In India, the term NGO refers to a wide range of organisations which may be non-Governmental, voluntary or non-voluntary in nature. These organisations are registered under the Societies Registration Act and Trust Act etc. The Articles of Indian Constitution underline the importance of NGOs. Article 19(1)(c) speaks about the right to form associations while Article 43 highlights the endeavor to promote cooperatives in rural areas. The Concurrent List in entry 28 mentions about charities and charitable institutions, charitable and religious endowments and religious institutions.
According to the NGO Darpan portal of the Government of India, a total of 1,60,733 NGOs are registered in India. These organisations may be working with the Government and registered under the NITI Aayog. The ideologies and working style of NGOs are unique and address mostly the grey areas where nobody reached. They play a vital role in promoting the socio-economic interest of society.
Similarly, most of the NGO leaders are inspired personalities. They are excellent motivators. They have the capacity to carry out work where there is some sort of conflict. Dedicated professionals of NGOs can resolve conflicts by putting efforts together. They are able to mobilise contributions from people to create their belongingness. Innovation is their strength and challenges are their culture. In a coordinated manner, do they work with various stakeholders and agencies for greater interest of the vulnerable sections. We can say they are the 5th pillar of democracy.
But now -a -days, there is a growing perception among the people that such organisations are committing fraud and mobilising people in a negative manner etc. But without any inquiries, jumping into such kind of opinion can demoralise the dedicated social leaders who come forward for social development through constituting NGOs. It can demolish the system and people’s trust. The NGO professionals work day and night getting very less remuneration or honorarium, as they have a fire under the belly to serve the society. So, the NGOs are a platform for learning and experiment as well as capacity building and honing skill of self for better and higher career development. There are so many examples of people who worked in the NGO sector during the initial stage of their career and gained experience in various fields. Many people achieved a lot through the ladder of NGO work culture.
Apart from the above, the NGOs can broaden Government’s accountability by ensuring that the Government is responsive to the citizens. They enhance the efficiency of delivery of many services at the local level through involvement of residents. Social audit by NGOs is a process to monitor all activities undertaken at the grassroots level to ensure proper utilisation of funds, measure output of work and fix accountability of service providers with participation of the public. They also undertake meaningful dialogues with communities, particularly those that are disadvantaged and help in constructive conflict resolution.
The NGOs are functioning as a voice for the people both on a representative and self-appointed basis; researching, analyzing and informing the public about issues; mobilising citizen action through media campaigns and other forms of activism and lobbying policymakers. The organizations are acting as a ‘watchdog’ or independent ‘auditor’ of Government and corporate performance, accountability and transparency. A statutory unit at apex level to strengthen the mechanism of NGOs and boost the performance for the cause of society is highly necessary. It will be helpful for continuous support to the NGOs serving towards nation building.
It has been seen that some local NGOs are working under the executive power of the head of the institution or founder. But in case of illness, death of the head of the executive person, the agency becomes obscure. Instead of defunct members of the board of a society, a panel of executive leaders for the NGO for maintaining its reputation, work culture and strengthening the body of the organisation is extremely required. No doubt, introducing good practice and innovation in the area, NGOs are performing a pivotal role.
There are so many examples here that NGOs are pathfinders. They are able to implement a practice which is scientifically acceptable and traditionally not. They can identify grey areas and create advocacy, awareness, capacity building and reflect the outcomes after required implementation of certain activities in a planned way. NGOs can make everything successful where there are frequent failures. Without the contribution of the NGOs, we may not imagine a full-fledged progress.
(Bijipur, Brahmagiri, Puri; snsatapathy.puri@gmail.com)