Development Industry in India and its stakeholders- paper 2

* What is development?
It is the creation of long term conditions for mankinds multidimensional and sustainable well being. The dimensions may be educational, health, economic, etc.

* What is the development industry?
It is the various agencies that form an interconnected network to ensure development that is sustainable, equitable and balanced. Basically, it collects together various resources (manpower, money) to produce the product i.e. development.

* Who are its stakeholders?
All organizations and individuals who create ,manage, or benefit from development.
This includes the Govt, NGOs, donors, charities, groups, associations ,etc. ,and above all the common man.

* NGOs-Non Governmental Organizations
Formally registered not for profit association groups of individuals founded on principles of equality, altruism and voluntary work spirit to promote human development (including environment and biodiversity) and nation building.
They may be (1) advocacy based i.e. talking about a specific issue or rights of a section of society, like CRY or Helpage India (2) development based i.e. engaged in the development of various sectors, like Dhan Foundation.
2009 - 3.3 million NGOs in India. 19 million workers and volunteers. Foreign funding alone was close to 10,800 crores.

* Why are NGOs needed for development?
1. Backlog of social deprivation
2. Indian budget is the size of Norway budget. Not enough resources.
3. Lack of infrastructure, personnel and expertise in Govt. Organizations
4. Lack of trust-the ultimate beneficiaries of development cannot articulate their demands to Govt. Officials
5. Bad service delivery
6. Lack of values required for development
7. Inefficiency and corruption
NGOs are guardians of our values and watchdogs of society. They are advocates of social action. They are knowledge and manpower repository. They improve citizen-govt interface.

* Issues with NGOs- foreign funding under FCRA act 2010, corruption , being used as fronts for corporate organizations , lack of regulation , actual performance and impact, etc.
From 6th plan onwards , which identified them as new actors for development, the govt has been trying to harness NGOs effectively for development. The national policy on voluntary sector 2007 mentions creating an accreditation methodology, a central law, independent self regulation agency, simplifying rules, joint consultative groups, etc in order to address the above issues.
2nd ARC also recommended that NGOs with substantial funding and providing public uility services should be brought under the Prevention of Corruption Act.


* Donors and Aid
Individuals and organizations that give away funds and expertise for development.
They can be (1) International i.e. like the British DFID and Indian aid in Africa
(2) Agencies-like ADB and World Bank (3) Individual donors philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates through their foundation. (4) Corporate like the Times Foundation.
Donation is untied contribution towards development. The donor expects no benefits in return. In actual practice, it is often used for political and commercial self interests. The Gates Foundation has been accused of furthering the agenda of pushing Microsoft in developing nations. It may even be used as a front for money laundering. So scrutiny of donations, particularly foreign, is necessary.
India- past ten years- gave away 3.5 billion dollars in aid. 90% was to south Asian countries. It received 2000 million dollars of international aid in 2008. Acc. To the Hurun philanthropy list 2013, Aziz Premji is at the top, contributing 8000cr. Education is the area with max funding.


* Charities
An organization, institution, fund established to help the needy.
A charity operates for education, poor relief, medical relief and any other object of general public utility. Ex- the Missionaries of Charity, SOS Villages, etc
Charities often operate old age homes, orphanages, hospitals and so on. In the developmental context, charities have an important role to play in supplementing the govts efforts towards a welfare state. They look after sections of society that are often neglected. Baba Amte is an example of such work.

* Trust, endowments and Wakf.-usually floated under India Trusts Act 1882,a trust is an organization floated to devote a corpus of funds, real estate, etc for public purpose.

* Society-organization for promotion of literature, fine arts, science, diffusion of useful knowledge, museums, collections of art, instruments, inventions, charity, etc. under Societies Registration Act, 1860.



* Self Help Groups

They are informal associations of people who choose to come together to find ways to improve their living conditions. They are usually groups of 10-15 women who come together to generate addition income and learn financial and occupational skills. Both the rural and urban livelihood missions NRLM and NULM have SHGs as a central feature. Till 2006,there were 2.2 million SHGs in India.



* Why are SHGs important in development?
1.They aid in financial inclusion
2.Financial education
3.Socio economic empowerment
4.Address and articulate shortfalls of development
5.Increase domestic output
6.Equitable and balanced growth




* Institutional- they may include finance institutions like NABARD,SIDBI, economic development institutions like cooperatives, socio-economic development institutions like National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation.



Ultimately,the most important stakeholders in development are the officer who is in charge of development at the ground level-the civil servant ,and the recipient of all these intitatives for his benefit the common man.

By: Dr Sukhmani Sangha

Ref.

1. Yojana Nov 2011

2. 2nd ARC reports on Social capital and Ethics

3. World Bank studies on aid

4. Indiakanoon.org