Non-Governmental Organizations



Published on 28 Jan 2025

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

According to the UN Department of Global Communication, an NGO is a not for profit, voluntary group that is organized on a local, national or international level to address the issues in support of the public good.

In India, they can be registered under Indian Trust Act, 1882, Society Registration Act, 1860 and Section 8 of Companies Act. These bodies are also regulated by Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

List of prominent Non-Governmental Organizations in India

NGO

Domain

Achievement / Initiatives

Smile foundation

Education, Health, Women empowerment

  • Provided vocational education to 20000+ students in 2022

  • Around 65000 students benefited through STEM learning

Child Rights and You (CRY)

Child welfare

  • 97% children in CRY project areas, between the age of 6 to 18, are in schools.

  • 99% adolescent girls in CRY project areas are protected from child marriage.

National AIDS Control Organization

Health

  • Sampoorna Suraksha Strategy: To arrest the spread of HIV.

India Vision Foundation

Rehabilitation of Prison Inmates

  • Covered 7.86 lakh beneficiaries over 40 prisons.

Goonj Foundation

Disaster management, Environment

  • Rahat initiative: Timely response to disaster relief and rehabilitation.


Need to regulate NGOs

  • National security: Some NGOs may engage in activities that could be detrimental to the development of the nation. There may be groups which work to destabilize the country, hence they must be well monitored.

    • Example: As per IB report, foreign aided NGOs are stalling developmental projects, impacting GDP growth by 2 to 3%.

  • Prevent misuse of funds: The funds received, especially from foreign sources, could be used for illegal purposes, which needs to be prevented.

    • Example: Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) blacklisted 833 NGO’s for misutilization of funds

  • Ensure transparency: Closed door functioning of NGOs could lead to corruption and power abuse. Hence regulation is required to bring more transparency in operation.

    • Example: Less than 10% of the 29 lakh registered NGOs in India file their annual income and expenditure. (CBI report)

  • Protect the interest of beneficiaries: Regulations ensure that the NGOs stick to their stated objectives and not get deviated to popular issues.

  • Corporate-NGO Nexus: Corporate firms donate money to NGOs to get a tax exemption. Once that is achieved, the NGO deducts their commission and returns the remaining amount to the firm concerned in cash.

    • Example: Fake transactions of a whopping Rs 20.70 crore in NGO Bharosa, 

  • Religious and Cultural encroachment: NGOs are often seen as encroaching on centuries-old tradition and culture of the people, and lead to mass protest at times. 

    • Example: CBI has registered a case against a Chennai based NGO, Caruna Bal Vikas for allegedly receiving funds from Compassion International, which it alleges was used to convert people.

  • Ensure compliance with the laws: NGOs are to be monitored to prevent them from overstepping their powers by finding loopholes in the legislations.

    • Example: Rajiv Gandhi Foundation was found to be violating provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Income Tax Act.

Tags:
Social Sector

Keywords:
Non-Governmental Organizations Formal groups Informal groups

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Governance and Transparency

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