
infrastructure t o facilitate the growth of
are
social
pe rs ons
their own problems
essentially attempt to provide the
They
in
approach
reflection
of
forces.
who
are
desire
to
less
privileged
citizens.
they
s u pplemen t
the
state
effort in areas where such effort is non-existent or
i nsu f f i c i-
ent.
ex tens ion
Thus we have groups digging
work,
running
and
ma rke ting
the
target
schools
and
agenc ies.
popula tion
wells ,
do ing
hospitals
and
All
are
attain
these
ec onom i c
f arm
setting
up
credit
to
make
self-sufficiency
and
intended
io
s elf-rel lance.
Being non-political,
f rom
governmental
well
as
sources,
funding
foreign
these groups
banks
and
agencle s.
The
draw
bus ines s
s uppor t
houses
as
result i s a
growing
these groups on the funding agencies
dependence on the part of
and the tendency to perpetuate themselves.
Non-governmental
an
Important
in
the
country,
manife s t
of
place
a
in
as
In
sect ions,
s egmen t s
and
of
NGO
activities
in
many
other
parts
of
the
world,
of
spheres
welfare
people,
protecting
envlro nmen t,
the
in
sector
been
name
a
few,
impress ive
is
Social
service
in
a nd
many
identifled
with,
e spec ially
ma terial
distress,
and
It
of
outstanding
changes
is
be
a
high
degree
heterogeneity in the activities t oo.
1s
that
one
the
by
the
emphas i s,
coming
to
of
ha s
the
the
is
spectrum
women
the
literacy
There
past
wide
emp owe ring
Independence.
the
a
development-oriented
rights
spreading
to
has
and
programmes,
of
with.
occupy
spread
technology ,
NGO
to
The
i nf orma tlon
the
come
Ind i a.
<conscientizing
i nitiatives ,
have
in
number
programmes .
weaker
or ganiza tions
marginalized
and
the
educa tlon,
participation
particularly
of
been
s ince
divers ity
much
relief
and
conce rned
of
comba ting
of
and
distress,
of
evils.
rec ent
decades
laid more and more
on
the enrichment of normal life. Ye t the former
obj ec ts r ema 1n,
a nd are 1ikely to remain for a
long
time.
a
large
part
o f what i s called ’’social
service” i s still identified
in
the minds o f many with them. Many
of
the
ri sk s
of
life
are met by mutual. aid . Mutual aid
i s t o b e contras ted with
help rendered by the privileged
to the
unprivileged .
Many
o f o ur social s ervice today are
a mixture o f the two ; help
i s given by those who have
means or leisure
to
spare
on
such terms and in such
a
manner
as
to
s timulate
mutual
aid among the
recipients.
Now
they
are
found
in
almos t
71
all
of
areas
The
activity.
human
activities
are
vir tually
been
ve ry
s ignif i-
all
areas
multiplying in geometrical progression.
The role of NGOs in development
cant in India. They
a c t ivi ty.
activis ts,
advocates
name
progress ion.
too:
roles
a
of
f ew .
Since
was
action
human
constructively.
are
They
almo s t
vir tually
have
taken
environmental
consumer
independence
s ome
certain
At tention
h uman
multiply ing
in
array
of
an
up
s trong
pro tec tionis ts,
urgency
where
NGOs
thus
d r awn'
to
to
voluntary
of
areas
wa s
of
pro tec tionis ts,
rights,
in
felt
in
f o und
activi ties
The
g eome tri cal
are
has
could
work
reconstruction
and development ensuring people’s participation.' Consequently,
many
as
exist ing
1is t ing
out
well
as
newly-born
priorities
and
s trategi es
The policy of the government
in
this
f ur ther
area
of
organization
accelerated
thi s
towards
encouraging
began
voluntary
multiplication
end .
action
of
bo th
NGOs a nd their development-oriented programmes.
Very
in
the
good
field
is
work
of
to
the
education,
credit
health.
the
sector
have
influenced
p r ©grammes. Some NGOs
the
attitude
of
have
been
governmen t
There
are
ins tance s
deter
the
governmen t
the
where
from
reform,
creating
education
resulting
In
the
fact,
government
success f ul
towards
NGO
action
social
o f p ublic o pinion. and g eneral c ommun i ty
1 n the change o f outlook o f the people.
of
voluntary
of
policies
enough
the
neglected
act ion
could
f o rmula ting
works
to
and
change
sections.
successfully
policies
opposed
to people. Not o nly i n India but in many developing countries
g ove rnm en t s had been compelled t o consult NGOs before they
embark on new proj ects tha t
affect
the
popula ti on.
In a
way NGOs can influence the path and direction
of
development.
Non-governmental
organizations
have
become
indi spensable
due t o number o f r eas ons. First o f all. the programmes o f
NGOs are more often than not i nnova t ive and adaptive,
and
the talent in
NGOs
organization.
The
is
not
obs tructed
by
f ormalit ie s
programmes
are
closely
modificati ons are made according to the needs
of
moni tor ed
the
and
of
the people.
The advantage of NGOs lies in their proximity t o the people.
They
also
have
the
option
to
experiment
with
su i table
p rogrammes and e valua te on the
basis
of
thei r
experience
in
a
particular
leading
community
to
initiative
p ioneering
approaches to social development.
The
of
the
NGOs
are
relatively
community,
wh i ch
position as against
immed ia te
and
needs
policies.
the
more
places
official
s ens 111ve
them
in
agencies.
of
the
people
Areas
are
identi fled,
to
an
the
advantageous
Closeness
de termines
needs
the
to
the
programmes
priorities
are
chosen
and programmes are conceived deliberately with the involvement
of the beneficiaries c oncerned in the decision making process.
1n
fact
avoids
remo te
planning
which
seldom
takes
into cons i dera t ion the actual reality. NGOs , 1 n
principle,
This
aim
at
not
merely
long-term
for
benef its
short
and
term
the
programmes
benefits.
This
are
may ,
conceived
in
turn.
help the community to become self reliant.
One
failure
of
of
the
rural
important
contribut ing
development
p r og ramme s
involvement of the people for whom
The
for
need
micro
level
of
the
quarters.
and
by
programmes
Development
foreign
virtue
donors
of
participatory
in
help ing
1n
o rganiza tions
b e ing
are
the
are
is
practitioners,
small
mor e
tha t
scale,
successful
allevia tion
credible
of
for
absence
were
the
of
meant.
arrangement,
to
implementation and monitor-
therefore
consider
the
programme
ins tltu t ional
Involve the people in formulation,
ing
the
is
factors
stressed
government
voluntary
flexible,
in
in
officials
organizations
innovative
reaching
p over ty.
several
the
poor
and
and
Non-governmental
i n the s ens e that they motivate
the rural masses for change of attitudes and perception. They
hand
one
the
and
reinforcement
repeated
induce
reinforcement
maj or
reason
why
follow
a
over
time.
of
and
foreign
Through
other.
activities
up
period
NGOs
the
the
on
paths
alternative
and
on
programmes
developmeh t
rural
g enera te awareness about the
the
NGOs
is
the
This
utilizing
donor s
the service of Sociologists to interact with the beneficiaries
sus ta inable
for
development
NGOs have ventured into the territories,
s ense alone,
not in a g eographical
which were left 'out or sidelined in
programmes
m en t
par ti c ipa t ion.
people’s
through
the
of
among the t ribals,
The
State.
of
develop-
NGO
is
felt
women in the unorganized sector,destitutes,
chiIdren,
the aged,
neglected
and
the
sex workers,
marginalized
was
required
but
hard
of
the
NGOs
in
these
1evel,
in the
end
impact.
11
to
widely
by .
was
borne
has
of
and , other
s ociety.
similar
NGOs
could
the populace where assistance
come
fields
it
blind
sec t ions
p enetra te into these segments o f
1s
presence
the
Even
the
work
the
micro
tho ugh
out
carried
at
fruits
and
made
s ignifleant
that
they
have
been
recognized
quite
effective in their limited area o f operation.
A
prominent
is t heref ore,
them
to
feature
participate
element
the
the
in
of
wa ter
t ions
of
arena
sector’s
ef fec t ive
reaching
poor.
interes t
in
development
and
mobilizing
Non-governmental
will
nature and significance of the
have
f r om
resources,
development
NGOs
o rgani za-
the
masses
tion. These days,
the
of
clear
indigenous
community
work
remains
ha s
u sing
rural
i nvolvemen t
general,
p r og ramme s
the
the
distribu-
in
This
is
and
and
Whether
development
quite remarkable.
and
conservation
participation
Due to this.
t he
process.
developmental
the strength of NGOs.
in
sector
non-governmental
i ts c apability o f bringing people and motivating
it is in Pani Panchayat for
t ion,
the
of
help
extent
us
of
increasingly
process.
Some
of
to
been
the
agencies
in
exp lore
the
p eople's partlcipabeen taking active
them
have
emerged
'74
as
an
and
alternative
channel
disadvantaged
for
sec t ions
helping
of
the
the
poor,
socie ty .
vulnerable
Some
of
the
most Important functions which NGOs provide include mob i1iz ing
resources
for
development,
generating
public
awarenes s
t h rough network of information and c ommunica ti on
develop ing
professional skills in respective areas, providing opportuni
ties
for
s ignif i cant
through
involvemen t
f eedback
to
be
of
in
policy
done commendable
group
decis ion
in
j ob
in
help
great
endeavour s
and
activities
makers.
rural
filling
personal
development
and
S ome
of
a nd
backward
the
gaps
facilitating
the
NGOs
areas.
have
They
can
left
by
governmen t
in
them
facilities
led development initiative and s tep s.
The
a
potential
nece s s ary
their
of
creative
oppor tunity
s trategies
to
suit
to
des ign,
the
needs
the programmes are intended.
The
is characterized by information,
enhances
been
the
of
quality
perceived
as
talent
ability
in
to
help
particular
affect
them.
d evelopment
NGOs
are
NGOs
of
society.
in
f inding
It has
to
and
t echniques
of
of
1n
their
to
microf inance
the
in
the
and
information
have
to
and
Government.
the
have
groups
dec1s ions
even
in
tha t
before
these
and
the
areas.
enterprising
confronted
by
potential
role
as
untried
services
They
s tronges t
n ew
of
elements
the
of
health.
which
that
their
c ommuni ty
whom
inexpensive
issues
acknowledged
is
del1very
humane
in
i nnova tive
the
for
vulnerable
areas
NGOs
destinations,
workers
people,
amend
NGOs
government
programmes
widely
p ioneers
in
Innovations
work
solutions
been
the
render.
themselves
governmental
functional aspect
blazers,
the
involved
begin
of
in contrast
the
and
people
participatory,
tha t
NGOs receive accolades for
spirit
they
vis-a-vis
ensure
the
personal and
service
flexible,
importantly,
of
approach
are able to reach the poor better,
More
exp e rimen t
trial
development
approach.
i nd igenous
medicine,
to
the
banking
sector
poor
system,
and
in
remote
organizing
in
evolving
15
appropriate credit system that benefit the poor all
wider
had
repercussions in the society.
ideas
and
the
government
and
a
sounding
board
In r eali ty, NGOs serve as a test-bed
m e thodo1og i e s
s ec tors
bus iness
policies
secure recognition
emulate them. Some
movements
in
voluntary
sector.
by
the
N armada
the
Raj
Bachao
act
and
programmes.
new
attempts
Such
and often governmental
try
to
agencies
o f the most exalted ideas and e f f ec t ive
The
Andolan
the
have
come
from
environmental
movement
wa s
initiated
the
Ambedkar
movement.
Ind ia
is
so
sector,
brought
has
development
alt e rna t ive
as
and
the post-independent
voluntary
for
difficult
develop
to
governmental
for
are
tha t
for
the
wh ole
to
the
concep t
The
question
of
centre-stage.
and Mabie Arole's work in Jamkhed has produced a n a 1te rna-
tive for the delivery of health services to the
consumer
the
Lok
Adala t
the Silent Valley agitation,
the
f isherfoik
The
movement,
human
outburs ts
rights
tha t
have
action
masses.
the
Chipko,
s truggle
against
idea,
mechanised foreign fishing and various other
and
rural
social
movement s
benef i ted
the
poor
groups
far
have
have originated from the NGOs.
In
Ind ia
the
work
of
the
left a deep
impress
on
our
public
subs tant ial
change
in
the
s truetures
new
awa rene s s
in
the
forest
been given a
have
their
p ower
Non-formal
voice
in
in
education
backward
in
s lums
in
the
place
of
conscious
their
classes,
consciousness.
of
their
confrontations
has
and
s pread
is
groups
Many
dawned.
regions,
b ecome
They
and
has
so
into
thousands
no t i ce able.
in
rural
f i shing
their
May
be
no
But
a
areas,
villages
age-long
as
have
s ilence.
r ights
with
have
felt
and
oppressors.
their
the
backward
regions
have
learned
to
read
and write and s tand up for their r ights. Experiments with
health care have opened up new possibilities in this crucial
area.
7G
Charity was the guiding principle of social
philanthropy,
insp ir ed
by
volunteers were neither paid
trained workers. They did
satisfact ion
the
of
maj or i ty
o rganiza tions
to
expect
that
In
reward.
activists
recent
has
A
best.
are
nor
were
expect
any
re turn,
or
social
full
with
t ime
be
jobs.
working
It
is
seeking
who
feel
tha t
voluntary
activity
and
self-serving
of
wel1-trained
in
this
area
cons ide r ing
The
most
impor tant
organization
so-called
of
d irect
social
personnel
force
in
and
1s
activity
volun tari sm
propelling
any
action
qualified
proliferation
supply
Today
unrealistic
class
of
the
non-governmental
big
lucrative
has been the increased
except
without
number
governmental
professionally
a
years
and
The
admiration.
the
good
working
profess ion.
workers
and
would
emerged
considerations.
working
do ing
they
a big bus ines s,
at
p ers ons
are
religious
not
p sycholog ical
service
as
of
a
non
recent
times
indirect
inter
national financial s uppor t.
The advantages of
in
operations ,
c ommi tmen t
off
by
the
oriented.
and
to
voluntary
a gene ie s,
rapport
with
local
c ommunity
planned
social
changes ,
are
they
generally
fact
They
are
dedication
of
tha t
built
an
the
around
the
individual;
leadership
active
is
seldom
members
themselves .
of
seen.
the
f am ily
o r friends as members
in
the
s ome times
it
founders
by
the i r
set
personali ty
i s,
quali ties
therefore,
Committed and dedicated
the initiators
o rganiza t ion
and
leadership
organization
In some cases,
to make 1t a
The
flexibility
become
and
difficult to replicate the experiment,
1 ike
some
or
tend
to
organizations
the 1 r
who
the
perpetuate
cleverly
put ting
of
manipulate
r ela tIves
would
r arely
challenge their authority.
In most case,chairperson s ecretary,
and
all
treasurer
other
members
monopolise
largely
rema in
the work of the organization.
the
power
in
apathetic
or
their
hands
as
indifferent
to
by
the
in
are
them
who s e
government,
the
nature
self-supporting.
become
be
not
may
g rants
s ens i t ive
f i nanc ially
N o tably
to
run
large
a
more
the
in
suppor ted
by
of
the
chunk
In
activities.
their
and
Indus tries
who s e
Rs . 3,500
is e s tima ted
that every year,
billion)
rupees
of
o rganiza t ions
b eing
and
the! r
action
groups
agencies.
1984,
f orei gn
contribution
million
and
it
years.
nex t
tw o
under FORA,
over
20,000
donor
development
annual
11
mill ion
agencies
to
There
are
alone.
ranging
budget
to
touched
the
foreign
f und s
foreign
on
and
Funds
now
f unding
depend
an
have
wh i ch
the
NGOs
rural
for
groups
are
f unds
of
foreign
f r om
flow
basis.
NGOs
context
within
million
the mark of
voluntary
t ime-
issue.
the sector in India stood at Rs.2,540
(20
and
regular
a
on
f unds
slow
It is known fact that many
utilization.
are
on
for
often
a gene ie s
donor
available
and
more
are
canno t
they
work ,
dependent
are
They
resources of NGOs are a
referred
extens ion
of
undertaken
activities
the
procedures
foreign
on
consuming,
of
most
S ince
is lack of finance.
agencies
voluntary
face
t ha t
the major problems
One o f
from
Rs.30 million to 500 million.
NGOs
look
p r©grammes.
In
of
agency
the
upto
f unding
the
they
reality,
or
donors,
c ontractors ’ .
There
organizations
to
are
become
cons tant
become
public
the
primary concern is
not
organization with
uninterrupted
NGOs
falling
under
this
people
class
a
mere
'public
pres sur es
on
The
but
exi s tence
the
the
take
new
and
projects,
for
effective
the
11
to
adopt
fails
f unc t i oning.
keep the organization
at
a
up
grants
organize tion
better
Obsolete
level
voluntary
contractors.
of
of
service
service
supply
survival
implement ing
mere
where financial assistance is easy to obtain.
r ema ins
tailor-made
calls
Ko r ten
as
for
agencies
from
and
funds.
responsibilities
the
motive
thro ugh
funds
When
managemen t
managemen t
which
of
1t
skills
techniques
canno t
grow
*78
i n t une with
the s cope
Such
the
for
changing
t imes.
indigenous
proj ec ts
us ually
and
Tailor-made
innovative
come
with
NGOs
work!ng
p roj ec t s
technical
limit
know-how.
a
spec if ic
package
management prescriptions suited for specific purposes.
The
experience
s ec t ions,
questioning
a
in
the
to
overcome.
change
not
easy
organisations
NGO
is
based.
support
such
f rom
as
status
prevalent
quo,
Th ey
show s
arise
from
the
The
act ivit ies
may
powerful
us ually
elite
questioning
the
neglected
p ract i ce s
and
demand ing
that
the
only
challenges
from
community
not
in
oppose
among
not
also
the
a
the
but
elements
emerge
of
in
wh i ch
the
sympathy
or
against
practices prevalent in the community.
are not limited.
the
Ins tances
which
criticism
1s
that
the
NGOs
has
been
highly
local
and
o nly
a
1 im i t ed
the
population
c om e s
under
their
coverage.
Ne tw o rk i ng
yielded
results.
and
knowledg e
through
micro
level
The efforts of the
action
NGOs
need s
steered
to
impact
and tasks are
not
limited.
will continue
to play a crucial role
mental activities
on
of
the
of
liberalization
country.
the
in
welfare
in
new
era
offers
a
lot
for
the
NGOs
to
have
to
define
t he i r
role
in
such
a
p r o tec ting
t rodden.
have
era
the
interes ts
the
will
and
of
the
affected
society.
the
In
the
tide
els ewhere.
will
The
roles
comi ng
day s
and
a s su me
do .
way
The
that
neglected
poor
desired
develop
a
wider
globalizatlon.
The changing times which began with
undoubtedly
sec t ions
of
the
The
NGOs
it
and
of
gathered
s oc ie ty .
in
of
and
direction
NGOs
role
the
this
They
the
emu la ted
t ©wards
definitely have a positive
however
be
sort
fraction
yet
experience
this
functioning
co-ordination of activities have not
the
may
exploltative
of
The oft-repeated
Sharing
Rather,
community.
organisation
authority
are
government
receive
the
the
of
will
aims
the
economi c
at
downreforms
and
the
middle
class
of
the
changes
that
marked the liberal entry of
c orp orates
multinational
new
and
labour s tandards, cut down in the subsidy of many commodities,
budgeting 1n tune with the whims and fancies
organizations
donor
the
and
like,
toe ope with. They become poorer
the
poor
by
d ay .
day
of all this, a s some recent s tudies
show,
international
of
As
things
hard
it
find
a
corollary
are
turning
in favour of the well-off sect ions o f the s ocle ty.
The role of NGOs i s not confined to the
i nnovative
areas
left-out
has
to
be
in
both
that
of
people
on
equali ty ,
concentrating
rural
in
conceived
to put in their
others.
While
ideas.
voluntary
are
Prevalence
NGO
aim
The
NGOs
need
t ransf orming
the
mind s
service
in
ill-developed
conceptions
development,
change,
ethics
and
socially
undesirable
practices
and
of
evils that appear to erect
needs
on
the
perspective.
loaded
J us tice,
of
regi ons,
wider
a
efforts
their
urban
and
introduction
intervent ion.
with
obstacles
More
often
on
work
the
way
than
not,
would have t o swim against the s trearn while
the deprived . Comba ting the powerful cannot
to
p rogres s
the
NGOs ,
work with
nece s s ar ily be
they
on a s moo th t rial.
Dr.SATYANARAYANA
(Faculty - Sociology)
Position: 207 (12 views)