Published on 30 Jan 2025
As defined by the World Bank, NGOs refers to not-for-profit organisations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development. As per Central Statistical Institute of India, there are 33 lakh NGOs or CSOs in India.
Types of NGOs
NGOs are generally categorised on the basis of their orientation and their level of operation.
On the basis of orientation
Charitable orientation: The NGO has all the power, while the beneficiary has least involvement in their activities. They are primarily involved in campaigns on necessities of the lower income group and work actively during emergency situations.
Example: CRY, which works to improve the lives of underprivileged children.
Service orientation: Work towards the goal of providing specific services like education, health, family planning for the underprivileged sections of the society.
Example: Akshaya Patra Foundation, which provides mid-day meals to school children.
Participatory orientation: Signified by self-help missions and plans in which localities play a primary role by engagement with the organisation of a project.
Example: Adivasi Munnetra Sangam, which works with indigenous communities to protect their rights and improve their living conditions.
Empowering orientation: Aims to provide aid to the deprived sections and nurture the socio, political and economic aspects of their lives.
Example: Navjyoti India Foundation, which works with disadvantaged youth to promote education and employment.
On the basis of the level of operation
Community-based NGO: Work for small groups to elevate their standards in the society and emanate the effort of people’s own initiatives.
Example: Gram Vikas, which works with rural communities to promote sustainable development.
Citywide NGO: Work at the city level to mainly support the deprived people.
Example: Mumbai Mobile Creche, which provides daycare services to children of migrant workers.
National level NGO: They work at the national level, having a huge team of volunteers with a significant agenda.
Example: Oxfam India, which works to promote social and economic justice.
International NGO: NGOs which organise their activities at the international level and they focus on a range of issues like humanitarian aid, development, and human rights.
Example: World Vision India, which works to improve the lives of children.
Role of NGO in development and poverty alleviation
Social welfare: NGOs work towards improving the quality of life for the marginalised communities, including women, children, elderly, and differently-abled persons by providing food, assistance, healthcare and other essential services.
Example: HelpAge India is an NGO focussing on elderly care and is presently running over 300 NGOs and 5 barrier homes in India.
Human rights advocacy: NGOs bring together vulnerable people, whose human rights have been violated and articulate their interest for securing social justice.
Example: ActionAid India has a one-stop crisis center called Gauravi, which caters to domestic and sexual violence victims of any age.
Education and capacity building: Providing education to the weaker sections and providing them with adequate skills, so as to make them capable of decent employment.
Example: Pratham’s digital learning programme, H-learning, is running in around 1000 communities covering 60000 students with 6000 tablets.
Healthcare: NGOs can play a vital role in improving the healthcare access and delivery in India by running mobile medical units, health clinics etc.
Example: The comprehensive primary health services of Swasth NGO provides high quality treatment at free of cost for acute and chronic diseases.
Disaster relief: Providing immediate relief during disasters and facilitating long-term rehabilitation support to the affected community.
Example: Rapid Response NGO has executed 26 disaster relief operations and 8 disaster preparedness projects, with a direct impact on 7 lakh people.
Environment conservation: Organising activities such as afforestation, wildlife conservation, waste management etc., and promoting renewable energy sources.
Example: Chintan is an environmental action group which works towards sustainable consumption, waste reduction and proper waste management.
Policy advocacy and research: NGOs collect data, conduct research, and analyse policies to advocate for evidence-based solutions to social and environmental issues.
Example: Samarthyam NGO conducts policy advocacy and research to harmonize existing laws and access standards with the UN Convention on People with Disability to make infrastructure and communities more inclusive.
Challenges faced by NGO
Regulatory constraints: NGOs in India are strictly monitored and regulated through legislations and complex procedures. These bottlenecks can be time consuming and cumbersome.
Example: Regulations though FCRA and FEMA have hindered the proper functioning of many NGOs in India.
Funding constraints: Many NGOs in India rely heavily on external funding, such as grants, donations and sponsorship. This creates fluctuations in the fund availability corresponding to the priority of the donor.
Example: Recently, the Indian government stripped nearly 6000 NGOs of their permits, which is needed to accept funding from overseas donors.
Resource limitation: Many NGOs fail to scale up their programmes due to resource crunch, which includes both human resource and financial resources.
Political interference: When NGOs take part in human rights advocacy programmes, they advocate against government policies. This can result in the organisation facing legal threat, intimidation etc. for political agenda.
Socio-cultural disparity: NGOs deal with communities which have diverse caste, religious and linguistic norms, which hinder effective policy planning and implementation.
Example: Pratham, under various programmes, has reached 63 lakh children spread across 23 states. These beneficiaries vary widely in socio-cultural demands, which is challenging for the NGO.
Fragmentation and competition: There exists plenty of NGOs in India which operate across diverse sectors and geographic locations, which leads to competition funding, resources, and recognition.
Example: A CBI exercise to map registered NGOs has disclosed that India has at least 31 lakh NGOs, i.e, one NGO for every 400 people.
Need for regulation of NGOs
In India, NGOs are regulated by Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. In recent years, many changes were made to these regulations, which imposed stricter control over the NGOs. The following are the reasons for increased regulation over NGOs:
Hindrance to development: There exist allegations that many foreign funded NGOs were disrupting development activities in India, thus endangering Indian interests.
Example: An IB report accused NGOs like Greenpeace, Cordaid and Amnesty for hindering development projects in India as per foreign policy interest, with these disruptions costing around 2 to 3% of GDP every year.
Security threat: Concerns that NGOs are being used to route money for funding terrorism, arms trade and trafficking.
Bring transparency: The functioning of most NGOs in India are very opaque with limited information regarding the source of funds and the manner of use of these funds.
Example: In 2017, the CBI informed the judiciary that less than 10% of registered NGOs in India file their audited accounts.
Reduce corruption: Unchecked fund flow could be diverted, leading to corruption in the social system.
Example: As per audit by Ministry of Home Affairs, 60% of NGO’s audited between 2019 and 2022, had committed one or more of the 12 compoundable offences under the FCRA.
Influence on religion and culture: There exists a resentment that NGOs intrude into religious and cultural norms of many minorities and indigenous communities in the name of protection and development.
Example: Indian government banning US NGO Compassion International on accusation of promoting religious conversions in India.
How to improve the functioning of NGOs in India
Resource mobilisation: NGOs shall diversify their funding sources and develop sustainable fundraising strategies rather than depending on a single donor for foreign funding.
Collaborations and partnerships: NGOs working in similar domains can pool their resources and have a coordinated approach towards an issue to reduce overlap of time and resources.
Technology adoption: Digital tools shall be used for fundraising, volunteer management, project monitoring etc. to enhance the organizational effectiveness.
Advocacy and policy engagements: NGOs can advocate for policy reforms and institutional changes to create an enabling environment for NGOs to operate effectively.
Thus, NGOs have a vital role in India’s efforts at poverty reduction, hunger management and sustainable development. For this, there must be better cooperation between NGOs and the government, with both respecting one another's position and working in a synergistic manner for the well-being of the nation.
Social Justice
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION
NGO
Role of NGO in development and poverty alleviation
Types of NGO
Challenges faced by NGO
Need for regulation of NGOs
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act
Foreign Exchange Management Act
FCRA
FEMA
How to improve th
General Studies Paper 2
Social Justice
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