Monday 8 August 2016

Why don’t NGOs bring Social change?


More the issues of society the higher the number and scope of Non Government Organisations (NGOs) remain a reality in India today. Comparatively the state like Kerala has fewer NGOs compared northern states of India as the nature of issues are more compact with the nature and scope NGO functioning in north Indian states. As northern states undergo multiple issues/deprivations states like Kerala experience complex issues that are more challenging for the intervention of NGOs in its present paradigm.

The origin of NGOs in India in its present form could be traced back to the spirit of Volunteer Organizations that emerged during the independent movement and post independent era until the declaration of emergency. Volunteer Organizations gradually transformed to NGOs as the world moved towards the dominance of global capital for economic growth and development. Thus they are known as development organizations working on various issues with diverse mission and objectives. Global capitalism brought foreign money to ‘developing’ countries like India and ‘under developed countries’ like Somalia.  It was time the State recognized the role and potential of NGOs that could fill the gaps that the government machinery could not do. Thus they could get wide spread endorsement and appreciation from various quarters of development sector. After emergency NGOs became popular in rural areas as they could bring lots of investments in infrastructure development as well as in Health and Education sector. In the initial stage many of the organizations worked with the spirit of charity that promoted the exchange of material benefits in the form of money and other material wants and needs of life. It was the time when Christianity too focused on improvement in health, education and various issues of poverty. With its religious belief in charity Christianity supported many NGOs to emerge in poor areas of India that created the masses of dependents on its charity. Gradually NGOs turned to right based development objectives that was envisioned to challenge the limitations of charity mode of functioning.


A lot could be written about the historical evolution of NGOs and its impact on life. One thing should be recognized that changes in its method and objectives should be analysed in connection with the changing nature of global capitalism, its strategies to ensure economic growth through market economy. It is also important to understand the emergence of micro credit as part of micro finance and its role in ‘empowerment’ of vulnerable communities.

Why don’t NGOs bring social change is a topic that can’t be dealt it a single article to examine the subject with its magnitude and extent that influenced the culture and scope of social change. Every organization enter into the arena of social work with its declared vision, mission and objectives that are either diluted or relegated into oblivion in the midst of organizational management, maintaining the fund flow and tackling the community issues during the intervention in the area. The expression ‘social work’ itself reveals its alienation from Nature or its failure to consider mankind as one of the species in the eco system. In other words with the promulgation of ‘scientific temper’ and faith in the man’s supremacy over Nature prompted individuals and organizations not to recognize the importance of treating man as part of Nature. The rational thinking, evidence based scientific approach and unquestioned faith in the separate existence of man from Nature with its reliance on rationality endowed with western theoretical support led social work in India towards its doom.

The fact remains that NGOs normally function in the domain of existing paradigm of nation state with its supremacy over communities through centralized system. Legally bound to the ethos of modern nation state NGOs are functioning as the extension of power mechanism endorsed by its authority. Thus organizations that seem to be radical in its stated objectives are destined to be a ‘refined’ version of the State apparatus that is obviously a tool for capitalism to expand its clutches of authority overtly and covertly over its people.

In addition to that Non Government Organizations are working with the paradigm of development envisioned by global capitalism based on GDP as an indication of positive change. Thus it is part of monetary economy that commercializes all the community resources and people’s willingness to extend their support with the spirit of community sharing. In other words the situation does not allow an organization to perpetuate a value of life beyond the existing frame work of socio-economic management. Besides that the whole operation of a Non Government Organization is built on the fund flow from a donor organization that prevents them to move away from the existing economic system based on growth for the sake of their survival.



Based on the perception of global agencies on development and backwardness, most of the communities including tribal groups are considered to be vulnerable groups that need to be mainstreamed. Mainstreaming of such ‘vulnerable’ communities is a declared agenda of NGOs with the observation that the indigenous culture, tradition and way of living are primitive and it is essential to modernize them. Thus standard means of social and cultural homogenization is implemented in various forms in the name of development. Traditional practices that have ecological significance and principles of sustainability are termed as unscientific and obsolete.  On the contrary if the values of such indigenous communities are asserted by somebody, for instance the symbiotic relationship of tribal communities with nature, it will be described religiousness or part of anti-development agenda.

Another interesting fact is the organizations that are formed with an objective of community development, a popular social work intervention strategy, work with people living in a particular location selected by the feasibility tools of a project plan where the actual Community is absent or invalid. Thus a development project is designed to fail with its formulation to work with community resources, its members and issues. The reasons for the absence of communities could be traced to multiple reasons such as caste discrimination, gender inequalities, other various forms of inequalities and the dominance of monetary economy over gift economy that strengthened and sustained the spirit of community living. The situation became worse with the absence of common assets with the growing privatization of land and other resources.

NGOs in India have valuable lessons from its past experience to move towards a new paradigm, yet they continue lingering in the field of ‘development’ for its capability to sustain a parallel economic system and attractive employment opportunity for some people in the sector along with the support of the state for its gap filling role. (the state act against them when they challenge its policy). It is a shock absorber for the existing gravity of inequality and oppression. Thus it becomes inevitable for the state as well as the oppressor to have a safety valve for resisting the rising people’s movements against the present system. In their struggle for survival most of the organizations do not recognize the absurdity of working for development as the global capitalism has reached its peak of natural resource extraction and thus heading towards economic crisis. They don’t even appreciate Ecology as the Science of 21st century.  Any way man cannot go on with their dream for their unlimited growth with limited natural resource even with the support of technology.

There are many people with their commitment towards a more just and fair society working as part of NGOs working on various critical issues. It’s time for them to decide whether to go on with a perished dream or choose a way of better understanding, contemplation and find a way forward. One thing is sure, the present paradigm of material well-being cannot be achieved with the designed system without letting a new system to emerge that is based on principles of Ecology, the Science of present times.  Being part of the present economic system and growth based on GDP social work in its effort fails to find the real cause of issues lurking in the space away from its domain. Otherwise with the dedication and commitment of some people working in the field, some of the NGOs may be able to cure the wound temporarily without healing real diseases permanently.





Monday 7 March 2016

A Letter to Daya bai the Ordinary Woman

Dear Daya bai

After reading the narration of your experience in the form of a letter to Goi, I too felt it would be effective to narrate my experience in the same manner.

It was not just the curiosity to be a day with a well acclaimed personality that led me to visit and spend a day with you. After reading your biography ‘Pachaviral’ I was longing to meet you, that time I was carried away by the uncompromising battle that you waged against injustice and enormous strength in you to challenge all odds in life without an iota of fear. I had to wait few more years to realize my intense desire to visit you though I had met you earlier.

Today the world knows your long walk to the life that you wished to live, the lonely battles that you waged against the powerful, how you declassed and became one among the tribal community of rural village far away from your native place, how you lived a simple life as a symbol of peace, harmony and compassion in the midst of all fierce and destructive mainstream way of life. You have become an icon of gallant effort to walk the talk, firm struggle for justice, and liberation from all outward shackles that makes one victim of dualities/compromises in life. I am sure it’s not all about your life- the inner conflicts that you went through, the pain that shattered you, the moments that you wept as an ordinary woman, the moments of darkness that engulfed your being, vulnerability in the midst of chaos and confusion, your long journey through the dark tunnel in utter helplessness, the amount of tears that spilled over and myriads of other matters that disturbed you might not have enchanted the many who were thrilled and celebrated your marvelous life.

You called me several times over the phone after my departure from Bhopal although you had told me the details of location and how to reach there. I could feel the concern of a mother who could not relax until her son reaches an unknown destination safe. You were there at the gate with a warm smile that radiated love and compassion in the true sense. I was not surprised to see your simple home beside the hill that was not different from the shelter of an ordinary villager but for a circular space for group meeting with a bamboo top floor. I could really feel your ‘uncivilized’ life, no chair to sit (two chairs were there for Chandu and Ashuthosh, two pet dogs of Daya bai) no dining table, no equipments essential for modern life, one room full of equipment for agriculture, some books beside the bed made of mud, a clothe made almarah to keep your cotton sarees, all added to the poise to your real life. I could feel your potent fight against market economy, though you don’t claim so, that the urban middle class and upper middle class intellectuals fail to adopt or even recognize in their fight against globalization. Though you did not use any jargons from the dictionary of an intellectual or try to theorize and give ideological explanations for the meaningful way of life that you adopted and principles that you imbibed and practiced in your life, I could sense the depth of your vision and commitment. I realized people who live fully without contradictions or minimum inevitable contradictions do not theorize every act they engage and take credit for that. They live it without much sound and fury and that is the beauty of it. I could feel you were simply living a higher value of life just like an ordinary person in your neighborhood. Of course you must be conscious about your act but more were outcome of values internalized without complexity and thus reflected in action naturally.  The wrinkles on your face could not screen the reflections of straight forward life and elegance of your nature.

I am happy to know that the world recognizes you, individuals and organizations invite you for various programmes, give you awards, some of the enlightened beings support you and encourage you. However I am afraid if some of them were only showcasing the vivacious and meaningful life that you live courageously instead of making any attempt to imbibe the values in their own life first and spread out it in the society. I wish those who really share your views and appreciate your meaningful life should exhibit it by imbibing your values in their own life that would be a more valuable award for you. I wish if you were not just showcased but lived. I was not surprised when I heard from you how the students of elite private schools listen to you and sit like a ‘statue’ without evincing any response of a living human being. As you rightly said education system sucks the vitality and their intrinsic ability to be creative. I also wish the way you live is not conceived as something peculiar that could be emulated rarely by exceptional people.  I wish people see the ordinary in you than the extraordinary so that they appreciate you are just living with the sensitivity, compassion and sense of justice and equality that everyone is expected to live.

When you narrated how you started talking to Chandu and Ashuthosh over the phone when you go out, I could really feel your bonding with every living and nonliving things around you. I did not feel it as a mystic relationship with your pet dogs. I could really experience the pain that you went through when a hen died and you went fasting. I had no doubt when you narrated how you communicate with birds and animals. In fact you are inextricably connected with everything around you. So you could make the barren land fertile with your own effort, you could find your food from your land; you could find most of the resources from local surrounding itself. Shouldn’t we learn from you? Shouldn’t we start living your values and principles? You are another example how compassion is a higher value of life than mere sympathy, an essential ingredient of true love.
When you narrated how you were tortured in the police station and later you lost your teeth, as a routine incident in life I thought about many other people who create history out of mundane experience of life or unintentional ‘heroic’ actions. I could really see how you take up the fight against tyranny of the powerful and injustice towards the vulnerable as a normal course of life and its awful consequences as its normal outcome.

I did not try to see what I wanted in your life according to my perspective and wish. I did not try to approach your life and work with my own parameters and framework. I don’t want to see you as a solution for all the issues in the world. There are diverse ways and means to tackle the problems that the world faces today. One could easily point out better ways to your way of life and response towards injustice. One can ask myriads of questions on what you did in the past. Why couldn’t you form an organization? Why didn’t you try to organize the tribal women? Why didn’t you engage in other means to empower the marginalized? Does your single army fight bring radical change in society and existing system? I have answers for such questions. Let Daya bai find her own path. She is not the only woman in the world to find solution for all issues. Let us not see her as an incarnation of omnipotent God. Ultimately she is a human being, one among us who realized the value of living beyond her own life.

With Love
Shibu