How NGO's can help the Government

Why NGOS?
In many third world countries, grass roots NGOs are taking an important role in social development. NGOs are significant in their ability to reach out to marginalized sections in remote areas where Government welfare schemes have not been able to reach. NGOs are close to the field level realities and also have the potential to advocate the marginalized people’s voice at the national and the international level, seeking to create a more egalitarian social order. At the same time, international donor agencies have found that NGOs are sometimes more efficient in implementing various developmental programs.

In India, the failure of the state is seen particularly in the field of basic education. There is an urgent need to assure education for all as India accounts for one in four of all children out of school worldwide (OXFAM 2000) and half of the population in the country is still illiterate.

In order to assess the NGOs contribution to the field of education, it is essential to understand what is meant by basic education. At the landmark international meeting, World Conference on Education for All held in Jometien-Thailand 1990, basic education was defined as ‘an indispensable “passport to life” that will enable people to choose what they do, to share in building up the collective future and to continue learning. Basic education is essential, if inequality among the genders, within and between the countries, is to be challenged’ (UNESCO 1996).

The objectives underlined in the Jometien Declaration assume special significance in the Indian context. Though the right to free compulsory primary education till age 14 is a directive principle of State Policy (Article 45) of the Indian Constitution, universal primary education is yet to become a reality in the country. The problems in India are multifarious in nature. Not only is there an absence of adequate infrastructure but social, economic and cultural barriers as well. Here the NGOs who work in close association with the communities can play a crucial role in imparting effective education to children especially in the areas where the Government schools are not able to cover or they are not functioning properly.

The Government view
NGOs are working to fill the vacuum created by the Governmental inaction in the social fields such as education, health etc. Government also recognizes that it is not possible to cover the entire country only through the Governmental agencies. International agencies are also working to support and implement Government’s efforts in India. For example, the Ministry of Labour has been collaborating with NGOs and ILO in their implementation of NCLP and CREDA was one of the chosen NGOs. The Government found it useful to allot the work to the NGOs mainly in two ways. One, NGOs are able to reach out to the needy and the other is that NGOs can show good examples. Another important aspect in the NGO-Government relationship is that NGOs are bridging the Government development schemes with the villages. For example CREDA is forming women’s self help groups under the Ministry of Rural Development scheme and also trying to make villages aware of various Government schemes meant for the development of poor communities in the project areas.

edited from
Observation Report of CREDA, Unpublished Thesis
written by Haruno Nakashiba,
University of Tokyo, Japan.