NGOs and Rural Development

Introduction:
"India lives in its villages" - Mahatma Gandhi.
Literally and from the social, economic and political perspectives the statement is
valid even today. Around 65% of the State's population is living in rural areas.
People in rural areas should have the same quality of life as is enjoyed by people
living in sub urban and urban areas. Further there are cascading effects of poverty,
unemployment, poor and inadequate infrastructure in rural areas on urban centres
causing slums and consequential social and economic tensions manifesting in
economic deprivation and urban poverty. Hence Rural Development which is
concerned with economic growth and social justice, improvement in the living
standard of the rural people by providing adequate and quality social services and
minimum basic needs becomes essential. The present strategy of rural development
mainly focuses on poverty alleviation, better livelihood opportunities, provision of
basic amenities and infrastructure facilities through innovative programmes of
wage and self-employment. The above goals will be achieved by various
programme support being implemented creating partnership with communities,
non-governmental organizations, community based organizations, institutions,
PRIs and industrial establishments, while the Department of Rural Development
will provide logistic support both on technical and administrative side for
programme implementation. Other aspects that will ultimately lead to
transformation of rural life are also being emphasized simultaneously. The
Government's policy and programmes have laid emphasis on poverty alleviation,
generation of employment and income opportunities and provision of infrastructure
and basic facilities to meet the needs of rural poor. For realising these objectives,

self-employment and wage employment programmes continued to pervade in one

form or other. As a measure to strengthen the grass root level democracy, the
Government is constantly endeavouring to empower Panchayat Raj Institutions in
terms of functions, powers and finance. Grama sabha, NGOs , Self-Help Groups
and PRIs have been accorded adequate role to make participatory democracy
meaningful and effective
India and NGOs:
India has a long tradition of social service, social reform and voluntary agencies.
NGOs emerged in India soon after Independence when Mahatma Gandhi made a
plea for dissolving the Indian National Congress (the political party which came
into power upon Independence), and transforming it into a Lok Sevak Sangh
(Public Service Organization). This plea was, however, rejected; nevertheless, it
did not halt the formation of non-governmental organizations in India. Many
Gandhi followers established voluntary agencies to work closely with the
governmental programs on social and economical issues. These agencies organized
handicrafts and village industries, rural development programs, credit cooperatives,
educational institutions, etc.
The second stage of growth of NGOs in India was around 1960 when many
individuals noticed that the governmental programs seemed to be inadequate to
deal with the deprived sections of India. These groups formed organizations that
worked on behalf of the poor, the landless, the tribals, the bonded labourers, and
many other social groups that were being discriminated against by the policies of
the state and social structure. These grass roots organizations work at the microlevel and work with limited resources and lack of coordination.

Since Independence in 1947 until around 1980 there was little effort on the part of
the Indian Government to define the role of a voluntary agency or to recognize its
importance. In 1980, however, with the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-1985), the
government identified new areas in which NGOs as new actors could participate in
development. These areas included:
1 Optimal utilization and development of renewable source of energy,
including forestry through the formation of renewable energy association at
the block level
2 Family welfare, health and nutrition, education and relevant community
programs in the field
3 Health for all programs
4 Water management and soil conservation
5 Social welfare programs for weaker sections
6 Implementation of minimum needs program
7 Disaster preparedness and management (i.e. for floods, cyclones, etc)
8 Promotion of ecology and tribal development, and
9 Environmental protection and education.
This plan, nevertheless, was to become the first of a series. Under the Seventh Five
Year Plan (1985-1990) the Indian government envisioned a more active role for
voluntary organizations to aid in making communities as self-reliant as possible.
These groups were expected to show how village and indigenous resources could
be used and how human resources, rural skills and local knowledge, grossly
underutilized at present could be used for their own development. NGOs because
of their situation and interaction with local people can be very effective in bringing

change since they are able to address issues that governments are often not able to
comprehend. That is, because these organizations work at the grass roots level they
are able to sense the urgency of issues and prioritize into the problem solving mode
at a quicker pace.
This advantage has also been noticed by the Indian government. In the Eight Five
Year Plan the importance of NGOs is further enhanced, paying particular attention
to the role of these agencies as participants in rural appraisal for drawing up
development plans at a very low cost and involving the rural community. The plan
document states, "A nation-wide network of NGOs will be created. In order to
facilitate the working of this network, three schemes relating to the creation,
replication, multiplication and consultancy development have been worked out by
the Planning Commission."
NGOs in the Five - Year Plans
To achieve the above mentioned socio economic goals Five-Year Plans (FYPs) are
centralized and integrated national economic programs. The economy of India is
based in part on planning through its five-year plans, which are developed,
executed and monitored by the Planning Commission of India. Five-Year Plans
(FYPs) are centralized and integrated national economic programs. The economy
of India is based in part on planning through its five-year plans, which are
developed, executed and monitored by the Planning Commission of India. The
eleventh plan completed its term in March 2012 and the twelfth plan is currently
underway. These NGOs have been constantly working to solve various problems
concerning children, women, senior citizens, environment, agriculture etc. in rural
development

agricultural

or

resource

based

businesses.

Education,

entrepreneurship.
During the 7th Five Year Plan, role of the NGOs was accepted as complimentary to
the State and they were assigned the role of advocacy of Govt. schemes, to act as a
link between the Govt. machinery and the masses and basically to carry forward
the agenda of the Govt. A number of model schemes were introduced during the
8th Plan period under which NGOs were entrusted with promotion of the Small
Family Norm and Population Control. During the 9th Five-Year Plan, the scope of
the NGO movement has been widened considerably and they have emerged as
pioneers of reform movement within health & family welfare sector in many
States. This coincided with the launching of RCH Programme. Under the
Reproductive and Child Health Programme. Under this Scheme, small
organizations at the village, Panchayat and Block levels are assisted through
Mother NGOs. NGOs with substantial resources and proven competence are
selected as Mother NGOs. They are given grants by the Department directly once
in a year at the beginning of the year. At the village, Panchayat and Block levels,
Field NGOs are involved basically for advocacy of RCH and Family Welfare
Practices. It is proposed to expand the panel of NNGOs on basis of select criteria
such as: Policy perspective and advocacy experience Grass-roots & Gender
perspective RH expertise in at least 3-4 RH services Research experience Training
capacity Strong Financial Management systems of minimum ten years experience8.
The Planning Commission of India for its XII Plan invites all Voluntary
Organizations (VOs)/ Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to Sign Up on
this system. Prior to this under the "Civil Society Window" series the govt. started
for inviting civil society representatives in Yojana Bhawan, to share grassroots
realities and alternate views on development with Members and Officials of the

Planning Commission; Socio-Economic Problems, Natural Resource Management

- focusing on livelihoods, Sustainable Livelihoods for National Development,
Implementing Framework for Employment Guarantee Scheme, Gender in 11th
Plan, Women and Land Rights, Children's Right to Education and Abolition of
Child Labour, Bridging the Gaps between Goals of SHGs.1
NGOs contribution in implementation of MNREGA
Economic stability is key to stop the migration of labour from place to place and
thereby giving a chance to child education. Some successful NGOs in Rural
Development, through their hard work, dedication, commitment combined with
professional competency and integrity have made their mark in the field of Rural
Development during last three decades. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
and agencies will have a pivotal role in the conduct of the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
The Central government has directed the State government to select NGOs or Lok
Sevaks and a Lok Karmi or volunteer in every panchayat for implementing the Act.
The agencies will be selected by a committee headed by the Local Administration
Secretary and comprising one representative each of the Union Rural Development
Ministry, CAPART, National Institute of Rural Development and a reputed NGO2.
And rule 3.2. Provides that, Joint work applications may also be submitted by
several applicants, either on their own or by NGOs/ entities authorized for the
1 Planning commission.nic.in; Self Help Groups

2 NGOs to have key role in MGNREGA N.J. Nair,

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/13/stories/2010021355380400.htm

purpose by the DPC on their behalf.

Further, 4.4.3.of the MNREGA guidelines3 deal with Composition of District level
Technical Committee. The District Technical Committee must comprise of district
officers from the relevant technical departments representatives of NGOs and the
academic community.
Role and effectiveness of NGOs in rural development work
Major rural development programmes of the NGOs were agricultural programmes,
health programmes, human resource development programmes, community
development and industrial and trade programmes. Majority of the beneficiaries,
non- beneficiaries, workers of NGOs and workers of other development agencies
considered rural development works of the NGOs as effective for rural
development13. Studies reveal that the NGOs can play a vital role in the
development. The role of state in the planning process, political parties,
participation, active participation of grassroots organizations, role of donor
agencies etc. are important for ensuring people participation and socio-economic
development of the people. Poverty eradication, HRD, health care, environmental
protection, protection of human rights, empowerment of women, child and weaker
sections, ushering in silent revolution etc. are some of the importance goals of
NGOs. This study was based on NGOs functions including villagers socio
economic changes, health and sanitary condition, economic security, education and
status of self-employment, increase in irrigated area, animal resources and
3 nrega.nic.in/nregarpt_eng.Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005

(Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gaurantee Act) Operational Guidelines ,2013 ,4th Edition Ministry
of Rural Development.

Cropping Intensity, increase in yield of the crops under Demonstration and changes
in crop management practices, the operational constraints in the functioning of
NGOs and perception of the beneficiaries. However, this study also point out that
expecting radicals social change through voluntary effort is also a kind of daydreaming and add that the socio-economic structure and states positives attitudes
towards NGOs also contribute for its growing role in the development process.
Hurdles on the way to rural development
In India, the scope of development is not narrow but very wide, as it includes not
just the economic development but the growth on social front, quality of life,
empowerment, women and child development, education and awareness of its
citizens. The task of development is so huge and complicated that just
implementing government plans is not sufficient to fix the problem. To achieve
this, a holistic vision and collaborative efforts involving various departments,
agencies and even NGOs is required. Owing to such a great need, the number of
NGOs in India is increasing rapidly and, at present, there are about 25,000 to
30,000 active NGOs in India.
A major problem that NGOs are facing in India is their dependency upon
government funds or external donations. With this dependency, NGOs are less
flexible in carrying out their task as most of the tasks depend upon funds.
Moreover, the structures of NGOs have become bureaucratic in nature leading to a
decreased effectiveness in the overall development.
Then the traditional thinking of rural people, their poor understanding, and low
level of education for comprehending new technology and efforts, lack of
awareness are people related hurdles that NGOs are facing. Villages also lack

infrastructure facilities like water, electricity, educational institutes, communication

facilities that leads to their slow development.
Apart from these, there are certain problems like economics such as high cost
technology, underprivileged rural industries, social and cultural differences,
conflicts between different groups, administrative problems like political
interference, lack of motivation and interest act as hurdles on the way to rural
development in India.
Superficially, rural development seems to be a simple task but, in reality, it is not.
ssPost Independence era has seen many rural development programmes through
different five-years plans. Alleviating poverty, employment generation, more
opportunities for generating income, and infrastructure facilities are emphasized
through the policies and programmes of the government. Along with this, the
panchayat raj institutions have also been initiated by the government to strengthen
the democracy at grass roots level. But in spite of all the efforts rural poverty,
unemployment rate, low production still exists. The fight is still on for the basic
facilities such as livelihood security, sanitation problem, education, medical
facilities, roads, etc. Still there is a huge gap in terms of infrastructure that is
available in urban and rural areas. The basic rural development should include all
these apart from employment, proper water supply and other basic facilities.
NGOs or Non Governmental Organizations have more benefits of working in rural
areas as compared to governmental organizations because NGOs are more flexible,
NGOs are specific to a particular locality and moreover these are committed
towards serving the public and community as a whole. As the task of development
is massive, many NGOs are playing vital role in the rural development of India in
collaboration with the government.

But in spite of all the hurdles, NGOs will keep on working for rural development
in India. NGOs selectively utilized the local talent, train the individuals and use
this for rural development. But the complete success of the rural development
actually depends upon the willingness and active participation of rural people in
the development processes and efforts.

An assessment of the Role of NGOs in Rural Development:

The NGOs have taking active participation in rural development. The rural poor
and socially depressed classes are mainly depending upon the operations of NGOs.
No particular job is particularly meant for the NGOs. Thus, there is a huge
competition among the NGOs to extend the services for the benefit of the poor. At
the same time we should not forget the mushrooming of the NGOs for their
welfare. The following are the important activities should take up for the
development of the poor.
1. Agricultural related programs:
Numerous activities can be undertaken under agriculture sector. The jobs/projects
like distributing planting materials, cattle, poultry, minor irrigation, free medical
care for cattles, safe drinking water for animals etc.

2. Health programmes for human and non-human beings:

The works like pit drainage, housing, creation of smokeless environment, good
drinking water for animals and human beings, regular health checkup camps etc.
will improve the health conditions of the human and non human beings.

3. Community development programs:

The community development programs like adoption of villages for development,
moral support during flood and famine period, supply of food and drinking water
during flood, common well, training programs for the rural youths, housing
projects, repair and renovation of houses etc will satisfy the basic necessities. The
important program like training programs for the rural poor will hold the youths
from rural exodus. Even this type of training programs may also be extended for
the rural women, so that we can expect self sustenance among this community.
4. Human Resource Development programs:
The personality development programs, skill development programs, educational
programs, integrated development projects etc will enable the rural poor to earn
bread and butter.
5. Trade and industrial promotion:
The important problem in the present context is availability of the market for the
products of rural enterprises. Therefore, an NGO has a direct link with the
government for marketing of the goods. Apart from this, NGO can also go for
training the rural youths in fabrication works, wood works, beedi rolling, agarbathi
manufacturing, printing press etc.
6. Government support:
The government (central, state or local) support at all level is inevitable for rural
development. NGOs alone cannot do miracles over night. Therefore, the
government should watch and ward the working of NGOs at phase wise manner.
Thus, the fund or whatever may be directly should move to beneficiaries. The

NGOs should accountable for the funds.

Some observations on NGOs:
1 A few NGOs have been operating without proper direction, organizational
development, good management practices and specific mission.
2 It is also observed from the existing literature that, some NGOs are very lack in the
areas like decision-making for right kind of developmental intervention, managing
socio-economic change and attaining sustainability,
3 There is a direct correlation between the donor funding and the continuation of the
projects undertaken by NGOs in rural areas.

Policy implications:
The following suggestions and policy implications have been made for the further
improvement in their working of NGOs.
1 A short term training programme for strengthening the managerial capabilities of
NGOs will go a long way in improving their performance and effectiveness
significantly.
2 The overdependence of NGOs on funding agencies and the syndrome of
dependency should be reduced by involving the government directly in funding
activities.

3 Donor agencies should also take active initiation in selecting the funding projects
and even selecting of NGOs too.
4 The donor agencies should go for surveying the viable projects for NGOs and the
needs of the people.
5 NGO should also accept the truth that, the funding agencies are no longer available
for the projects which are not viable.
6 Proper monitoring the activities of the NGOs and the enterprises run under the
umbrella is the need of the hour. Therefore, the NGOs should also accountable for
the funds on the one hand and the beneficiaries on the other.
Current Indian Scenario
Today, about 1.5 million NGOs work in India (i.e., nonprofit, voluntary citizens
groups organized on a local, national, or international level). This includes
temples, churches, mosques, gurudwaras (Sikh place of workshop), sports
associations, hospitals, educational institutions, and ganeshotsav mandals
(temporary structures set up to house Ganesh festival celebrations). Most NGOs in
India are small and dependent on volunteers. According to a survey conducted by
Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 73.4% of NGOs have one or
no paid staff, although across the country, more than 19 million persons work as
volunteers or paid staff at an NGO.4

4 Development Department, University of Birmingham. IndianNGOs.com. www.indianngos.com/

The PRIA survey also reveals that 26.5% of NGOs are engaged in religious
activities, while 21.3% work in the area of community and/or social service. About
one in five NGOs works in education, while 17.9% are active in the fields of sports
and culture. Only 6.6% work in the health sector.5
The Indian Centre for Philanthropy, the Center for Advancement of
Philanthropy, Charities Aid Foundation (India), National Foundation for
India, and the Society for Service to Voluntary Organizations are among the
nonprofit organizations that provide information resources, services, and
networking opportunities to NGOs.
The Credibility Alliance is an initiative by a group of NGOs committed to
enhancing accountability and transparency in the voluntary sector through good
governance. Credibility Alliance was registered in May 2004 as an independent,
not-for-profit organization after 2 years of extensive consultation with thousands
of NGOs in India. Credibility Alliance operates as a standards-setting body, and
aims to build trust among all the stakeholders. Its members include nearly 600
organizations.

5 PRIA. 2002. Invisible, Yet Widespread: The Non-Profit Sector in India.