Role Sharing and Collaboration between Governments
and NGOs in National Development

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan
National Coordinator
LOK SATTA People PowerIndia

“Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change
the world.Indeed it is the only thing that ever did”
Margaret Mead
Voluntarism in India Two fountainheads– Charity (paramartha)– Service (seva)
More an extension of religion
What is missing

A sense of common fate
Trust in people’s capacity
Sense of equality

Early voluntarism
Enlightened Christian missionaries (Religious)
Ramakrishna Mission (Religious)
Tagore’s Sriniketan in Bengal (Rural Development)
Spencer Hatch of YMCA (Martandam, Kerala) (Rural Development)

Voluntarism and social transformationRaja Rammohan Roy (Women’s upliftment)
Iswarchandra Vidya Sagar (Women’s upliftment)
Dayanand Saraswati (Religious reform and education)
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (Religious reform and education)
Mahatma Jyotibha Phule (Fight against caste)
Ramaswamy naicker (Tamilnadu)
Narayana Guru (Kerala)
Panduranga Sastry Athavale (Swadhyaya movement)

Gandhian voluntary action


Ambulance corps in South Africa (Boer war)
Champaran – political struggle combined with constructive action
Basic education
Harijan welfare and removal of untouchability
Sanitation
Leprosy eradication (HLNS)
Handlooms and Handicrafts

Post-Independence India
Government support to Gandhian concepts and Institutions
Example: Harijan Seva Sangh Khadi and Village Industries Commission
 Khadi and Village Industries Board Sarvodaya movement
 Bhoodan Movement

Voluntarism with professional inputs




Bunker Roy – SWRC (Tilonia)
Dr Anil Sadgopal – Hoshangabad education project
Dr R S Arole – Healthcare, Maharashtra
ASHA - Education
Rajendra Singh – Watershed development
Anna Hazare - Watershed development

Voluntarism and social activism
Left wing movements (eg: Rythu kuli sangham)
Labour movements (Sankar Guha – Neogy)
Environmental movements (Narmada Bachao Andolan)

Religious revival movements (Hindu & Muslim organizations)

State and NGOs
1947 -1970s
1970s-80s
1990s-:::

State collaboration
JP movement(confrontation)
Development work- collaboration- collusion
Ideological activism- adversarial- collusionGovernance reform- adversarial- limited collaboration

State’s felters Clampdown during emergency
 Attempts to stifle voluntary societies through over-regulation
 Not enough incentive for contributions (limited tax exemption)
 FCRA as a means of corruption and control
 State support tainted by corruption
Governance and human rights
Three key goals

GoalsHumanDignity
Accessible
justiceComponents

State Action

Freedom from child labour,
Strong policies, effective laws.
drudgery, hunger and public
Resources
defecation
Local courts, fair processes,
Rule of law, local Courts, Judgejust compensation for rights
population ratio, procedural changes,violations, and speedy
accent on rights of poor
resolution

Opportunities School education, primaryfor vertical healthcare, basic amenitiesmobility
water

Resource allocation, sensible policies,
effective delivery systems,
accountability, decentralization

Political process vs Civil society

Nature of society

Role of Political Process

Role of Civil Society

Mature Democracies

Solution

Specific Advocacy

Flawed Democracies

ProblemMovement for Reform

Dictatorships

Non-existentMovement for Democracy

In a sane democracyPolitical process should resolve the crisis
Parties, elections and public office are the route to reform
In India a vicious cycle operates

Distortions of state powerPositive power restricted
Negative power unchecked
All organs are dysfunctional
Crisis is systemic

Political process ought to be the solution
But has become the problem itself

Flawed political process

Institutional rigiditiesSystem of alibis
Change of players vs rules of the gameOver-centralization- Vote→Public good- Taxes←
Services- Authority←
Accountability
Incapacity to institutionalize innovations

Flawed democracies - elections

Macro perspectives

Micro perspectivesDisaggregate volatility

Oligopoly of parties

Broadly reflective of public
opinionLocal voting irregularities andfraud

Ruling parties and powerful
candidates are voted out

Only players change, no change inrules of game

Rejection vote common

Issues and candidate merits arelargely irrelevant

What is wrong with electoral process?
Illegitimate and unaccounted money power (10-50 times legal ceiling)
Criminalization of politics (700/4072)
Voting irregularities
Caste and divisive impulses

Key reforms

Funding
Criminalization

Electoral reforms

Voting trregularities
Proportinal representation

Electoral system

Separation of powers

Decentralization

Local governments

Rule of law

Judicial reforms
Right to information

Accountability

Citizen's charters
Independent crime investigation

Civil society’s role
 Mobilize people for reforms–Local–NationalStrengthen
democraticcollaborative

processesAdversarial

Illustrations of engagementElection Watch- Non partisan activism
impact on criminalization (facilitatory +exposure)Candidate disclosures- Adversarial activism
Right to information
Funding reform- Advocacy and mass mobilization- Collaborative activism

Approaches to citizens’ activism
Collective informed assertionand


Wide dissemination of information
Effective mass communication
Strategic intervention

Dangers of status quo

Fiscal collapse
Anarchy
Authoritarianism
Balkanization
Unfulfilled potential
Avoidable suffering

Future of voluntarism

Public service contractor (education, health care, slum resettlement etc.)
Collaborator with state (community participation, watersheddevelopment etc.)
Social innovators (new technologies, organizations and services)
Social critics and policy advocates (child labour, environment etc.)
Building civil society institutions ( electoral reform, right to information,decentralization, police and judicial reform etc.)

Key requirements

Inspiration
Leadership
Legitimacy
FundingLinkages

State’s role in future





Rule of Law
Public Order
Justice
Education
Health care
Infrastructure
Natural resources development

Civil society’s roleMake the state do its job
Take charge of areas un-addressed by state and market
Assert people’s sovereignty and community control
Build a framework for social cohesion and a sense of common fate

“The punishment suffered by the wise who refuse to take part in thegovernment, is to suffer under the government of bad men.”
Plato