Role of NGOs and Policy Making

NGOs have become more relevant in the contemporary times due to their
changing role from relief, charity, to welfare to development and empowerment.
A massive growth in funding and support to the NGO formation in the mid-1980s
saw the attempt of the new groups to reach out both to the grassroots and the
policy makers and were successful in shaping the development and political
discourse which was acknowledged by both the policy-makers and the public.
Harsh Sethi argues that NGOs face pressures from two diverse sources and they
have to simultaneously satisfy several demands from the ground, the government
and the donors (‘Micro-struggles, NGOs and the State’ in Manoranjan Mohanty, Partha Nath
Mukherji and Olle Tornquist (eds) Peoples’ Rights Social Movements and the State in the Third
World, 1998). Since NGOs were locally rooted and environmentally sensitive,

flexible, had low cost and were honest, the policy-makers laid great emphasis on
NGOs to involve voluntary agencies in the development programmes. Though at
times they raise uncomfortable questions about the development process, the
complex characteristics of NGOs made it essential for the external agencies to
welcome them. Despite their drawbacks they remain a source of hope and a
possibility of expanding the processes of democracy from state to society and
culture.
B.N. Jha and S.D. Mishra explain the major role that NGOs play in development
as planners, implementers, monitors, and evaluators of development programmes
(Development through NGO: Prospects and Retrospect’s’ in Kamta Prasad (ed) NGOs and
Socio-Economic Development Opportunities, 2001). They mobilise the local and outside

resources and take initiatives in mobilising and motivating people. They organise
public hearings (jan sunwais) and help communicate people’s verdict and public
opinion to the government on many issues of development that concerns majority
of the people. Thus, as catalysts they mediate between the people and the
government and work as enabler and facilitators of development.

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NGOs also collaborate, support and partner the government programmes in the
delivery of rural development programmes. They raise consciousness and
generate awareness through education, training programmes, workshops, and
dissemination of information. They articulate and priorities needs and play an
important role as advocates of poverty alleviation and community development
programmes. As Social Action Groups they have an increasing role to play in
strengthening the civil society.
Julie Fisher explains the multi-dimensional role of NGOs in development as they
strengthen the institutions of civil society that mediate between the individual and
the state, both on their own and in conjunction with governments (NGOs and the
Political Development of the Third World, 1998). Thus, it promotes increased

governments responsibility and accountability. There is a lot of international

networking among the national NGOs and proliferation of international NGOs
(INGOs). The horizontal networking has widened their operations as NGOs
collaborate with the regional and community organisations (such as Association
of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) and Voluntary
Associations Network India (VANI). As non-profit organisations they
collaborate with the Grassroots Organisations (GROs) based on local
communities and Grassroots Support Organisations (GRSOs) which are
nationally or regionally based support organisations. NGOs collaborate formally
as well as informally in major development projects and activities. Some of the
formal Umbrella Organisations of NGOs and GROs have their written
constitution and laws and hold their annual meetings and represent the GRSOs as
a group in negotiations with the government and the international donors. At
times the foreign financial support can lead to competition instead of
collaboration among GRSOs.
Many NGOs have targeted roles to promote political rights, civil liberties, human
rights, right to sustainable development, and natural resources management. They
follow the bottom-up approach to establish the community outreach activities.

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They uphold the democratic values of society (equality, justice, rights, freedom
and liberty) and also work on problem solving strategies.
The three approaches or strategies that NGOs follow are isolation, advocacy and
cooperation (Fisher, 1998) Both GROs and GRSOs at times consciously decide
to steer clear of the state and in isolation build a mass base and strengthen
independent sector networks and develop alternative approaches to development
that can influence policy over the long run. Thus the autonomy of civil society is
strengthened and such strategies promote political participation and
democratization at the local level. Political advocacy is also based on a refusal to
be co-opted or controlled but involves direct communication with government
about policy. At times NGOs use the techniques of friendly persuasion,
negotiations, and lobbying, and at times they organise mass protests on major
issues for mass advocacy and suggestions. Cooperation strategy is adopted by
many NGOs which collaborate with the government in planning and
implementation. Thus the relationships of NGOs and government can be
complimentary and collaborative at times, and confrontational at times.
Some of the NGOs which are active are ASPBAE (Asian South Pacific Bureau
of Adult Education) that made notable impact on education in India and other
countries of Asia-Pacific. SISSO (Sulabh International Social Services
Organisation) has done pioneering works in the field of sanitation improvement
and rehabilitation of scavengers, VHAI (Voluntary Health Association of India)
promotes primary health programmes in rural and urban India. There are several
NGOs operating in the micro-credit/ financial sectors which help the Self Help
Groups (SHGs) to become economically empowered and help them in credit
management skills and prompt repayment. As capability building agencies they
help in the non-farm income generating activities (SEWA, MYRADA,
ACTIONAID, URMUL, IEA and so on). NGOs are also active in the policy
reforms to protect environment and co-ordinate with the social movements such
as JAGORI, AIWC, PRIA, CSE, and so on. To prevent ecological degradation

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they campaign in favour of conservation of energy, solar energy, water
conservation, bio-diversity, disaster management, reforestation, sustainable
development, animal rights, anti-nuclear programmes, and peace movements.
They protest the big development projects which deprive people of their
livelihood resources such as mining, land acquisitions, SEZs, big Dams,
deforestation. There are many NGOs which work against child labour and
promote child rights, girl child programmes, literacy and health care programmes.
They work for rights of women such as missing women, sex workers, and victims
of domestic violence, rape, migrants, and refugees. They organise community
marriages, inter-caste marriages, and counselling centres. They create, store and
disseminate information or data through research studies, and partner with the
state social services and rights-based programmes. Several NGOs work for
human rights, build human capital and develop human resource, and work for
empowering the deprived, marginalised and underprivileged. Thus the NGOs
have a vanguard role in strengthening civil society.
It is significant to empower civil society to participate in the decision making
processes of development policies that impact the lives and livelihood of large
mass of people. The political initiatives should be located in the hands of the
deprived, oppressed, impoverished, marginalised and the excluded. Though the
political context conditions the initial NGO-government relationship, the latter
can evolve and reshape the political context. Therefore there is a need to reinvent
society by building social capital which is the key to making democracy work.
Media plays an active role in raising awareness and thus alters the dynamics of
policy making process. The role of media (print and electronic) in the context of
development in the global world order is important; as democratic institutions
they channelize public action that can generate public accountability for the state;
democratic culture is relevant as it enables the functioning of the democratic
institutions; it questions the failure of the constitutional responsibilities of the
state. Despite coexistence of greater diversities in a multicultural society, the

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campaign for global culture and its dissemination worldwide through a plethora
of complex networks to reduce cultural differences has led to imposition of the
dominant western culture. Thus the practice of neoliberal ideas has transformed
how global capitalism has been working over the last three decades. Technology
has undoubtedly become an important driving force of history, often independent
of the social forces and political culture, resulting in accelerating the processes of
integration with the global market economy. However, the underlying philosophy
of economic liberalisation and globalisation which compels integration with the
capitalist world is certainly not to equalise but to create a peripheral status for the
majority. The global world campaigns for an ‘information society’ or ‘knowledge
economy’ based on information technology, individual skills, and flexibility in
labour and business laws. People were made to believe that ‘what is good for
Wall Street is good for the rest of the world’. With the ascendancy of capital and
technology, a free competitive market economy as the precondition for
development has resulted in large scale asymmetries across the world. While the
21st century appears more democratic, inclusive, and pluralist, the contemporary
global world has witnessed resurgence of new forms of discrimination, exclusion,
polarisation and domination. While greater liberalisation has increased liquidity
for the world trade and the multilateral trading system is important, the global
inequalities pose challenges to its sustainability.
The relevance of public private partnership has increased the role of several
stakeholders - CSOs, NGOs, VOs, Social Action Groups, RWAs, and Mohalla
Clinics in Delhi, as the implementing agencies. There are various hurdles in
implementation of policies such as absence of financial resources, lack of
cooperation from the bureaucrats, lack of political will/support, lack of public
involvement in the implementation process, increasing political interference and
poor co-ordination and co-operation, hierarchical tendencies in the bureaucratic
structure and centralization of power.

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Evaluation is the process to estimate, assess and appraise the efficiency and
effectiveness of policies implemented. It is to analyse if the goals and purpose of
the policies are achieved. Evaluation involves the process to assess the impact of
the policies- the consequential effect both the intended and unintended
consequences, manifest and latent consequences, the qualitative and quantitative
performance, and the outputs and outcomes. Evaluation of the content of the
policy and its objectives, its implementation and impact on the society in general,
and specific target and non-target groups, communities and individuals in
particular, become important. Evaluation can restart the policy process, continue,
modify, or terminate the existing policies. It is significant to measure the impact
on the beneficiaries, the cost-benefit analysis, and impact on the current situation
and future. It ensures the accountability of the administration to its citizens.
It has been argued that evaluation should be a systematic, an objective and a
comprehensive process. It should not be symbolic which looks at the quantitative
indices and ignores the ground realities and substantial changes that take place at
the grassroots. There are several hurdles in the process of evaluation when the
objective is ambiguous and uncertain, when there is no clarity and the goals are
diffused, lack of data, statistics, and information, and official resistance to share
information and findings of reports. In addition, subjective interpretations,
personal interests and party ideologies of public officials many a times discourage
the evaluation process as they refuse to provide information or keep the records
incomplete/ secret and are reluctant to share/disclose the reports.