CHANGING CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES

FOR VOLUNTARY ACTION

IN INDIA TODAY

BY

DR. RAJESH TANDON

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

December 1995

Soclety for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)

42 Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110 062
Introduction

on voluntary development orgar isations

In recent years, debates
has focused on the authenticity and
and their relevance The
of voluntary action in contemporary context.
credibility that. CAPAR T
caused by nhewspaper repor ts
recent controversy ,
of Peoples Action and Rural Techn ology
(Council for Advancement
lopm ent, Gove rnme nt of India) had
Ministry of Rural Deve
500 voluntary agencies for misus e of its
“blacklisted"” nearly
t,
speculation. much of As a resul
funds has further fuelled this
around questions of authenticity and
the debate has got centred
accountability.
situated
The challenges facing veluntary action today need to be
of conte mpora ry globa l, regio nal and
in a deeper analysis
trends have a set of implicatie ns for
national contexts. These
of voluntary actio n in the
the future roles and contributions
attem pts to paint a broad picture of
country today. This paper
trends and then analyze the trend s
those global and national
of propo sals for futur e
within voluntary sector to generate a set
challenges facing voluntary action in India today.

Globa}l context

of Berlin wall six years ago, the globa.. context

Since the fall world
changed. We are now tiving in a unipo.ar
has dramatically end of
bi-polar characteristics. The
which has lost its previous
of Soviet Union and Eastern block
ncold war", the disappearance
political arrangement throuchout the
and the resultant global
There have been significant shift s in
world are all too visible., and its
relations in these past few years. U.S.A.
the global
e has estab lishe d their hegem ony, not only
allies in Western Europ cof
and strategic sense, but also in the sense
in the military
their ideology and form of governance.

victory for capitalism and the free

1. There is a visible
on of socie ty.
market as the sole form of ecomomic organisati
the only form which at this stage of the
This seems to be
civilisation appears to be providing any
history of human
improvements in economic standards of people
nhope” for
Many countries of the South are also,
throughout the world.
moving towards “free market"” and private
therefore,
entrepreneurship as the force for economic developrent.

form of democracy, based on

2. similarly, Parliamentary
and multi-party elections has also
universal franchise
lar, most appro priat e form of ¢over nance
emerged as the singu
the world at this period of history. Many
throughout or
of the South with dictatorship (single party
countries y.
are rapidly moving to adopt mulii -part
military) form of
parli ament ary ({or presi denti al)
pluralistic,
democratic political systems.
 in Central and Eastern Europe, the pains of
The erisis
of those econom ies and societ ies and the
reorganisation
attendant violence in that part of the world is also having
implication for North- South relati ons at this
a serious
moment of our history. The political and economic
of Europe is turning out to be a lot more
reorganization
painful and problematic than expected.

There is growing attempt to create Regional Blocks,

primarily based on the principle of economic cooperation.
‘Fortress’ Europe and regiconalisation of European community
has alread y progre ssed a great deal. NAFTA, the North
American alliance, is now spreading beyond the boundaries of
Mexico to the South, (attempting to include Chile) and
of Central America in the ambit of Canaia, U.S.A
countries
and Mexico. Similar attempts are being made in Asia to bring
together Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Cchina alongwith the newly
South- East Asia (like Thailan d,
industrialising countries of
Indonesia and Malaysia) into one orbit. APEC (Asia Pacific
Economic Council) is already planning a free-trade zone with
fastest growing economies and biggest market potential in
the world.

There has also been a significant restructuring of the

United Nations system in recent years. We have seen that the
U.N. is no longer enjoying the kind of global relevanc e that
it had a few years ago when Group of Seventy-Seven and the
Non-Aligned Movement had ensured that position s, opinions
and needs of the developing countries of the South were
listened to and addressed by the U.N. system. In the
restructured United Nations, the Security council ras become
the most dominant organ of governance of global relations
and its utilisation in the recently held Gulf War can be
seen as a harbinger of things to come in this regard. With
and other richer countries of the world trying to
USA
undermine the multi-lateral nature of the UN system, there
is a growing fear that UN system may not survive in its
current form beyond the next decade.

In terms of managing international economic relations, GATT

and the World Bank/IMF have begun to play much more
important roles, with the slogan of promoting =the ‘free
market economy’ in all the countries of the world. Growing
foreign investment in countries of the South is
private
being encouraged by World Bank/IMF and GATT suppori: ed policy
advice to Southern governments. Many more countries are
following export-led model of growth and faciny growing
indebtedness.

There is a clear trend towards restructuring of the

Bilateral Aid system as it has evolved after the Second
World War. On the one hand, there is growing “Aic PFatigue”
whereby donor countri es are signifi cantly reducin g their
overseas aid; on the other citizen s of norther n countri es
are showing weak support for oversea s aid. Slowly but
surely, Aid has become closely allied to the pclicies of
trade. In the post-Cold War scenario, global relations need
 not be maintained for pelitical interests, but could now be
pursued primarily on economic interes ts. Thus Bilateral Aid
going to, in the coming period, increasingly serve the
is
interests of the trading partners in the global trade
regime.

some of the key trends in the global context that we

These are
we frame our strate gies for volunta ry
need to be cognizant of as
action in future.

National Context

several important trends in the national context also need to be

Some of these are reflections of the larger global
understood.
contexts, but some are quite unique to our own setting.

of fundamentalism based on caste, language, and now

1. The rise
religion has communalised and destroy ed the very Fabric of
our society. Divisions and fragmentation has gone down to
the village level. However, it is interesting that this
parochial communalism has been nurtured by all political
parties since indepen dence in pursuit of the po_itics of
vote-banks. What has shocked us most is the pervasive
violence that has emerged in the country associa ted with the
forces of communa lism and fundame ntalism .

What has also been most visible in recent months is the

close nexus between politics, violence and crime. The fact
that political apparatus had become so entrenc hed with the
underworld and the black economy has only begun to hit our
collective conscience recently. As a result, political
system has lost its legitimacy and capacity to govern the
country in a meaningful way.

oOfcourse, there have been some steps to reorganise the

Indian economy in the last couple of years. Faced with the
changing global context as outlined above and th2 growing
economic crisis within the country, there is some need for
significant and serious restruc turing of the economy and
polity. However, the current model of restruc turing under
the Structural Adjustment Programme is only part of the
larger manifest o of the World Bank/IMF and is intended to
globalise, privatise and liberalise Indian econony. while
this may result in increased economic development for the
‘upper’ half of the Indian society, clearly this may not
provide any solutions to the continued poverty and misery of
the ‘bottom’ half. The two economies in India are now
almost operating mutually exclusively: the modern economy of
India, and the subsistence economy of Bharat.

Even these attempts at economic restructuring seem to be

proceeding on a half-hearted basis since the national
policy-makers are unable to find a way to reduce the
expenditure on the State and its machinery itself. At the
core of this restructuring is the redefinition of the nature
of the state and its role in contemporary eccnomic
developm ent. The disappea rance of ‘State Socialis m’ from
much of the globe in recent years has posed s:. gnificant
 intellectual and practical questions for the continued
of the corrupt, inefficient and crumbling
predominance
Indian State and its apparatus, which is consuming a lion’s
of all economic resources at this juncture. The
share
attempt to liberalise modern industrial economy has not
proceeded with any attempt to remove the vshackles" Indian
state and its burgeo ning bureau cracy on the poor and those
who work ameng them.

The new constitutional amendments (73 and 74) are intended

to create mechanisms of local self-governance and davelution
in the rural and urban areas of the country. Yet,
of power
there is a general lack of enthusiasm among ertrenched
politicians and officials to let go of their power and
over resources, without which devolution may not
control
work at all.

Trends in Voluptary Action

buring the last decade, several emerging trends in the field of

voluntary action can be noticed.

1. Most significant of these trends is the growth in size and

spread of voluntary organisations as organ:.sed and
systematic form of veluntary action throughout the country.
Going by sheer legal registration, we are now talking about
tens of thousands of registered voluntary organisations
engaged in a wide variety of programmatic initiatives. This
growth in number has been fairly widespread, though not
necessarily evenly through out the country.

The growth is also in variety of roles that have come to be

played and accepte d in the society. By the end of 70’s, most
volunta ry organis ations were directl y working in the field,
promoting innovation and experimentation. Howeve):, in the
80’s we have seen the emergence of greater initiat ive on the
part of voluntary organisations to influence governm ent’s
policies and programmes at different levels in the country.
Similarly, there has been emergence of independent research
jnitiatives which constantly monitor government’s policy and
programmes and develop independent critiqu e of the same.
Autonomous support function to strengthen grassroot
initiatives in the country have also acquired a certain
degree of credibility and legitim acy during the previous
decade. Thus the scenari o of volunta ry organis ations in
India presents a rich trapest y of variety , co.our, and
pluralism. Similarly, networks and associations have begun
to act as gathering platform for voluntary action in the
country.

There are some distinctive aspects as well. The widespread

and indiscr iminate use of the form of voluntary
organisations by different sections of society is becoming a
cause for concern. It is no longer a form which was seen as
the instrument of social transformation and change. All
kinds of people and organisations are setting up voluntary
organisations for all kinds of purposes. Political parties,
retired and serving bureaucrats, busines s interes ts and
others have used the form of voluntary organisation to
either attract resources or to provide a cover for their
other activities. Thus the debate on what corstitutes
"authentic and genuine" form of voluntary organisation has
become all the more confused and muddy. "Society" and
eTrust” are no longer uniquely available as a basis of
defining a voluntary organisation.

Another cause of concern is the growing dependence on

Government funds and programmes by many voluntar y
organisations throughout the country. In mid-eightiss as the
government began to allocate additional funds to implement
its programmes through voluntary organisations, nany more
voluntary organisations throughou t the country had begun to
utilise these funds. Slowly but surely, those voluntar y
agencies which depend solely on governme nt funds acguire the
character of an extension of the State and its apparatus in
its own functioning and priorities. Likewise, others have
become increasingly dependent on foreign funds, coming
through the countries of the North, primarily in Eardpe and
North America. Not only that the size of these Iunds has
grown in the past decade hut alsc their availab. lity has
become easier in the second half of 80‘s. As a result of
this growing dependence on external funds, many voluntary
agencies have become a part of the global develobjment aid
regime. Official Development Assistance (ODA) through
bilateral and multi-la teral channels is now passing to
Indian voluntary agencies through northern NGOs or
government development programmes.
The new generation of youth inspired by the commitment to
social change do not seem to have entered into this field in
the past few years at the same rate as they did towards the
end of 1970’s. As a result, most people who have joined
voluntary organisations in the period of their economic
growth have done so primarily for a job, an employment and
something meaningful to do. The growth of size, complexity
and diversity in funding of voluntary organisations in the
second half of 80’s has also implied their need to recruit a
large number of such people at fairly short notices,
thereby ensuring that the basic motivation of those working
in these organisations is essentially for something
meaningful and gainful to do in order to earn an ircome or a
salary.

This has resulted in a certain culture of complacency and

easy pace, a symptom of perhaps a deeper malaise called
“Grantesis" (the disease of receiving Grants for a long
period). Dependence on external resources has led to a
situation of weak relations at 1local level and doubtful
relevance of methodology and focus of work for many
voluntary agencies.

Most founders and leaders of such voluntary organisations

(called "social entrepreneurs” by some) have now becone
"burdened"” by day-to-day personnel and financial
administration. Growing size and complexity of cperations
makes it difficult for such founder-leaders to allow for
 direct field‘ and programme related contributions from
more
them. i

Challenges for Voluntady Action

A closer examination ¢f the trends in the global and national
suggests a series of implications for the future of
contexts
voluntary action in India.

is obvious that the coming decade will be qualitatively and

It
differant for voluntary organisations than the
substantively
Very féw of us may be noticin g these changes in a
decade before.
systematic manner theugh we may be experiencing them in an
manner on'a daily basis. By posing a series of
incremental
challenges for the future of volunta ry organi sation s in this
section, it is hoped that the new trends under national and
global context will hellp us to examine the requir ements for our
own future in a more helistic and comprehensive fashion.

1. The challenges of building the civil Society

The foremost chalillenge in front of voluntary organisations

at this moment is to articulate, define and project the
of Civil Society vis-a-vis the State and the
importance
Market. Historigally in our country, the State and its
agencieg were seen as the primary vehicle of all
attendant
kinds of socio-economic development. Alongw ith that, the
free market was alsc encouraged, but to a limited extent. In
the current contekt of the global trends mentioc ned earlier ,
the Market is beihg pushed forward as the "magic wend" which
will solve all e¢conomic ills of our societies. However,
neither the State-led model of development nor the Market-
led model of development will be adequate. What is important
is to streng then the third leg of this Trinity called the
‘civil Society’ = the associations of people, farilies and
commun ities which are indepen dent and autono mous of the
Government on the one hand, and eccnomic enterprise, on the
other.

It is importantt that the government as well as the

institutions openating in the Market become accountable to
the people as regresented in their collective organisations
of the Civil Socikety. Thus consumer’s associations, people’s
organisations, sdcial movements, village formations, youth
groups, women’s droups, ecology crganis ations, human rights
groups, have to be seen as part of a single mosaic with
voluntary developgment organisa tions. This is the mosaic of
civil Society which now needs to be strengthened. Many of
us working in vohuntar y organis ations came intc this field
a period wh?'lLE the pre-eminence of the government in
at
development progrizm mes was already establis hed. Many leaders
of voluntary organisations continued to believe in the
importance of thdg government to fulfill its role as defined
in the Constitution. Therefore, we worked towards demanding
a more efficient, equitable and just action on the part of
the government in providing services, welfare, relief and
developmental opportunities for the poor and the deprived.
But the experience of the last five decades has clearly
demonstrated that this was wishful thinking ; that the same
State and its mechanis ms have, in fact, led to further
distortion and inequalities and has captured most of the
resources for its own benefit and consumption as exemplified
in the growing portion of non-planned expenditures in all
Central and State government budgets. The State in its drive
to establish its hegemony destroyed many traditional
institutions of civil society and captured all public
resources. It has led to self-serving scenario in public
agencies.

Even now, in the face of changing global and national

contexts, many leaders of veluntary organisation centinue to
wish for an "improvement” in the functicning of the State
apparatus. It is clear that emotional infatuation among many
of us far ‘State Socialism’ has continued, even though the
objective reality on the ground has demonstrated its growing
irrelevance. It is here, therefore, that alternative and
fresh thinking is needed on the part of voluntary
organisations to create the possibility of autonomous and
independent ways of addressi ng the problems of health,
education, welfare, poverty, shelter, etc, of our masses,
instead of continuing to expect and demand from the
government and its agencies “better" performances. This is
perhaps the most critical challenge for wvoluntary
organisations in this country at this juncture.

In our specific Indian context, the recent constitutional

amendments (Panchayati Raj) create another opportunity to
help strengthen institutions of local self-governznce. Wwith
mandatory reservations of one third seats for women and
other weaker sections of socliety in Panchayats and
Nagarpalikas, voluntary organisations can perhaps play the
role of the orientat ion of Panchaya t leaders and assist them
in micro-planning at the local levels. However, this may
require a greater recognition of the importance of
rebuilding local institutions of self-governance, and a
willingness on the part of voluntary agencies te immerse
themselves in this task directly.

Challenge of Sustainability

It is clear that the expansion phase of the 1980's is likely

to be slowed down in this decade. Not only that additional
resources are no longer available but there are also
significant shifts in the manner of allocation of those
resources. So the challenge of sustainability is not merely
of material sustainability, of how we will generate our own
resources in the coming period, but it is also a challenge
of ensuring intellectual and institutional sustainability.
Very little attempt has been made to create alternative ways
of financing the activities and programmes of voluntary
organisations in our country. while certain organisations
may have found individual solutions, there is obviously an
absence of a collective or sectoral thinking and
strategising in this regard. There is a clear need to
explore ways of mobilising support from within the society,
particularly among its middle sections. However, this kind
of support cannot be mobilise d on a long-ter m basis without
simultaneously engaging in ongoing and sustained public
education with this section about the contributions and
importance of voluntary organisations and the civil Society
at this juncture. This requires recognit ion of the role of
middle class as an integral part of India’s reality today, a
recognition that many leaders of voluntary organisations
would rather avoid.

similarly, the nature of the organisational form, its size

and capacity requires a fresh thinking in the face of shifts
in the global and national contexts. Larger and growing
organisations seem to be needing reformulation and
restructuring. Many assumptions which were valid in the
period of growth and expansion of the eighties need to be
reviewed in the peried of the nineties with shifting
resources and global restructuring. It is perhaps of great
importance to address the question of sustainability not
only at the level of an individual organisation but
sectorally as a whole, if we have to ensure the long term
contributions of voluntary organisation in the coming
decades. This may require greater effort to build a shared
sectoral identity and mechanisms to work together on a long-
term basis.

The Challenge of Relevance

Closely linked to the previous two challenges is the

challenge of continuous reformulat ion of the relevance of
voluntary organisati ons in different historical perieds. It
is clear that the State will slowly restructure itself and
may begin to withdraw from several fields it had been active
in the previous decades. It is alsc emerging that Panchayati
Raj institutions may finally acquire greater developmental
roles at the grassroot level. The issue of globalisation of
policies and programmes has already been raised and it is
obvious that much of the Indian government’s programmes and
policies are currently formulated in a global manner.
Therefore, it poses guestions about the redefiniti on of the
roles of voluntary organisations. Mere innovation and
experimentation at grassrooct level may not be enough. The
need for creating local institutional mechanisms for an
efficient and more productive utilisatio n of fresh resources
which may become available to Panchayati Raj institutions
due to the withdrawal of the State may need to be
discovered and created. This may require engaging in
preparatio n for assisting Panchayats and other local bodies
to undertake large-scale development programmes in such
fields as education, health, sanitation, drinking water,
etc.

similarly, intense and systematic advocacy based on

authentic critique of the impact of government‘s policies
and those of the Market economy need to be developed in
order to ensure ongoing accountability and influence, not
only at the state or national levels but also in its
relation to the global context. These challenges may
require restructuring of the manner in which veluntary
organisations have functioned during the past decade. Deeper
analysis, rigorous research and documentation and macro
policy formulation may be needed more often than micro
story-telling and personal opinion-sharing.

The Challepge of Partmnership

It has become increasingly evident that the decade of the

80’s was a decade to build a distinctive and separate
identity of voluntary organisations, individually and
sectorally. In fact, it was a period where relationships
with other sectors of society like trade unions, political
parties, academia, social movements, as well as
relationships with the government and its agencies were
largely ignored, if not outright rejected. With the growing
requirements of using resources more efficiently, with the
recognition that central problems of our society cannot be
solved unilaterally by any single sector and with the
increasing appreciation of the contributions of voluntary
organisations by other sectors of Indian society, it has now
become imperative that we work towards building alliances
and partnerships beyond our immediate territory, terrain or
sector.
This challenge of working in partnerships with the
government, with international agencies, with Iliocal
movements, with other sectors of society is being understood
more clearly at this juncture by different parties
concerned; but there are still serious impediments to the
operationalisation of these partnerships because of the
vbhaggage" of the past and the hostilitie s of the previous
period. It is important that ways and means are found by the
leadership of voluntary organisations to work towards
building such partnerships in order to address the "almost
insolvable" problems that our society is facing today.
Differences and conflicts across sectors in perceptions and
priorities need to be recognised; yet efforts to build
partial collaborations across sectors are needed.

The challenge of Profesgjonalism

Finally, there is increasing pressure on voluntary

organisations to function in a more “professional" manner.
It has not been clear what ‘professionalism’ actually
implies in operational terms. Most people confuse it with
the hiring of professionally trained people in this
organisation (like Engineers, Doctors, Accountants,
Managers, etc.). That will be a very narrow and inadequate
interpretation of the challenge of profession alism.

The challenge of professicnalism essentially implies a more

efficient and productive utilisation of resources in pursuit
of the mission set by organisations themselves. It is
important that clarity of mission and ways by which they
have to be accomplished gets established again and again and
voluntary organisations hope to accomplish what their human
and material resources permit. Professionalism will also
 in a time bound and well
ability to produce results
entail
define d manner.

gained from not only within veoluntary

An impression has overall
also from outside that their
organisations but in
has lacked behind their growth
upgradation of performance in
This has become even more important
resources and size. as
in the national and global contexts
the face of changes demand on
since there is now a greater
mentioned@ above to
to prove their relevance,
voluntary organisations continuity.
contribution and justify their
demonstrate their
merely coming from those who provide
This demand is not the
of resources, but also from
grants and other forms a
is this dema nd whic h requ ires
larger soci ety. And it
in the overall structuring and
greater prof essi onal isat ion
organisations in pursuit of its
functioning of voluntary
missions as established by itself.
social change

Copeclusjion
highlight the significant shifts that
In sum, it is important to
in the past 5-6 years. These
the whole world is experiencing
of voluntary
shifts have major impact on the roles and strategies
However, a proa ctive and
action worldwide, as well as in India. deep er
in such global trends requires
meaningful response on the
and serious stra tegi c thin king
analysis of these shifts
There is a need to prom ote such
part of voluntary organisations. or pani cky. It is
reflection, without getting reac tive
strategic ally and sect oral ly,
voluntary organisations, indi vidu
hoped that
to address these, and other, challenges effectively.
will be able

10