Civil Societies, Ngos & Social Movement

By, Vishwas.R.Bhat MBA,II year

What is civil society  Civil society organisations include a plethora of

pressure groups, non-governmental organisations, charities, religious groups, and other actors that are neither business nor government organisations, but which are involved in the promotion of certain interests, causes, and/or goals,  Political idea, autonomous sphere , difficult to define

Organizationally: NGOs  large to small to grassroots organizations  Networks  Individuals Characterized by ‘mission’ objective, but can incorporate multiple types of models and structures.

What characterizes civil society  High degree of mission orientation

 Often high degree of idealism  Struggle to sustain efforts  Often high economic dependency on other

stakeholders

In India civil society has…  Vacillating relationship with the state.

 Substantial degree of state control.  Difficult relationship with the Corporate sector.  Good relationship with society and the media at large.

Diversity in CSO characteristics Type

Scope Individual Grass-roots Local Regional National Transnational Global

CSOs

Community Group Campaign group Business association Religious group Trade union Technical body

Activities

Structure

Policy research Market research Academic research Information Provision Boycott coordination Protests and demos

Informal Formal Co-operative Professional Entrepreneurial Network

© Oxford University Press, 2005. All rights reserved.

Focus Natural environment Social issues Poverty alleviation Human rights Animal welfare

Civil Society as the ‘third sector’ State sector Government

Market sector Business

Civil society sector Including NGOs, pressure groups, charities, unions, etc

NGO’s  A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a

legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status insofar as it excludes government representatives from membership in the organization.

 NGOs perform multifarious jobs for the development

of the people and society.  They are non-profit voluntary groups organized at the local, national or international level.  They work on capacity building programmes, concentrate on social research, or provide significant networking opportunities.

 NGOs are not directly involved in the structure of the

government but at the same time they cannot work without the support or help from the government.  NGOs bring up issues and concerns of the people to the government and policy makers.

 INDIA is estimated to have between 1 million and 2

million NGOs.  In India there are several types of NGOs performing a particular job or jobs.  The sectors have been wide spread across the country especially in rural and remote areas.  NGOs cover areas that include welfare of street children, women and old people, youth, slum dwellers, child labourers, sex workers, and landless workers.

 . Some of the important NGOs in India are India Red

Cross Society, Child Relief and You (CRY), CARE and National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD).