NGOs providing last minute connectivity to govt welfare schemes

Hans India

6 days ago

I have always held the view that among their other strengths, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and voluntary organisations have the commitment and the ability to stay with the people to monitor implementations of the programmes earmarked for them, until the benefits reach the intended beneficiaries, thus providing the all-important last mile connectivity link.
Initiatives undertaken by government departments, on the other hand, often create a vacuum, when they withdraw, either because the programs have run their course, or when the funds have dried up, even if the goals are yet to be achieved. Also, government programmes rarely succeed in infusing the element of ownership to beneficiaries of the interventions, something which NGOs are especially good at doing. NGOs possess the last mile connectivity that can impact programmatic quality.
Sometime ago, I was invited to join as a member of the Trust Board (TB) of the well-known NGO, Durgabai Deshmukh Mahila Sabha, reputed for its work for the underprivileged sections and, in particular, women, children and the physically and mentally challenged, apart from running well-known and much sought after educational and healthcare institutions.
Despite my reluctance to accept commitments to render full justice, to which I may not have the time energy or, for that matter, the background, I accepted. My decision was in no small measure influenced by the knowledge that my mother, Papayamma, was a founder trustee of that great organisation. And it was my father, Bhimasankaram, who was, in fact, the first donor to the organisation, with the princely amount of a hundred rupees in those days!
A proposal was recently mooted in the TB, suggesting that the organisation apply to the government of India for registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
That set me thinking about the subject of assistance to NGOs, particularly in view of the long association, that I have had with them.
A relationship began way back in 1971, when, as the Sub Collector at Ongole in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, when I first met the charming and indefatigable Father Windy, a Belgian Jesuit priest, who was constructing a colony for tribals in a village just outside Chirala town, very imaginatively named Itanagar. In later days, I came to know the legendary Dr. B.V. Parameswara Rao, founder of the very well-known NGO 'Bhagavatula Charitable Trust' (BCT), which has been doing yeoman service to poor people, especially in agriculture and allied sectors, health, education and skill development. Impressed by the outstanding work being done by the organization, none other than the President of the World Bank at that time visited the area and personally congratulated Parameswara Rao. The work done by it in Self Help Groups of women, in association with the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), was later to result in NABARD becoming the arm of the state and central governments for upscaling the model.
Years later, while serving as the Secretary to Sharda Mukherjee, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, an organization named 'Chetana' was founded by the Governor, primarily to provide assistance to the victims of the super cyclone and unprecedented tidal wave that hit the East Coast of Andhra Pradesh in 1977. Later, after moving from the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad to Krishna district as Collector, I founded 'Anveshana', an NGO that was to serve as a bridge between the district administration, the various departments of the government in charge of development programmes and the beneficiaries thereof.
It was also then that I assisted the Governor in the discharge of her functions and responsibilities as the Chairman of the State Red Cross Society, a state level unit of the reputed humanitarian and charitable organisation, the International Red Cross Society which everybody has heard of.
I had a close association with NGOs again, as the Additional Secretary in charge of the department of Land Resources, in the Ministry of Rural Development of the government of India, during which period I had the occasion to visit and observe the excellent work being done by the legendary Ramakrishna Mission at Belur, near the then Calcutta.
It was also during the same period that I had the opportunity of observing from close quarters the functioning of the Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), an autonomous body set up by the Ministry of Rural Development to interface between the government and NGOs, which seeks to improve the quality of life in India's rural areas.
After my return to Hyderabad, upon completing my tenure as a member of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Delhi, and encouraged by the leisure I experienced after four decades of hectic activity, I started an organisation to address some of my very long cherished desires.
Named 'Vaaradhi', it aims to serve as a platform for like-minded organisations – a forum for the exchange of views, pooling and sharing of experiences and focusing, primarily, on encouraging youth to become productive citizens of the country in the future. Coming back to the question of NGOs seeking and receiving support, it has been my experience that finances are not the only challenge they face. They often approach agencies and individuals for many other forms of support, including expertise in areas such as health care, education, agriculture, and skill development apart from project formulation. BCT, in particular, has been able to strike fruitful and productive partnerships with many organisations, including Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Tech Mahindra Foundation and Head and Heart for the Handicapped (HHH).
Some NGOs prefer getting assistance from outside the country, especially from Non-Resident Indians (NRI)s and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) though such support is abundantly forthcoming from domestic sources, perhaps on account of personal contacts, or a shared commitment, to a cause or purpose.
Unfortunately, however, the route has proved a convenient conduit for the murky business of religious conversions. Remittances from those residing abroad have also, on occasion, been used for nefarious, including terrorist, acts and are rightly perceived, by the central government, as a threat to the economic growth of the country. As a result, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, was brought in, to regulate acceptance, and utilisation, of foreign contributions, in case it is detrimental to the national interest.
The advantage with assistance secured from domestic organisations and individuals is that, it often comes without any strings attached. Assistance from agencies abroad not only generally entails compliance to various stipulations which may not only be difficult to comply with, but also may be at variance with the protocols and principles prescribed by the state and central governments.
In monetary terms, the total outlay of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) alone is around ₹1.8 lakh crore annually, forming a substantial portion of the development budget across central and state governments. Foreign assistance through FCRA accounts for approximately ₹17,500 to ₹18,500 crore annually - just about 10% of MoRD's allocation - and only a fraction of that goes to rural development activities. Similarly, in the health sector, the contribution of NGOs is estimated to be between two and five per cent of the country's total health expenditure, based on past studies. These numbers indicate that while NGOs play a vital and catalytic role, their financial scale remains modest in comparison to public outlays.
Every year, NGOs in India receive about ₹43,210 crore from local sources such as the mandatory contributions by corporate entities prescribed under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provision of the Companies Act 2013, high-net-worth individuals, and family trusts. Well over twice the amount they get from foreign contributions through FCRA, which averages around ₹17,776 crore annually.
That being the case, I remain skeptical not only about the need for and desirability of taking the FCRA route, which may amongst to rushing in where angels fear to tread.
Justifiably, or otherwise, the fact remains that, generally speaking, people repose little faith in governments. They would rather approach other agencies, either for redressal of their grievances, or fulfilling their requirements. Governments, as a matter of fact, are held in such little respect that someone said, 'I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts!'
Another pertinent point, in this context, is that the archetypal Indian is in the habit of preferring the exotic to something homegrown.As the Telugu saying goes, food cooked in the neighbour's kitchen, is always tastier!
(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)