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June 03, 2005
NGOs, Market Forces and Foreign Funding - Part II
The second part of this series looks at the influence that NGOs have on communities and the government, who they are accountable to, the extent of their accountability and its impact. The first of this series is NGOs, Market Forces and Foreign Funding - Part I NGOs Their Powers, Their Accountability To understand the role of the NGO in the process of development, one has to understand the source of power of the NGO and the interests that drive it. The power that NGOs have comes from the central position in the development landscape. Often they are connected to communities and to people in a way that the state has not been able to. The state is supposed to be connected to the people and to communities through various arms. Block development board, the Panchayat, and the district administration (through the collector and the district magistrate) are supposed to be the direct contact between the people and the state. They are supposed to be in touch with the problems of the people in a certain region and find ways, through government programs, to help these people and communities solve their problems. The state has often failed to fulfill this role owing to complacency, inefficiency, corruption and mismanagement. Under these circumstances, the NGO has often stepped in to connect the people and their communities with the power structures. This has been most highlighted during times of disaster floods, cyclones, earthquakes, or riots. At best, the success of the state bureaucracy has been limited; usually it has failed miserably. While the NGO has delivered, it has also been able to build its own credibility. With this success and credibility has also come certain power. NGOs are sometimes more connected to communities that the state is. People are more open to ideas of social change from personnel from the NGO than to officers of the state. Thus, communities are often more cooperative to programs run by NGOs than to efforts by the state. Such instances are numerous including tribal communities in India, dalits, slum communities and religious minorities. The NGO, thus, has greater access to people than the state bureaucracy or the politicians do. This access changes from nation to nation; NGOs in nations with stronger states such as the US or Europe have less access to communities while NGOs in nations with weaker states such as those of Central Africa have greater access to and influence on communities. Such access has now resulted in the presence of NGOs becoming critical in most plans for social change or development. The government needs NGOs to develop plans since often these NGOs have a better understanding of the situation on the ground than institutions of the state. It needs the NGOs for cooperation of communities as well as implementation of plans. In fact, in many cases, the NGOs implement these plans either by themselves or in collaboration with the institutions of the state. At the same time, NGOs also have access to power structures within the state that are not easily accessible to communities that are possibly most disempowered and disenfranchised. For one, most NGOs are driven by people who are from the middle class. Fluency in English, degrees and access to networks of bureaucrats and administrators allow these members of NGOs to influence decisions or bureaucrats, help the community access funds earmarked for development and implement policies meant for social welfare . Further, most of these communities are made up of people who are illiterate, ill-educated, unemployed or by some broad definition, communities that the larger society sees as dead weight, as the section that keeps us from progressing. After all, that is the reason that NGOs are there in the first place to save these communities who are unable to tackle the problems they face. Clearly, the NGO driven mainly by educated, degreed folks have a greater influence on the direction of programs developed for the progress of these communities. Communities have begun to depend more on the NGO. They are the institution that the community goes to for information as well as the group that often represents these people. Thus, the NGO is also a key player for implementation of social change, an advocate of empowerment and a strong voice for many communities. In addition, these NGOs often have access to funds way beyond the means of communities they serve or sometimes even the local agency of the government. Access to such funds allows them to be major players in a community. They can decide the location and the time of a certain project and influence local power structures. In addition, presence of national or international focus brings the region itself into national or international limelight thereby changing access that these communities have to resources. Given that NGOs clearly are powerful entities in the local scenarios, it is important to ask, To whom are NGOs accountable? They are only marginally accountable to local communities. The communities they serve often have little say in the programs of the NGO. To the extent that an NGO is inclusive of the community, the latter has a say. However, such a role for the community is only owing to the benevolence of the NGO the absence of such a role does not hurt the NGO. To the extent that the community feels that the NGOs interests are in conflict with their won, they will not cooperate with the NGO or even resist the NGO. However, given the resources that the NGO can gather, some section of that community will often support the NGO unless the NGO is completely out of touch with local realities. The only way that the NGO is accountable to the community is that loss in credibility will affect their ability to implement programs. Also, extremely absurd programs will cause the community to rise up against the NGO. As long as the NGO is aware of these constraints and stays within the corresponding boundaries, it is not accountable to the local community. It is accountable to the government to the extent that it receives funding from government sources. However, government funding is not a significant source of income for NGOs. It is also bound to respect government institutions to the extent that it is bound by laws of the land and government agencies can review its accounts and certain aspects of its functioning. Clearly, then, the NGO is not accountable to the government either. Estimates suggest that 90% of Indian NGO funding in 1992 (Rs 9 billion out of a total budget of 10 billion) was from foreign sources . Significant portion of this funding comes from US, Canada, Sweden and Norway. The World Bank is another important source of funding. While more recent data is not available, it is clear that these numbers would have grown at least ten fold (given strong economic growth in US and Europe). Given that funding is the basis of existence of most NGOs, they are highly dependent on donor groups and foundations mostly based in Europe and the US. It is indeed eye-opening that for most part, NGOs in India are more accountable to donor agencies and foundations in Europe and US than they are to local communities or to the government of India. What are the implications of such accountability? The activities and development programs of most NGOs, then, is dependent on development vision, policies, whims and inclinations of organizations in Europe and US. If organizations are in the mood to fund literacy programs, a sizeable section of NGOs will migrate to working on literacy. And when studies tell these funding agencies that they need to focus on AIDs, this sizeable section of NGOs will drop literacy programs to begin work on AIDs. Mukherjee (1994) says, There is a tendency to move toward programs that are likely to receive funding at the expense of programs that may be worthwhile, but that are more difficult to sell. A recent assessment of Indian NGOs by a member of the NGO Gram Niyojan Kendra suggests that reliance on outside funding encourages formulaic proposal writing and discourages experimentation and innovation due to the fear that novel approaches will not be understood. In her paper, NGOs in the Indian Subcontinent, Kakoli Banerjee writes that Donor requirements for funding and evaluation also influence staffing and operations of NGOs in the subcontinent. Larger NGOs employ a significant-sized staff to focus on publicity material, documentation and grant writing. Smaller NGOs have taken to consulting with firms that write professional grade proposals for grants with the foreign donor agents in mind. A significant effort of the NGO is to ensure that they can get funds from donor agencies and they achieve this through efforts that meet the requirements (logistical, programming and administrative) of the donor agencies. This is a manifestation of, and further proof that the generally NGOs feel accountable mainly to donor agencies based in USA and Europe. Most donor agencies are government (of US, Canada, UK, Norway, Sweden, etc) institutions, associated to corporate foundations or religious groups. Each of these groups has certain agendas and specific interests. Donor agencies connected to religious groups in the west are generally interested in proselytizing either aggressively or through subliminal mechanisms. Programs often have components that are tied to their faith. Donor agencies connected to corporate foundations are generally interested in increasing brand awareness or broadening markets though these aims may not always be overt. Their funding usually requires the NGO to include certain programs or clauses that include these corporate interests. In the past, these have included testing of certain products on the beneficiary communities or use of certain products (such as baby food) for health or nutritional programs. Today, they often include use of certain equipment or practice of certain habits that can be justified as healthy, or environment friendly but require services or goods from a certain corporation. Government donor agencies usually demand that the funding be used for buying of certain products (manufactured by corporations based in that company), or provision of certain information through surveys or empirical data. They may also require that certain practices be changes like the Bush administration has demanded the abolition of abortion or even contraceptives for groups that receive funding. Clearly, then, their perspectives of the current situation in a certain community or in the larger global framework will be influenced by the donor groups understanding of what is really happening and how to solve it. Donor group interests then threaten to have a greater input into programs developed by NGOs than inputs from the communities they work with. NGOs Their Powers, Their Accountability To understand the role of the NGO in the process of development, one has to understand the source of power of the NGO and the interests that drive it. The power that NGOs have comes from the central position in the development landscape. Often they are connected to communities and to people in a way that the state has not been able to. The state is supposed to be connected to the people and to communities through various arms. Block development board, the Panchayat, and the district administration (through the collector and the district magistrate) are supposed to be the direct contact between the people and the state. They are supposed to be in touch with the problems of the people in a certain region and find ways, through government programs, to help these people and communities solve their problems. The state has often failed to fulfill this role owing to complacency, inefficiency, corruption and mismanagement. Under these circumstances, the NGO has often stepped in to connect the people and their communities with the power structures. This has been most highlighted during times of disaster floods, cyclones, earthquakes, or riots. At best, the success of the state bureaucracy has been limited; usually it has failed miserably. While the NGO has delivered, it has also been able to build its own credibility. With this success and credibility has also come certain power. NGOs are sometimes more connected to communities that the state is. People are more open to ideas of social change from personnel from the NGO than to officers of the state. Thus, communities are often more cooperative to programs run by NGOs than to efforts by the state. Such instances are numerous including tribal communities in India, dalits, slum communities and religious minorities. The NGO, thus, has greater access to people than the state bureaucracy or the politicians do. This access changes from nation to nation; NGOs in nations with stronger states such as the US or Europe have less access to communities while NGOs in nations with weaker states such as those of Central Africa have greater access to and influence on communities. Such access has now resulted in the presence of NGOs becoming critical in most plans for social change or development. The government needs NGOs to develop plans since often these NGOs have a better understanding of the situation on the ground than institutions of the state. It needs the NGOs for cooperation of communities as well as implementation of plans. In fact, in many cases, the NGOs implement these plans either by themselves or in collaboration with the institutions of the state. At the same time, NGOs also have access to power structures within the state that are not easily accessible to communities that are possibly most disempowered and disenfranchised. For one, most NGOs are driven by people who are from the middle class. Fluency in English, degrees and access to networks of bureaucrats and administrators allow these members of NGOs to influence decisions or bureaucrats, help the community access funds earmarked for development and implement policies meant for social welfare . Further, most of these communities are made up of people who are illiterate, ill-educated, unemployed or by some broad definition, communities that the larger society sees as dead weight, as the section that keeps us from progressing. After all, that is the reason that NGOs are there in the first place to save these communities who are unable to tackle the problems they face. Clearly, the NGO driven mainly by educated, degreed folks have a greater influence on the direction of programs developed for the progress of these communities. Communities have begun to depend more on the NGO. They are the institution that the community goes to for information as well as the group that often represents these people. Thus, the NGO is also a key player for implementation of social change, an advocate of empowerment and a strong voice for many communities. In addition, these NGOs often have access to funds way beyond the means of communities they serve or sometimes even the local agency of the government. Access to such funds allows them to be major players in a community. They can decide the location and the time of a certain project and influence local power structures. In addition, presence of national or international focus brings the region itself into national or international limelight thereby changing access that these communities have to resources. Given that NGOs clearly are powerful entities in the local scenarios, it is important to ask, To whom are NGOs accountable? They are only marginally accountable to local communities. The communities they serve often have little say in the programs of the NGO. To the extent that an NGO is inclusive of the community, the latter has a say. However, such a role for the community is only owing to the benevolence of the NGO the absence of such a role does not hurt the NGO. To the extent that the community feels that the NGOs interests are in conflict with their won, they will not cooperate with the NGO or even resist the NGO. However, given the resources that the NGO can gather, some section of that community will often support the NGO unless the NGO is completely out of touch with local realities. The only way that the NGO is accountable to the community is that loss in credibility will affect their ability to implement programs. Also, extremely absurd programs will cause the community to rise up against the NGO. As long as the NGO is aware of these constraints and stays within the corresponding boundaries, it is not accountable to the local community. It is accountable to the government to the extent that it receives funding from government sources. However, government funding is not a significant source of income for NGOs. It is also bound to respect government institutions to the extent that it is bound by laws of the land and government agencies can review its accounts and certain aspects of its functioning. Clearly, then, the NGO is not accountable to the government either. Estimates suggest that 90% of Indian NGO funding in 1992 (Rs 9 billion out of a total budget of 10 billion) was from foreign sources . Significant portion of this funding comes from US, Canada, Sweden and Norway. The World Bank is another important source of funding. While more recent data is not available, it is clear that these numbers would have grown at least ten fold (given strong economic growth in US and Europe). Given that funding is the basis of existence of most NGOs, they are highly dependent on donor groups and foundations mostly based in Europe and the US. It is indeed eye-opening that for most part, NGOs in India are more accountable to donor agencies and foundations in Europe and US than they are to local communities or to the government of India. What are the implications of such accountability? The activities and development programs of most NGOs, then, is dependent on development vision, policies, whims and inclinations of organizations in Europe and US. If organizations are in the mood to fund literacy programs, a sizeable section of NGOs will migrate to working on literacy. And when studies tell these funding agencies that they need to focus on AIDs, this sizeable section of NGOs will drop literacy programs to begin work on AIDs. Mukherjee (1994) says, There is a tendency to move toward programs that are likely to receive funding at the expense of programs that may be worthwhile, but that are more difficult to sell. A recent assessment of Indian NGOs by a member of the NGO Gram Niyojan Kendra suggests that reliance on outside funding encourages formulaic proposal writing and discourages experimentation and innovation due to the fear that novel approaches will not be understood. In her paper, NGOs in the Indian Subcontinent, Kakoli Banerjee writes that Donor requirements for funding and evaluation also influence staffing and operations of NGOs in the subcontinent. Larger NGOs employ a significant-sized staff to focus on publicity material, documentation and grant writing. Smaller NGOs have taken to consulting with firms that write professional grade proposals for grants with the foreign donor agents in mind. A significant effort of the NGO is to ensure that they can get funds from donor agencies and they achieve this through efforts that meet the requirements (logistical, programming and administrative) of the donor agencies. This is a manifestation of, and further proof that the generally NGOs feel accountable mainly to donor agencies based in USA and Europe. Most donor agencies are government (of US, Canada, UK, Norway, Sweden, etc) institutions, associated to corporate foundations or religious groups. Each of these groups has certain agendas and specific interests. Donor agencies connected to religious groups in the west are generally interested in proselytizing either aggressively or through subliminal mechanisms. Programs often have components that are tied to their faith. Donor agencies connected to corporate foundations are generally interested in increasing brand awareness or broadening markets though these aims may not always be overt. Their funding usually requires the NGO to include certain programs or clauses that include these corporate interests. In the past, these have included testing of certain products on the beneficiary communities or use of certain products (such as baby food) for health or nutritional programs. Today, they often include use of certain equipment or practice of certain habits that can be justified as healthy, or environment friendly but require services or goods from a certain corporation. Government donor agencies usually demand that the funding be used for buying of certain products (manufactured by corporations based in that company), or provision of certain information through surveys or empirical data. They may also require that certain practices be changes like the Bush administration has demanded the abolition of abortion or even contraceptives for groups that receive funding. Clearly, then, their perspectives of the current situation in a certain community or in the larger global framework will be influenced by the donor groups understanding of what is really happening and how to solve it. Donor group interests then threaten to have a greater input into programs developed by NGOs than inputs from the communities they work with. Related Articles: Comments
we are regd N.G.O working in andhra predesh women based & dedicated to women empower ment youth empowerment , education. we are having 12A, 80G under I.T 100% exemption.please visit my web site www.wpssindia.org. As on to day we are running with public donation's so we requst you to kindly if you have satisfied please give any donar details (address) Er mohan konga from. PROFILE OF THE NGO have 80G,12 A,FCRA ? So,please consider our request and arrange funds for projects. Mr.P.S.RAO S E W A
2. Place of Registration, Act under 3. Area of operation : All Rajasthan 4. Registered Office : 39-A, Lajpat Nagar, Scheme No.-2, Alwar-301001 6. No. of full and part time staff: 15 ( Fifteen) 7.Details of SEWA :SEWA is working in Rajasthan for water & Sanitation, Mother & Child health, Environmental Awareness, HIV / AIDS Awareness, Public Awareness (Jan Chetna), Women Empowerment through SHGs, Integrated Rural Development , Solar Energy & The project areas may be quite diverse, but all address the social and economic issues. We are also working for weaker sections and Deprive people of the society, for their up liftment & development our philosophy is focused on the total development of community in order to improve the life of deprive community. We have to reshape the hackneyed SEWA is working with the following aim and objectives: The major activities of the organization in the past: 6. Integrated Rural Development: 10. Solar Energy: Our efforts are concentrating on above-mentioned issues since 1998. We would like to work on the same issues or related to community development issues. Therefore we want to know that how and in what way YOU can support to the SEWA.
Sir, Thanking You G.Deva Kumar I, PRAMOD KUMAR SINHA,secretary, THE LINK, an NGO registered under socieities ACT 21 OF 1860, FCRA having tax exemption 12A,80G, working in BIHAR,water& sanitation,street children, orphan girl,vocational training for women.so, I request you that please give me the guidelines to approach the donor as we are doing our services with the help of our members and public cooperation. thanking you, pramod kumar sinha, secretary, the link an ngo, sushila bhawan, new jakkanpur patna 800001 india 09431079527 Posted by: pramod kumar sinha on November 23, 2005 08:23 AMI, Mallika V Reddy,PRESIDENT, Chandragiri Association for Rural Development (CARD), an NGO registered under socieities ACT 1860, FCRA having tax exemption 12A,80G, working in the area of health,education,water& sanitation,street children, orphan girl,vocational training for women.so, I request you that please give me the guidelines to approach the donor as we are doing our services with the help of our members and public cooperation. Name of the NGO : Vijaya Harijana Mahila Mandali(NGO) Projects implemention : Microcredit for women SHG's, RCH Project in 8 mandals Acceptance for FCRA prior permission . Dear Sir, I wish to introduce myself I am working with a Charitable Trust. I am very much pleased and inspired the services rendered to the poor by the Society. So I am working with the society ( I am staying wih the society and do the work like accounts and other stationery matters. Now I want to help my home (Old age home) by getting the funds from any one. In this case pl. let me know how i have to approach, and required necessities. Presently the president has already constructed the Home. But Persons are more. So pl. advise me. Thanking you Sir, Sharma. Posted by: Sharma on December 14, 2005 10:06 PMDear sir, I want to help Jyotirgamaya katihar bihar. Posted by: Rajeev Kumar on February 13, 2006 09:05 PMDear Sir/Madam, With respect, greetings from all of us at Sebika Sangstha (SS) and on behalf of the project to poor people of Begom Gonj Sadar Upazilla of Nokhali District, Bangladesh.
Tanking you and looking forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenient time. With kindest regards to you and all at your noble organization. Sincerely yours, good site. Posted by: kiran rathod on April 30, 2006 12:42 AMTo Subject: Application form & necessary other guide lines for grant support. Dear sir/ madam We, non government organization registered with NGO bureau & social welfare directorate, have been working various development activities for improving the life status of marginal people & ecological balance of the country. For this purpose, we need grant support to strengthen our activities. Please send me an application form & necessary guide line for this. Therefore we hope your kind consideration regarding this. Sincerely
Background Legal Status Statements The best option guiding its resource use to pursue mission statement- the leverage points where its activities will have the most impact, as the strategy is to Objectives Target audience Working areas Approach Management Executive committee (EC) Value Expertise Contacts Program experience
Dear Sir, I wish to introduce myself I am working with a Charitable Trust. I am very much pleased and inspired the services rendered to the poor by the Society. So I am working with the society ( I am staying wih the society and do the work like accounts and other stationery matters. Now I want to help my home (Old age home) by getting the funds from any one. In this case pl. let me know how i have to approach, and required necessities Dear sir dear friends Shree Gurudeo Adivasi Shikshan Sanstha is a NGO registerd govt. of Maharashtra. also regd. under fcra & 80-G Our work in health relief work Posted by: kishor B Deshmukh on December 16, 2006 05:43 AMschools are making students study even sundays burdening them plz take a serious action on st.joseph's high school,in vijayanagarcolony in hyderabad. Posted by: on February 1, 2007 05:53 AMThe Grameen Evam Samudayik Vikas Sanstha as it is known to day, was was began to start for social activities since 1998 with a small batch of dedicated workers and got registered in year 2001 under Rajasthan Societies Registration Act-1958. organization has been also registered in Foreign contribution Regulation Act-1976 FCRA] in year 2004. Holistic Rural Development through community participation at all level. Achieve economic self-sufficiency, empowerment, improve the awareness levels and action through concentration on socio- economic and legal mode. Our Vision We believes in the strengthen of poor landless, youths, tribal, women, child labourer and bonded labourer & strives to instill confidence and build attitudes to impart necessary skills with a view to help them participate effectively in the process of social empowerment through, the method of community participation at all level. Our mission is to facilitate the capacity building of GSVS partner communities-scheduled castes and tribes, small and marginal farmers, the landless, and deprived women and children-through both direct and indirect interventions, so that they are empowered to take action independently and effectively to secure their long-term well-being, thereby, promoting their self-reliance. To organized the Holistic Rural Development with national level programme & events. Our approach to communities are poor rural/ tribal, bonded labour, child labour, socially and economically backwards, poor landless and agricultural labour, artisans. The overall aim being an integrated development of poor peoles, youths and women groups. Women empowerment through formation & bank loaning of Self Help Groups. Health and sanitation activities. Funding DIC (HHI ) The faculties and consultants associated with the organization were involved in the various trainings related rural health, education, sanitation & awareness programme in rural area with the support of medical department, zila parishad , UNICEF and AIDS control society. The trainings organized at block level, gram panchayat and village level for their functionaries, stack holders, line departments & volunteers e.g. block level officials, school teachers, ICDS, ANM, Agriculture extension workers and village sanitation motivators. The community mobilization / awareness for rural development has required to Information, Education & Communication with their active participation, So, G.S.V.S. has conducting these activities regularly & effectively in project areas. Personal Strengths & Capacities The institution and the personal associated with the GSVS has wide experience of undertaking field intervention related to socio-economic development projects with the participation of community related to health, education, economic development in the rural sector. The particulars of the GSVS: 1. Name of the NGO:- Grameen Evam Samudayik Vikas Sanstha,Alwar BANK ACCOUNT NO. Indian Bank, Alwar For Foreign Funds / Contributions Bank of Baroda, 7. Correspondence Address Full time staff -11 How you can join hands with G.S.V.S.: Our efforts are concentrate on Integrated Rural Development, Women & child development, Health, Education, infrastructure support at village level & Empower the community at all level. We would like to work on the same issues or related to community development issues For further details, please contact Vikas Jain Dear Sir, Post a comment
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