chapter – iv non governmental organizations and...
TRANSCRIPT
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Chapter – IV
NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
AND DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN IN
KARNATAKA – AN OVERVIEW
The preceding chapter deals with the performance of NGOs in India, the
present chapter analyses the NGOs and development of women in the State of
Karnataka. The analysis starts with the category index of NGOs in Karnataka.
4.1 Introduction
The profile of government-voluntary organization partnership followed much
the same path in Karnataka. The recognition of the role of voluntary agencies in
partnering government initiatives by the centre may have had some influence in the
initiatives taken by the Government of Karnataka by bring several Non Governmental
Organizations into major government sponsored programmes. Though this
experience has been a mixed one, there is ample evidence that, on the whole, this
collaboration between the public and voluntary (Non Governmental Organizations)
sectors in development has helped to raise the ownership of people of these
programmes and the quality of people’s institutions that subsequently emerged.
Karnataka enjoys the distinction of fostering a healthy relationship between
the government and Non Governmental Organizations. Such partnerships are
established in the hope of greater synergy and even though they may bring conflicts
in their wake, Karnataka has chosen to manage these tensions, rather than
abandoning Non Governmental Organizations partnerships altogether. Non
Governmental Organizations are usually categorized according to their main
activity. However, the history of Non Governmental Organizations shows that many
Non Governmental Organizations start with a particular activity, but broaden their
portfolio as they progressively respond to people’s concerns, which are not
compartmentalized. Most Non Governmental Organizations however, are mobilisers
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of people and providers of services. From this basis, they move to catalyzing social
and economic change and influencing gender relations. An analysis of the Directory
of Voluntary Organisations in Karnataka, which brought out profiles of 530 Non
Governmental Organizations, indicates that of the 530 Non Governmental
Organizations surveyed, the largest numbers are engaged in development, followed
by social service and health. Table – 4.1 presents the data about the category index
of Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka. As per table – 4.1 we may say
that 530 NGOs are functioning mainly for development of the rural community.
Table – 4.1
Category Index of Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka
Main Category No. of Non Governmental
Organizations Development 154 Social Service 118 Health and Rehabilitation 97 Law and Advocacy 47 Education 44 Environment 28 Support Organizations 27 Religion 1
Total 530
Source: Karnataka Human Development Report 2012,GOK.
Graph – 4.1
Category Index of Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka
Source : Table – 4.1
30%
23%19%
9%
9%
5%5% 0%
Development Social Service Health and Rehabilitation
Law and Advocacy Education Environment
Support Organizations Religion
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In Karnataka the profile of government voluntary organization partnership
followed much the same path. The recognition of the role of voluntary agencies in
partnering government initiatives by the centre may have had some influence in
the initiatives taken by the Govt. of Karnataka to bring several Non Governmental
Organizations into major government sponsored programmes. Though this
experience has been a mixed one, there is sample evidence that, on the whole, this
collaboration between the public and voluntary (Non Governmental
Organizations) sector in development has helped to raise the ownership of people
of these programmes and the quality of people’s institutions that subsequently
emerged.
One interesting feature of this process is that the government itself has
promoted a number of Non Governmental Organizations registered under the
Societies Registration Act. These institutions registered under the Societies Act.
Almost all of these government sponsored societies have been promoted in the
context of bilaterally and multilaterally funded programmes. Such organizations
tend to further blur the profit of a voluntary organization. In reality, they are part
of the implementing structure of government. It we add to these organizations set
up by government, other charitable societies and trusts set up by business houses
as well as educational institutions and hospitals, the character of a voluntary
organization becomes further indeterminate. As a result, several of the problems
that Non Governmental Organizations as commonly understood continue to face,
arise from decision taken by government relating to taxation and other forms of
control that are actually more appropriate to profit making societies like certain
hospitals and educational institutions, but which by default, extend to all
institutions, since they all fall under the umbrella category of “registered
societies”.
4.2 The Government Approach to Non Governmental Organizations
The Government of Karnataka’s approach to voluntary agencies is
conditioned very much by the position taken by the central government, mainly in
the plan documents. Most of the plans focus on a board spectrum of voluntary
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involvement. The Sixth Fiver Year Plan was the first to include a reference to the
voluntary sector, even if it was only in the context of distinguishing such
organizations from cooperatives and Panchayat Raj institutions, which are
government sponsored. In the Tenth Plan Non Governmental Organizations are
described as intermediary, not-for-profit institutions but they are referred to only
twice; the space and attention given to the voluntary sector and really minimal. If
is only in the 7th Plan that there is an extensive discussion of the voluntary sector
and ‘Non Governmental Organizations’ which are generally understood to be not-
for-profit, professional intermediary institutions which manage programmes in the
area of economic and social development, engage in advocacy, welfare,
rehabilitation and training. There Non Governmental Organizations are generally
not membership institutions. They form one set of institutions, which are part of a
broader portfolio, which include institutions like trade unions professional
associations which are largely membership institutions. There is another category
of institutions generally called community based organizations. Many Non
Governmental Organizations are involved in building these community based
institutions. Non-government is part of the long tradition of voluntarism in the
country. Many voluntary organization received grants from the central and state
governments to run orphanages homes for destitute women, hostels for working
women’s, primary and secondary schools and colleges. The focus of government
of voluntary agency partnership was the management of institutions.1
The recognition of the role of voluntary agencies in partnering government
initiatives by the centre may have had some influence in the initiatives taken by
the government of Karnataka to bring several Non Governmental Organizations
into major government sponsored programmes. The details of the status of
defaulting NGOs in Karnataka are presented in table – 4.2.
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Table –4.2
Status of Defaulting Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka
(as on May, 2013)
Sl. No
Name of the NGOs Amount Released
No. of Beneficiaries
Repayment Status (as on 06.05.2013)
Overdue Amount
1. B.R.Patil Education
Society R.Gound gaon Rs.2,25,000/- 15 Rs.33,000/-(13.71) Rs.2,07,785/-
2. Bhagya Jyothi Rural Development Society
Rs.2,25,000/- 15 Nil Rs.2,54,522/-
3. Chinthalu Education
And Rural Development Society
Rs.5,00,000/- 20 Nil Rs.5,58,928/-
4. Grama Vikas Society
(GVS) Rs.4,40,000/- 30 Rs.39,000/-(7.94%) Rs.4,51,955/-
5
Shri Sharanabasaveshwara
Vidya Varddaka Sangha
Rs.5,00,000/- 20 Rs.83,751/-(15.03%)
Rs.4,73,403/-
6.
Society for Healt Activities &
Development of Education(SAADE)
Rs.2,00,000/- 10 Rs.10,000/-(4.57%) Rs.2,08,891/-
7. Sri Ramakrishna Parama Hamsa
Education Society Rs.1,00,000/- 10 Rs.10,000/(8.85%) Rs.1,02,958/-
8. Suray Rural
Development Society Rs.50,000/- 5 Nil Rs.55,838/-
Source: NABARD.
Over the years there have been many significant changes in the spectrum of
Non Governmental Organizations activities. Their traditional roles in welfare and
service programmes are being strongly supplemented with many developmental
activities. However, there are some apparent shortcomings evident in the Non
Governmental Organizations strategies. The challenges are, therefore, to identify
these shortcomings that would enable one to bridge the gap between the current
crisis and sustainable development. The details of country-wise foreign
contribution received by NGOs in Karnataka during 2012-13 are presented in
table– 4.3. During 2012-13 NGOs in Karnataka received Rs. 13,352.29 lakhs from
different countries. Out of this the major share received from United States of
America. i.e., Rs. 3059.01 lakhs followed by Germany Rs. 2434.73 lakhs.
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Table –4.3
Country wise Foreign Contribution Receied by Non Governmental
Organizations in Karnataka During 2012-2013
Country Amount (in lakhs)
India 3966.13
United States of America 3057.01
Germany 2434.73
Netherlands 794.86
United Arab Emirates 516.22
Italy 408.59
Indonesia 386.80
United Kingdom 363.76
Canada 223.37
France 186.47
Spain 175.02
Hong Kong 143.85
Switzerland 95.60
Austria 67.59
Sweden 66.71
Australia 50.81
Others (Tibet) 47.65
Netherlands Antilles 40.72
Chile 39.19
Singapore 38.74
Taiwan 34.38
Liechtenstein 33.89
Ireland 32.25
Denmark 25.12
Hungary 21.54
Nigeria 16.25
Swaziland 15.00
Bangladesh 11.88
Belgium 11.73
Philippines 9.39
Portugal 7.47
Finland 7.21
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Kenya 4.96
Kuwait 3.40
Barbados 2.80
Japan 1.94
Thailand 1.89
New Zealand 1.71
Afghanistan 1.17
Mauritius 0.99
Malaysia 0.81
Brazil 0.58
Bhutan 0.56
Saudi Arabia 0.48
China 0.45
Norway 0.39
Jamaica 0.13
Qatar 0.05
Poland 0.05
Total 13,352.29
Source: Karnataka Human Development Report ,GOK.
4.3 Social Marketing and Types of Non Governmental Organizations
Social marketing is a relatively new discipline that is still evolving. It deals
with the application of marketing principles and practices to social development
issues involving behavioural changes among communities towards better health
and improved economic status. The origins of social marketing can be traced to
1969, when marketing scholars, notably Philip Kotler and Sidney Levy, conceived
the idea of applying commercial marketing principles to non-commercial
organizations. Prior to this, marketing was perceived as a pure economic activity,
which provided goods and services to consumers for generating profit. However, it
also led to some confusion regarding the true identity of marketing. While one
school of thought represented by Kotler and Levy defined marketing as a
technology, others defined it in terms of the class of behaviour towards which it
was directed (Luck & Bartels1974).
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This broadened view of marketing was termed by Kotler (1972) as
“Consciousness”, to describe the progression of marketing to a field that included
an “organization’s relationship with all its stakeholders and not just its
consumers.” Kotler described“ consciousness 1” as a view of marketing that was
restricted to market transactions as a business subject and “Consciousness 2” as a
slightly broader view that perceived marketing as comprising non-monetary
organization-client transactions. The coinage of the term “social marketing” was
suggested by Kotler and Gerald Zaltman (1971), when they examined the
possibility of applying the “technology” of marketing to social issues. At the same
time, Kotler and Levy, who first conceived the idea, proposed doing away with the
term “market” altogether, on the grounds that there had been a “furthering”, rather
than a broadening of the field. However, the idea of “furthering” did not catch on
in marketing academic circles and the term “social marketing” came to be
accepted without much debate. Social marketing has gained popularity ever since
has been widely researched and taught, especially in the west.
Social marketing has been carried out by commercial and non-profit
organizations alike. In recent years, Non Governmental Organizations have grown
not only in numbers, but also in terms of the sheer54diversity of activities in
which they are involved. Different criteria for classifying Non Governmental
Organizations have been suggested by researchers and scholars.2
4.4 Grassroots Non Governmental Organizations
As the name suggests, grassroots Non Governmental Organizations are
those that work closely with sections of society. They vary both in size and
geographical spread and may cover a single programmes location, or multiple
programmes locations at the district, state or regional level. Based on their
orientation, grassroots Non Governmental Organizations in turn may be divided
into the following sub categories. These sub categories are similar to the types of
Non Governmental Organizations suggested by Cousins William.
a) Charity and welfare Non Governmental Organizations include those
that provide food, clothing, medicine, etc. to the poor, education, health
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and drinking water facilities and relief work during natural disasters
such as floods and earthquakes.
b) Development Non Governmental Organizations are those that are
involved in providing development services such as micro credit,
fertilizers and technical knowhow.
c) Social action groups are Non Governmental Organizations that focus on
mobilizing and increasing the awareness of marginalized sections
regarding various social, political and economic issues. For example,
the Young India Programmes in Andhra Pradesh is involved in
mobilizing agricultural labourers for the effective implementation of
land reforms.
d) Empowerment Non Governmental Organizations are similar to social
action groups, except that they also undertake development activities
such as provision of savings and credit for the empowerment of the
poorer sections of society. For example, MYRADA utilizes credit
management groups for social and political empowerment. Grama, a
Karnataka based Non Governmental Organizations provides savings
and credit, and enables the people they work with to obtain resources
from the government. It also mobilizes them around issues such as anti-
arrack.
While the first two sub categories of Non Governmental Organizations
receive the full support of the government, the last two – namely, the social action
groups and the empowerment Non Governmental Organizations do not. This is
because their efforts to mobilize underprivileged groups and enable them to assert
their rights by raising their awareness of social and political issues sometimes do
not synchronize with the aims and policies of the government.3
4.5 Globalization and Non Governmental Organizations
The advent of globalization has triggered the worldwide growth of civil
society organizations in general and Non Governmental Organizations in
particular (Brown, David et al, 2000). However, their impact in different countries
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has not been uniform and has been influenced to a large extent by the degree of
openness to globalization and its implications. International Non Governmental
Organizations and civil society alliances have been actively involved in disaster
relief, service delivery and policy analysis. They have also been playing an
increasing role in international policy debates that affect the institutions for
international governance.
Omana, Julius (2005)4 has emphasized the importance of the role played by
Non Governmental Organizations in an environment of conflict where traditional
systems such as the government break down. He cites the case study of civil
society organizations in war-ravaged Gulu District of Northern Uganda. He argues
that the situation in Northern Uganda is representative of war torn environments in
other developing countries, notably Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Congo. He
points to the failure of the government as well as the private sector in such
environments in providing services to the people and to the potential of the “third
sector” to fill the breach. Omana visualizes a role for civil society organizations,
including Non Governmental Organizations in such environments, in three major
areas –
a) In providing essential goods and services
b) In restoring peace and in advocating human rights and c) in developing
infrastructure. Civil society organizations, according to him, are more
visible than the government, due to their “participatory” methods of
intervention. This approach implies working closely with beneficiaries,
building trust, creating transparency and making Non Governmental
Organizations more recipient-friendly. Omana calls upon governments
in such conflict environments to support the efforts of Non
Governmental Organizations and to create a favorable policy
environment that will facilitate their growth. At the same time, civil
society organizations need to strengthen themselves by building co-
operation and partnerships among themselves and with the government.
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The table – 4.4 depicts the member of SHGs formed by selected NGOs in
Karnataka from 2005-06 to 2012-13. During 2005-06 NGOs formed 713 SHGs,
after 2006-07 it has been gradually increased 2420 SHGs in Karnataka. At present
there are 9243 SHGs formed by NGOs.
Table- 4.4
Number of SHGs formed by Selected NGOs (in Nos.)
District 2005-2006
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
Total Average
Belgaum 123 238 227 217 198 248 302 331 1884 236 Bijapur 12 6 40 21 10 9 21 10 129 16
Chickmagalur 75 49 61 75 75 55 65 85 540 68 Chitradurga 251 251 251 251 251 272 272 272 2071 259 Davangere 100 35 212 72 82 0 100 25 626 78 Dharwad - - - 7 7 119 402 1393 1928 241 Haveri 38 - - - 61 61 16 28 204 26 Koppal 50 58 90 162 280 200 254 203 1297 162
Shimoga 64 64 111 64 57 57 74 73 564 71 Total 713 701 992 869 1021 1021 1506 2420 9243 1155.37
Source: NABARD, Bangalore
Graph – 4.2
Number of SHGs formed by Selected NGOs (Average)
Source : Table – 4.4
4.6 Non Governmental Organizations and Social Capital
Non Governmental Organizations are an important part of the social capital
of any community. Non Governmental Organizations are primarily engaged in
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16
68
259
78
241
26
162
71
y = -5.4x + 155.5R² = 0.0230
50
100
150
200
250
300
Average Linear (Average)
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community driven development, which involves working closely with the poor
and empowering them with a view to facilitate poverty reduction. According to
Poteete, Amy (2003), community driven development brings about empowerment
by building effective social institutions, which form the social capital of the
community.
Poteete, Amy (2003) uses the term social capital to refer to dimensions of
social organization that generate multiple horizontal linkages and foster the
development of social trust, collective reciprocity and tolerance. High levels of
social capital are expected to facilitate provision of public goods and services and
contribute to community well being.
4.7 Non Governmental Organizations in Micro Finance
Micro finance operations of Indian Non Governmental Organizations
began in a small way and later grew into a large-scale operation. Initially, only the
savings of members of the Self Help Groups were used to meet the credit
requirements of the other members. Since this was sufficient only to meet
consumption credit needs, the Non Governmental Organizations gradually began
to raise funds from outside donors through agencies such as NABARD. With the
SHG linkage programme introduced in 1992, the Non Governmental
Organizations sector has been recognised as a crucial partner. Recognising the
strengths of the Non Governmental Organizations in organising the community
and the potential in savings and credit programmes, NABARD also started
associating with them increasingly. Micro finance programmes, introduced and
extended by Non Governmental Organizations in several parts of India have the
potential to minimize the problems of inadequate access to the poor. The Indian
government formulated several schemes to support micro finance programs
initiated by Non Governmental Organizations through NABARD, Rashtriya
Mahila Kosh (RMK) and SIDBI. The Non Governmental Organizations became
prominent, especially after 1970s. This was because of the limited success in
development policies pursued by the government. After independence, a change
in the perception on development and also the role of Non Governmental
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Organizations in rural development took place. In 1950s and 1960s, it was
assumed that the economic growth through state investment in social sector was
the answer to poverty. This was accompanied by welfare programme for poor
people. Non Governmental Organizations were approached by different state
governments and aid agencies to assist in the implementation of these community
development and welfare programmes, especially in the rural areas.During the
1960s, it was found that economic growth combined with welfare activities at the
micro level was not adequate to alleviate poverty. Hence, the Indian government
initiated small and marginal farmer development programmes with a view to
alleviate poverty. The government wanted to enlist support of the local population
for these programmes and called up many Non Governmental Organizations. By
1990s, significant developments started taking place in India and across the world.
Non Governmental Organizations have become popular with government and aid
agencies in response to certain developments in socio- economic and political.5
4.8 Non Governmental Organizations Participation in SHG-Bank Linkage
in Karnataka
In Karnataka Non Governmental Organizations are playing predominant
role in promoting SHGs. Non Governmental Organizations helping SHGs
bygiving proper traing to the SHG members regarding account maintenance
conducting meetings, framing by laws and bank linkage etc. The details of NGOs
participation in SHG Bank Linkage in Karnataka are presented in Table – 4.5.
Table – 4.5
Non Governmental Organizations Participation in SHG-Bank Linkage in
Karnataka (in Percentage)
Name of the NGOs
District 2003-
04 2004-
05 2005-
06 2006-
07 2007-
08 2008-
09 2009-
10 2010-
11 2011-
12 2012-
13 Outreach Bagaltot 1 1 1 1 1 1.63 1 2 2 1.77
Scord Bangalore
Urban 1 1 1 1 1 1.16 1 2.9 3 3.17
Dhan Foundation
Bangalore Rural 1 1 1 1 1 0.97 1 2 2 2.11
RDS Belgaum 1 1 1 1 1 0.48 1 1.9 1 0.53 Sahayog Bidar 1 1 1 1 1 1.94 4 4.9 5 6.33
NAFARD Bijapur 2 2 2 2 2 1.65 2 1 1 0.53 IDMPS Chamarajnagar 1 1 1 1 1 0.97 2 2.5 2 1.06
Navodaya Chikkaballapure 1 1 1 1 1 0.06 4 4.9 5 4.22
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Help & Gram
Chitradurga 1 1 1 1 1 2.58 5 6.8 6 7.20
GVS Dhavanagere 1 1 1 1 1 1.59 2 2 2 1.58 IDS Dharwad 1 1 1 1 1 1.38 2 2 2 2.11
SKDRDP D.Kannada &
Udapi 58 58 58 58 58 57.38 30 26 23 24.27
Parvathi Gadag 2 2 2 2 2 2.91 2 2 1 1.06 NKRDS Gulbarga 3 3 3 3 3 3.88 3 3 4 4.22
Prachodana Hassan 1 1 1 1 1 0.19 8 9 10 11.25 Parivarthana Haveri 1 1 1 1 1 - 2 1 1 1.06 Prachodana Kodagu 1 1 1 1 1 - 2 1 2 1.06
SIRDS Kolar 6 6 6 6 6 7.50 8 8 8 7.39 Olekar Koppal 1 1 1 1 1 0.09 1 1 2 1.06
Vikarana Mandya 1 1 1 1 1 0.23 3 2 3 2.74 Prerana Raichur 1 1 1 1 1 1.24 4 4 5 4.22
Parivarthana Shivamoga 7 7 7 7 7 7.21 6 5 5 5.80 BAIF,
BIRDS, 6 6 6 6 6 6 4.96 6 5.1 5 5.26
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: NABARD, Bangalore.
Graph – 4.3
Non Governmental Organizations Participation in SHG-Bank Linkage in
Karnataka (in Percentage for the Year 2013)
Source : Table – 4.5
As per the above table 4.4 from 2003-2013 the majority of Non
Governmental Organizations are concentrated in Dakshina Kannada that is 58
Percent in 2003-04, 57 percent in 2008-09 and 24 percent in 2012-13 respectively.
This is efficient work of resource Non Governmental Organizations namly
SKDRDP (Sri Kshetra Dharmastala Rural Development Programme). Apart from
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156
D.Kannada such as Hassan, Mandya, Mysore, Tumkur and Shivamoga also have
achieved good progress in Karnataka, hence the percentageof Non Governmental
Organizations were decreased from 58 to 24.27 Percent in the year 2003 to 2013.
4.9 Non Governmental Organizations Poverty Alleviation Strategies
Indian Non Governmental Organizations have been playing a prominent role in
the empowerment of poor women, livelihood security and capacity building. However,
the efforts of Indian Non Governmental Organizations to reduce poverty have had
limited success, since they have been unable to tackle the root causes of poverty,
namely lack of assets and unemployment. The same is true of local organizations, such
as schools, banks, co-operatives and gram panchayats.
A study by Rajasekhar, D (2004) revealed the constraints within which
Non Governmental Organizations have had to work - lack of technical and
political capacity, managerial expertise, trained staff and infrastructure. It was also
found that the main obstacle faced by Non Governmental Organizations in their
efforts to alleviate poverty was the fact that they have had to work in isolation, due
to weak support from local organizations.
Non Governmental Organizations have been successful in persuading members
of the SHGs to take up creative activities, supported by micro credit. However, they
have not been able to derive the benefits because of poor marketing effort. For example,
one Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka encouraged its members to take up
basket making, with the objective of getting them to market the finished products. This
affected their incomes from the activity and their ability to repay their loans.6
Rajasekhar, D (2000) has listed out the advantages and disadvantages of Non
Governmental Organizations. Empowerment and development Non Governmental
Organizations undertake activities based on studies to determine who the poorer
sections are, the reasons for poverty and the strategies to be adopted to reduce poverty.
Based on these studies, they help the poor to articulate their concerns and address their
problems. They are also more flexible in terms of their functioning, methods and
157
practices, since they are small in size and have local coverage. A few surveys among
Karnataka based Non Governmental Organizations revealed that a majority of them
covered only one or two taluks in a district (Rajasekhar, D, 2000). This makes it easier
for them to implement and monitor their programs, respond quickly to local needs and
change their working styles according to the needs of the local community. The small
staff strength also enables better coordination. Empowerment and development Non
Governmental Organizations use innovative and participatory approaches, whereby
they involve the local communities with which they work. A good example is that of
the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, whose innovative credit program is implemented by
both developed and developing countries. Another example worthy of mention is the
Credit Management Program of MYRADA, whose innovative approach inspired other
Non Governmental Organizations, as well as the NABARD to introduce similar
programs. Similarly, MYRADA and the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT),
based in Tamil Nadu also adopted innovative approaches to watershed and dry land
development. Regarding the use of participatory approaches, several Non
Governmental Organizations have successfully adapted participatory methods such as
Participatory Rural Appraisal and Participatory Learning and Action and used them for
their own benefit. As a result of people’s participation, they have been able to make
their programs more cost effective. Development and empowerment Non
Governmental Organizations enjoy greater autonomy than other Non Governmental
Organizations, since they have independent governing boards. People’s participation in
their programs also makes the development and implementation of their programs
independent of the local power structures.7
According to Rajasekhar (2000), Non Governmental Organizations have
comparative advantages over the government and government agencies. For example,
they have shown their potential to reach out more effectively to the poorer sections,
compared to government programs. They have been especially successful in increasing
the productivity of assets and labor, creating greater marketing opportunities for milk,
handicrafts and other products and providing greater access to basic amenities such as
food, water, health and education facilities.
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Rajasekhar diagnoses that Non Governmental Organizations are more
motivated and committed than most government agencies. His view is based on a
comparative study of programs undertaken by the government and an Non
Governmental Organizations to benefit small farmers in Mangalore district in
Karnataka (Kothai, 1994). The Non Governmental Organizations program scored over
the government program in terms of problem definition, design, implementation and
evaluation, training given to farmers, coordination and follow up activities. Other
similar comparative studies in Karnataka have also led to the same conclusion.
4.10 The Karnataka Watershed Development Programmes (KWDP)
The Karnataka Watershed Development Programmes (KWDP), known locally
as Sujala, ran from 2001–2009, and was implemented in seven districts of Karnataka at
cost of $US79m of which $US4.1m was funded through Non Governmental
Organizations to develop SHGs. The programmes covered 516,000 hectares of land
spread over 77 sub-watersheds, 1270 villages benefiting nearly 400,000 households.
The programmes objective was to improve the productive potential of selected
watersheds and their associated natural resource base.
It is also to strengthen community and institutional arrangements, promote
participatory involvement of primary stakeholders/beneficiaries and offer
assistance to women, landless and other vulnerable groups by supporting
investments in income generation activities to accelerate their entry and expand
their participation (Milne 2007; World Bank 2009).8
There were 53 Non Governmental Organizations used as implementing
partners, responsible for the local community mobilizing of SHGs and also ensuring
that some of the local infrastructure work was completed on schedule. This work
typically involved arranging community meetings to agree on work plans and most
importantly the payment of labour costs to communities on the completion of work.
Given that the programmes, though ostensibly participatory, was planned with very
tight output schedules and plans, for which Non Governmental Organizations were paid
against (World Bank 2009), these Non Governmental Organizations were under much
pressure to meet targets and provide detailed reports on output.
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The programmes also had an accelerated implementation schedule between
each of the three phases over the life of the programmes. As the volume of work
expected to be undertaken increased with the second phase of the programmes,
tensions emerged with the Karnataka government, who felt that they should have
closer control of the process. The result was a dispute in which many of the Non
Governmental Organizations were not reimbursed for the work undertaken. For
some this was up to a year while they covered the staff costs pending
reimbursement. In 2009 many of the 53 Non Governmental Organizations were
still owed money for the staff and other costs they had incurred. While the World
Bank saw the performance-based contracting system as a success (World Bank
2009), the local Non Governmental Organizations were the main losers.
The reason for the dispute, which had adversely affected many Non
Governmental Organizations, can be explained in terms of the institutional politics
of these loan programmess whereby funds are lent to the central government,
which are then lent on to the state government. As these programmess are loan
programmess for a social or environmental purpose, and will not generate direct
revenue that can be used to repay the loans themselves, the government has to find
the funds for repayment from other sources. As there is no financial benefit, the
incentive then is for the government to gain political capital from these
programmess in the form of control and prestige. This, however, may not accord
with sustainability and equity goals underpinning the programmess, or most
importantly, having Non Governmental Organizations involvement in them
(Fernandez 2004). Non Governmental Organizations, many of whom had a
tradition of community consultation and longer-term approaches, could therefore
be put under pressure from either the World Bank or the government to meet
unrealistic expenditure and output targets that have limited outcomes, certainly in
the short term, with poorer communities. For example, in the KWDP, while the
original objective was for 70 per cent of the beneficiaries to be poor and marginal
farmers, at programmes completion the figure was less than half that (World Bank
2009).
160
These poorly planned donor requirements created conflict for the Non
Governmental Organizations concerned, particularly with their values and the aid
recipients, and ultimately it soured the relationships Non Governmental
Organizations had, both with the World Bank and the partner governments. The
effect of these fundamental institutional changes being faced by Indian Non
Governmental Organizations was that their role changed from that of being
development organizations supported by Non Governmental Organizations with a
more hands-off approach, to being social welfare agents for the government where
the Non Governmental Organizations were expected to be implementers of
government programmes on more or less a fee-for-service basis with high levels of
government control (Baruah 2007). While the demands of INon Governmental
Organizations to some extent involved compromises or small shifts in local Non
Governmental Organizations’ values, the domestic government programmes
presented much greater challenges. While there were still opportunities for local
activities and rights-based work or work aimed at the very poor, the resourcing of
these programmes required a greater level of innovation and skills that was beyond
the capacity of many local Non Governmental Organizations.9
Karnataka, located in southern India, in 2005 had a population of 53
million and, along with its neighbouring states, is where most of the dynamic
growth of India is located. There had been substantial changes in the social
indicators for India as a whole, and Karnataka and Southern India in particular,
since the 1990s. The figure for poverty in 2005 for Karnataka was 25 per cent,
which was below the national average of 27.5 per cent, and the poverty level for
rural areas was 21 per cent (Planning Commission 2007a). This level of poverty
represented a sharp fall from a high of 30 per cent in the mid 1990s (Census
Commissioner 2002; Chelliah and Sudarshan 1999). This shift in the level of
poverty also represented a shift in the poverty demographic from rural areas to
urban areas. It should be noted, though, that the urban poverty line was at the time
65 per cent higher than the rural poverty line, and there was some debate about the
relevant price movements and calculation of the indices that were used to validate
that result (Murgai et al. 2003). Regardless of these debates, two-thirds of the
161
population was in rural areas and this was where most of the poor were until the
early 2000s.
The sharp fall in the poverty levels can, however, hide higher levels of
poverty among certain groups in rural areas, and a relatively high level of
inequality and depth of poverty across the state. For example, the income level of
the average poor person was a full 8 per cent below the poverty line, a statistic that
points to a high level of marginalization and poor prospects of many of the poor
that were coming out of poverty, without focused interventions (Directorate of
Economics and Statistics 2009). Dalits and agricultural labourers were the largest
groups of rural poor, and represented 25 per cent of the poor in rural areas. The
poverty figure for dalits in rural Karnataka showed the effect of marginalization
and caste, with poverty levels for dalits being around double those of the general
population when their share of the overall population was taken into account. On
top of this 20 per cent of the rural population did not have access to safe water,
and 54 per cent of children were undernourished (Chelliah and Sudarshan 1999;
Das 2005; Filmer et al. 1998; PRIA 2005).
Women in Karnataka, as in the rest of India, were significantly
disadvantaged relative to men on any measure of poverty or marginalization.
Women had a low workforce participation rate of 35 per cent (Das 2005) and were
found largely in unskilled low-end jobs such as agricultural labour, where they
constituted 60 per cent of the agricultural labour force, but only 30 per cent of
cultivators (that is, being able to own the harvest either as a farmer or
sharecropper) (Das 2005). In agriculture there had been a feminization of
agricultural labour, with casual labour (mainly undertaken by women) rising from
39 per cent in 1994 to 45 per cent in 2000. The Indian government had for some
time recognized that women were a particularly disadvantaged group and had been
targeting them through government programmes since the 1970s and 1980s,
focusing on the underlying causes of women’s disadvantage (Viswanath 1993).
Taking a lead from government at that time, Non Governmental Organizations
also started to focus more on women’s programmes, and in the 1980s and 1990s
162
women’s empowerment programmes sponsored and supported by Non
Governmental Organizations emerged. 10
4.11 Non Governmental Organizations and Wide Range of Activities
Karnataka has an active and heterogeneous voluntary sector that is
involved in a wide range of activities. It also has a large number of rural
development oriented Non Governmental Organizations. As of1995, the number
of active Non Governmental Organizations engaged in rural development was
estimated to be around 500 (Rajasekhar, 2005128). One of these, the Mysore
Resettlement and Development Agency(MYRADA) is one of the largest rural
development Non Governmental Organizations in India with an estimated budget
of around Rs. 200 million and staff strength of 400.5.31. According to the
Planning Commission Non Governmental Organizations Database, Karnataka also
has a large number of Non Governmental Organizations that work in the areas of
social justice and empowerment and a number of NGO headquarters and urban
oriented Non Governmental Organizations, based mostly in Bangalore. A number
of international donors also have their regional offices in Bangalore. Some Non
Governmental Organizations are part of State and District level networks, both
formal and informal.
According to Non Governmental Organizations Database during 2004,
Planning Commission, Government of India, 33%of the total numbers of Non
Governmental Organizations in Karnataka were involved in rural development,
followed by30% in social justice and empowerment, as of December 2004. With
the decentralization of government and greater power given to the Panchayati Raj
in Karnataka, Non Governmental Organizations’ relationship with the government
has changed. During the Panchayati Raj elections in 2003, Non Governmental
Organizations in Karnataka were actively involved in spreading information about
the Panchayati Raj system, voter education, encouraging their beneficiaries to vote
in the elections and training PR functionaries. The details of state funded NGO
distribution by sector in Karnataka and India are presented in table -4.6.
163
Table – 4.6
State Funded NGOs Distribution by Sector, Karnataka and India
2012 Karnataka
Rural
Development
Human Resource
& Development
Social Justice &
Empowerment
Health &
Family Welfare
Environment &
Forests
Youth Affairs
& Sports
State & UT
funding
Tribal Affairs
NABARD Others TOTAL
Total Number 232 107 212 50 20 22 15 11 - 10 679 Percent of
Total 34 16 31 7 3 3 2 2 - 1
India Total Number 6,467 2,074 2,944 1,038 649 589 795 262 - 627 15,445
Percent of Total
42 13 19 7 4 4 5 2 - 4
2013 Karnataka Total Number 232 107 212 50 20 41 15 24 13 11 725
Percent of Total
32 15 29 7 3 6 2 3 2 2 100
India Total Number 6,541 2,074 2,944 1343 649 853 795 509 367 722 16,797
Percent of Total
39 12 18 8 3 5 5 3 2 4 100
Source: NGO Database, Planning Commission,Government of India,
Notes:
1. Includes NGOs funded by the state. Not preclude organizations receiving funding from several sources, including foreign donors
2. "Others" includes Labour, Nonconventional Energy production, Textiles, Science and technology, Agriculture, Road Transport and Highways, Statistics and Program Implementation in February 2004. By
December 2004, it included three other categories: small scale industries, computer & IT.
142
164
The profile of government-voluntary organization partnership followed
much the same path in Karnataka. The recognition of the role of voluntary agencies
in partnering government initiatives by the centre may have had some influence in
the initiatives taken by the Government of Karnataka by bring several Non
Governmental Organizations into major government sponsored programmes.
Though this experience has been a mixed one, there is ample evidence that, on the
whole, this collaboration between the public and voluntary (NGO) sectors in
development has helped to raise the ownership of people of these programmes and
the Karnataka enjoys the distinction of fostering a healthy relationship between the
government and Non Governmental Organizations. Such partnerships are
established in the hope of greater synergy and even though they may bring conflicts
in their wake, Karnataka has chosen to manage these tensions, rather than
abandoning NGO partnerships altogether. Non Governmental Organizations are
usually categorized according to their main activity. However, the history of Non
Governmental Organizations shows that many Non Governmental Organizations
start with a particular activity, but broaden their portfolio as they progressively
respond to people’s concerns, which are not compartmentalized. Most Non
Governmental Organizations however, are mobilisers of people and providers of
services. From this basis, they move to catalyzing social and economic change and
influencing gender relations. An analysis of the Directory of Voluntary
Organisations in Karnataka, which brought out profiles of 530 Non Governmental
Organizations, indicates that of the 530 Non Governmental Organizations surveyed,
the largest numbers are engaged in development, followed by social service and
health. The some of the main Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka are;
4.12 Chinyard
Chinyard (Chaitanya Institute for Youth and Rural Development) was
established in 1990 and by 2008 it was working with 2537 active SHGs with
48,000 members (CARE 2009), with 200–300 new groups being added each year.
In the 1990s the support for Chinyard’s establishment came first from another
local Non Governmental Organization, Indian Development Service, and then the
Hyderabad office of an InternationalNGO with offices in India provided funding
165
to support Chinyard being reorganized and registered under the FCRA to receive
foreign funds. Despite the success of its earlier work, Chinyard had to deal with a
number of institutional setbacks in the early 2000s, which are to do with the
problem that many small locally based Non Governmental Organizations have,
and that is their dependency on one funding source for their core costs and the
high level of vulnerability this can bring. In this case the sole INGO funder ceased
funding Chinyard in 2000 as a result of a policy to move its work to concentrate
on the poorer northern states of India. This left Chinyard having to seek other
supporters.
The effect on the staff was devastating, with staff numbers falling from a
high of 30 permanent staff in 2000 to seven in 2005, as the organization struggled
with one-off support from donors over many years, as well as involvement in the
Karnataka Watershed Development Programmes and the institutional vulnerability
that brought. It was not until Chinyard met the requirements for microfinance
accreditation in 2007 that staff numbers were able to increase, to the point when
there was 25 staff in 2009.
As a result of Chinyard’s loss of international donors to support its work,
from 2000 it adopted a strategy of increasing its microfinance work and diversifying
its funding sources. In 2002 Chinyard became a partner in the KWDP, with its role
programmes being to expand its SHG programme and engage them in specific
income generation and watershed management activities. At the peak of the
Programmes work there were 40 staff working for Chinyard, but due to the change
in policy of the Karnataka government in working with Non Governmental
Organizations and its failure to reimburse the programme after the change, the
programme collapsed as far as Non Governmental Organizations were concerned,
and Chinyard was still owed Rs 800,000 (US$20,000) in 2009. As a result Chinyard
accelerated its application for microfinance registration and was registered as a
microfinance institution in 2007. This enabled it to lend to self-help groups as an
agent to the State Bank of India, which was different from its previous work where
it facilitated the links with banks rather than act as an agent for them.
166
The advantage of registration was that it was able to increase the scale of
the work considerably, and receive a commission for managing the loans. The loan
disbursement rates for Chinyard managed funds grew quite quickly, going from
Rs.395,000 (US$8,000) in 2006 when they had only provisional accreditation, to
Rs.3.2m (US$64,000) in 2008 when they were fully accredited. By 2009 they had
agreements to manage more than Rs.20m (US$0.4m) over three years from the
State Bank of India, and were expected to receive over time further Rs.200m
(US$4m) from the Department of Women and Children to lend for micro-
enterprise programmess for women. Details of NGOs own funds let to SHGs from
2005-06 to 2012-13 are presented in table-4.7. During 2005-06 NGOs lent funds
of Rs.22.41 lakhs to SHGs in Karnataka. After 2006-07 NGOs funds to SHGs are
gradually increased up to 2012-13. As on 2012-13 the amount of funds lent by
NGOs is Rs.334.94 lakhs.
Table- 4.7
Non Governmental Organizations Own Funds Lent to SHGs (Rs. in lakhs)
Districts 2005-
06 2006-
07 2007-
08 2008-
09 2009-
10 2010-
11 2011-
12 2012-
13 Total Average
Belgaum 5.70 6.70 5.65 6.63 5.73 6.50 6.48 7.56 50.95 6.36
Bijapur 0.20 0.21 0.20 0.22 0.20 0.18 0.21 0.29 1.71 0.21
Chickmagalur 0.20 0.32 0.71 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.08 1.03 6.55 0.81
Chitradurga 1.35 1.55 1.56 27.40 28.50 30.05 31.25 32.40 154.06 19.25
Davangere 13.44 13.82 11.58 11.58 11.58 11.58 11.58 11.58 96.74 12.09
Dharwad - - - - - 0.50 0.66 0.66 1.82 0.22
Haveri 0.30 - - - 1.50 1.70 1.65 1.75 6.90 0.86
Koppal 1.00 1.10 1.30 1.50 1.60 1.80 1.90 2 12.20 1.52
Shimoga 0.22 0.22 0.32 0.22 0.72 0.82 0.72 0.77 4.01 0.50
Total 22.41 23.92 21.32 48.61 50.90 54.21 55.53 58.04 334.94 41.86
Source: NGOs Accounting.
167
Graph – 4.4
Non Governmental Organizations Own Funds Lent to SHGs (Average)
Source: Table-4.7
For the SHG programme, the criteria Chinyard had for recipients of the
microfinance programme was for a strong poverty focus, with a requirement that
SHG members be categorized as below the poverty line (BPL) in order to qualify
for assistance. In 2009 Chinyard had lent to Rs 15m to 257 SHGs, with Rs
500,000 being repaid and a repayment rate of 95 per cent. While Chinyard had an
established set of procedures for loan recovery, and up to 2009 this had worked
quite well with none of its loan portfolio classed as ‘at risk’ in 2008 (CARE 2009),
this type of operation still had considerable risks as any default had to be covered
by the NGO. The margin that Chinyard receives to cover their operational costs
from the Bank is 3 per cent on the loan with another 1 percent allowed as an
administration fee. This represented a very tight margin for which even a 5 percent
default rate would not be sustainable over time. In order to cover the institutional
costs to transform itself into a microfinance institution, Chinyard received Rural
Non Governmental Organizations 53 institutional support from a US Foundation
focused on India that supported entrepreneurship.
Chinyard had also set up a number of village forest committees as a part of
community-based management of natural resources and several vermin (worm based)
compost units – as a part of its sustainable agriculture programme (Wiserearth 2005).
They had also applied for support for a small-scale (irrigation) tank rehabilitation
6.36
0.21 0.81
19.25
12.09
0.22 0.86 1.52 0.5
y = -0.640x + 7.85R² = 0.067
0
5
10
15
20
25
Average Linear (Average)
168
programme where they hoped to be able to tap into the village SHG resources, to
provide labour as a complement to their microfinance programme.
Up to the 2000s the work of Chinyard dealt primarily with microfinance and
resource management, total health, violence against women and micro-enterprise
development, with the largest programme by far being microfinance through the
SHGs. The challenge it had for the future was that as external funding had dried up it
had to secure a stable programme and avoid the institutional disruptions that occurred
in the early 2000s, which saw it both losing its main donors and being involved in the
rather insecure World Bank funded Karnataka Watershed Development Programmes.
This period saw staff numbers rise and then fall very sharply, leading to a very
insecure institutional environment. The other critical issue was the role a single donor
can play in programme development and programme strategy for a small Non
Governmental Organizations. While there is a place for donors in having a strong
dialogue and establishing joint priorities, the power relationship that funding brought
at that time left Chinyard in a weak bargaining position, with the feeling that it had to
take up the programmes of the donor. 11
4.13 India Development Service (IDS)
IDS located in Dharwad, it was started in 1974 by non-resident Indians
living in Chicago, USA to fundraise to support development work in India. In
1977 two members of IDS from Chicago, S. R. Hiremath and his wife Shyamala,
visited India to identify suitable programme areas, with the intention of developing
their own operations rather than funding other Non Governmental Organizations,
which they had been doing up to that time. They decided that Dharwad would be
suitable and settled there in 1979, registering IDS in India in the same year. Over
the following twenty years they built up IDS into a strong local Non
Governmental Organization, but then started to withdraw from the day-to-day
operations in the late 1990s to take on predominantly a governance role. The goal
of IDS has remained a commitment to the economic and social development of
India through the ‘development of people’. In 2009 IDS had a highly committed
and experienced staff complement of 43, somewhat down from the peak of 73
169
staff in 2004. Like all of the Non Governmental Organizations in these case
studies, IDS’s work had changed quite a bit from 2000 to 2009, and to a large
extent this reflected the changes in funding that had occurred to Non
Governmental Organizations more generally in Karnataka. Up until 2002 the focus
of IDS was on SHG development when they worked in 100 villages with around
500 women’s self-help groups, targeting mainly landless labourers, artisans, and
small and marginal farmers. IDS facilitated SHGs usually have 10–15 members, a
little smaller than the 20 member average SHG that is promoted by government
and other Non Governmental Organizations. With a smaller group size IDS found
there was more opportunity for greater participation by all members. The SHGs
were usually grouped in villages into what they call a Village Development
Society, and these were in turn federated at sub-district level into Federations. IDS
found, however, that these Village Development Societies require ongoing
support, and IDS had to return to the original groups some years later to re-
invigorate these SHGs and provide them with further institutional support. One of
the reasons for this lack of sustainability may have been that IDS prefers to
promote what it refers to as collective leadership among SHGs members rather
than having the SHGs elects leaders from the outset. The intention was that over
time natural leaders would emerge to take on an informal role of ensuring the
groups were well led. The details of top foreign recipients by state and city during
2012-13 are presented in table-4.8.
Table-4.8
Top Foreign Funding Recipients by State and City, 2012-13
States Amount of Funding in
Crores (INR) Percentage of Total
Delhi 794.4 16.3 Tamilnadu 695.5 14.3
Andhra Pradesh 559.6 11.5 Karnataka 534.0 11.0 All India 4871.9 100
Cities Bangalore 362.2 - Chennai 313.6 - Mumbai 298.0 -
Source: AccountAid
170
Graph – 4.5
Top Foreign Funding Recipients by State and City, 2012-13
Source: Table-4.8.
The IDS staff member was seen as having the role of catalyst, and as
responsible for developing a ‘sense of partnership’ between the beneficiaries and
IDS development workers. What happened in practice, which is common among
Non Governmental Organizations supporting SHGs, is that a level of dependency
emerged, with the Non Governmental Organizations staff taking on a quasi-
leadership role.
The work with SHGs was put into a difficult situation from 2002, as foreign
funding dried up. IDS became more involved in government programmes, the most
notable being the World Bank supported KWDP discussed above, where IDS was
both an implementing agency and a nodal agency in two districts for a number of
other Non Governmental Organizations. As seen earlier in this chapter, this
programme was complex, and the demands by the donor and Karnataka government
were such that the IDS as an agency was strained. By phase two of the programme,
like many other Non Governmental Organizations involved in the Programme, IDS
was unable to meet what were seen to be unrealistic demands in the rate of service
delivery. There was a lot of infrastructure work involved in watershed management,
16.3
14.3
11.511
y = -1.87x + 17.95R² = 0.943
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Delhi Tamilnadu Andhra Pradesh Karnataka
171
as well as facilitating and monitoring the work to be undertaken. The expectations
of the rate of work and the programmes expenditure rate were unrealistic, and IDS
took the decision to pull out of the programme, with a substantial number of
outstanding bills, leaving IDS with large debt. The other key issue with this
programmes that drove the decision to withdraw, was that it moved IDS away from
its focus on the poor and landless to those with land, who could implement and host
watershed infrastructure (Hilemath 2004). As a result of this experience and the debt
incurred from the KWDP, IDS had to scale back their work and in 2009 they were
involved in a small number of relatively small discrete programmess:
IDS Programmess 2012-13
1. Forest and bio-diversity programme with 173 village forest committees
with each having five SHGs;
2. A health and livelihoods programme supporting village health workers;
3. Organic farming supported by the Department of Agriculture;
4. Skill training programme for the poor funded by central government;
5. Capacity building programme under the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme;
6. A small environment awareness programme to support local
communities in their campaign to clean up a local factory whose
expansion will lead to water contamination.
IDS had found that this new approach of being involved in a range of
programmes which were, to varying degrees, directed by government presented a
challenge, and so it was looking at ways of reconnecting with the SHG groups and
associated federations as way of keeping the links with its values on a firmer
footing. IDS had found that working with government had had some adverse
effects, ranging from the programme target communities moving away from the
poor, to the prosaic issue of being forced to have different categorizations of staff
depending on whether they were working on government programmes or not
(Hilemath 2004). This caused problems, as those working on government
programmes were required to be paid at a different rate to IDS staff.
172
Despite these challenges, IDS maintained a strong commitment to its
values and it saw the strengths of the programme as due, in part, to a dedicated
staff, a low staff to group member ratio, smaller average group sizes, and an active
policy of targeting the landless and those with low literacy levels. However,
according to IDS’ own analysis in the early 2000s, in one of its programme areas
only around one-quarter of the groups were sustainable and had reached a strong
measure of empowerment after three years, and nearly 20 per cent of groups were
‘weak’. Following the loss of many of its external donors and the involvement in
government programmes in the early 2000s, IDS lost touch with these groups, and
in 2008 IDS was in the process of re-engaging with those groups through their
federations to re-invigorate them.
Accountability to the aid recipients was a priority for IDS, reflected by the
responsiveness of staff to community needs, the ambivalence to government
funding and the policy of having some direct consultation of the Board with the
groups. Likewise there was a strong degree of staff autonomy to be directly
responsive to community needs and to react to their priorities in how they
programmed and provided resources. Paradoxically, though, this fostered a high
level of dependency of groups and the Federation on staff. This raised the issue of
the right balance between providing support and fostering dependency. Despite
these challenges, IDS had a strong institutional base to continue to be effective in
empowering the poor and marginalized to engage with issues as they arose.
The challenge was whether a level of individual empowerment could be
translated into group autonomy at local level, which would strengthen the
collective role of women in local political, social and economic life. The changes
in the sources of support for Non Governmental Organizations in general, and IDS
in particular, make this a difficult challenge. 12
4.14 Jagruti
Jagruti is voluntary-based Non Governmental Organization with no
funding at all, and belongs to that group of Non Governmental Organizations that
173
represent, in sheer numbers at least, the largest category of development Non
Governmental Organizations (Tandon 2002). Jagruti is a small Non Governmental
Organization, which in 2001 had been working for around 10 years with a handful
of volunteers organizing self-help groups in six villages with saving schemes and
facilitating the local community to deal with local issues such as access to
services.
Being volunteer-based it had the challenge of finding ways to keep the
volunteers engaged so they continued the work. So where it could Jagruti found
funds from local foundations for its small number of paid staff from time to time
for one-off activities, but by 2008 this funding had ceased. While the original
approach of working with SHGs was moderately successful, it was not being
resourced, and was little different to the work of larger Non Governmental
Organizations in the district. As a result the management and Board of Jagruti
decided in 2004 that there would be a change in direction, approach and focus,
with a sharp move to more clearly rights-based programmes. The focus was on
health rights and supporting people’s claims for better health services and ensuring
they were receiving what they were entitled to. Jagruti, with support from the
Child Rights and You (CRY) Foundation, was able to work with 400 existing
SHGs in 35 villages to train the members on their health rights, with a view to
improving the practices at the Primary Health Care centres at sub-district level.
Jagruti and Health Rights
In some Government run health clinics in Dharwad District, as in many
parts of India, poor people were being charged for treatment when it is meant to be
provided free of charge. In one case of direct action a community that had been
supported by Jagruti held a series of protests at the clinic. The District Health
Officer was petitioned by the people and Jagruti on a number of occasions to no
avail. The community then took the decision to lock up the health centre and stop
it operating. The threat of the Centre being unable to function forced the District
Health Officer to act, and he removed the corrupt staff and improved the service.
174
The CRY supported programme came to an end in 2008, and left Jagruti
with some dilemmas. Jagruti was a small voluntary agency with few resources and
the challenge of where to allocate them. While Jagruti was quite effective in its
work, it did sap the energy of the volunteer workers and the leadership. In 2009
the range of activities Jagruti was undertaking on a voluntary basis included: work
against trafficking of young women – they had set up anti-trafficking
committeesin a number of villages; and promoting the Employment Guarantee
Schemein a number of villages, to ensure people were aware of it and could take
up thework on offer if they needed to – Jagruti had prepared a booklet on this
scheme.While these activities were important, they were time-consuming for
thevolunteers, who felt they had to commit a large amount of their time to
theorganization. There was no international funding without FCRA and it
wasunlikely that FCRA would be approved, or if it was, that funds from INon
Governmental Organizationswould be available for such a small operation. On the
other hand Jagruti was toosmall to take on government contracts, even if that was
the direction a smallvoluntary organization like Jagruti wanted to go. This is an
example of thedilemma that small voluntary Non Governmental Organizations
have; and that is, while they are effective,unless they can scale up they are
destined to fade away through the burnout ofvolunteers. It can be argued that it is
these small volunteer groups that are central tothe broader Non Governmental
Organization fabric, and they are the source of many of the values thatdrive Non
Governmental Organizations.KIDS. 13
KIDS (Karnataka Integrated Development Society) was a small Non
Governmental Organization that was started in 1994 by a small group of
concerned social work graduates with aparticular concern for women and children,
and it received full registration in1997 (KIDS 2000a). In 2009, KIDS had 16 staff
and its values were based on acommitment to women and children through
promoting their social and economic ‘upliftment’ and empowerment in both urban
and rural areas. KIDS does not have specific povertyocus, but rather works with
the socio-economically marginalized women whare vulnerable, such as sex
workers, and trafficked women andchildren.Traffickingwasand continues to be a
175
problem in Karnataka, particularlyfrom the poorerdistrictstomajor transport
corridors and larger centres. The womenwere trafficked for prostitution, and the
children for labour in hotels and restaurants.The target population for the self-help
groups KIDS facilitated were women frombackgrounds including migrant
workers, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, as well as widows and married girls,
all of whom are vulnerable to trafficking.
The focus was on the decision-making power of women and on
reproductive rights, as well associo-economic development.KIDS provided
services in family and HIV counselling, especially to sex workersand truck
drivers; a child labour programme which involved advocacy on children’srights,
as well as running special schools for child labourers; self-help groups for women;
HIV/AIDS awareness raising; and awareness-raising among women onproperty,
dowry and human rights. Also, KIDS had initiated a separate programme called
Manavi which included a domestic violence hotline and legal support for women
who were victims of violence (KIDS 2000b). Manavi had supported cases related
to dowry, sexual harassment, property, domestic violence and rape. The child
labour programme was among children in Dharwad who were engaged in waste-
picking, and focused on their education, providing them access to schooling and a
small stipend to partly reimburse their time away from work. KIDS had received
support from the state Education Department to assist their work with school drop-
outs. It was also involved in child labour advocacy such as bringing the attention
of the authorities to the prevalence of child labour in local hotels. They facilitated
a children’s forum across 30 villages, where the children met every two weeks and
discussed issues relevant to them; and from there issues went to a federation of
children forums, which lobbied government on issues of child labour and child
marriage. KIDS also worked with around 300 SHGs to facilitate human rights
awareness. In addition to this core work they had also received support from the
Clinton Foundation to support children affected by HIV/AIDS with ARV
treatment and counselling. They operated a women’s counselling centre funded by
the central government; and had a major campaign to raise public awareness
against child marriage, and lobbied the state government to regulate the practice of
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mass marriages in Karnataka, where up to 15 per cent of brides may have been
under age. For mass marriages KIDS lobbied the organizers of the weddings, and
the state administrators, to ensure all brides had a state-sanctioned proof of age for
marriage. They had also done work with devidasi (the traditional Hindu temple
prostitutes) for the Anti-Slavery Foundation, with the aim of freeing them.
KIDS, like the other case study Non Governmental Organizations, had issues
with the drop-off in donor funding but not to the same extent as the others. While
KIDS programmes had continued without major cuts, their institutional support had
always been precarious, based on a high turnover of both programmess and donors.
Like many agencies KIDS did not have regular donors, but depended on a number of
different programmes to keep them going. KIDS’ only independent funding came
from the commissions they received from being an agent to provide insurance to poor
women. Apart from that KIDS were not engaged in other commercial or income
generation activities, as they felt it would take their time away from their programme
work. KIDS was able to survive in this almost ‘hand to mouth’ fashion, as funding for
child and gender rights short-term programmess was generally forthcoming, but it
was much harder to get longer-term institutional funding. This may be because
funding agencies did not see children and women’s rights as longer-term strategic
issues in quite the same way they saw poverty and livelihoods. 14
4.15 Grama Vikas
Grama Vikas was a medium sized Non Governmental Organization based
in Kolar district in Karnataka with a driving vision of social and economic
empowerment focusing particularly on dalit women and children. Its goal was to
empower marginalized rural women with stress on children and the environment,
and network with RuralWomen’s Associations to accomplish sustainable
development through food security (Grama Vikas 2000:1). It was established in
1980, following concern at the high levels of malnutrition among children in the
area, highlighted by a governmental report released the year before. Grama Vikas’
initial emphasis was a child development programme, however, this expanded into
a women’s empowerment programme relatively early on in the organization’s life.
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As Grama Vikas took the view that development was possible only when women
had an active role in development activities, however, a child development
programme remained an important focus in the organization’s work. The strategy
of Grama Vikas in working with dalit communities in villages was initially
through child development programmes by establishing balwadis or pre-schools.
The approach of having an entry point through children overcame local tension
between the higher caste community and dalits. After a level of village acceptance
was reached with the balwadi programme, Non Governmental Organizations were
developed with the most marginalized women in that community, most of whom
sent their children to the balwadi.
The slow and indirect approach through a children’s programme was
necessary as other Non Governmental Organizations encountered problems of
access if they attempted to work directly with dalit or other marginalized families.
The vast majority of Grama Vikas groups were made up of the dalit and tribal
groups in the community. The other key feature of Grama Vikas’ approach was
that the programme expanded at the rate of the capacity of the SHG to self-manage
the programme, that is, they did not work to a timetable. There was a strong
emphasis on self-management with GramaVikas staff moving out of direct group
management as soon as possible, but being in a position to provide support at all
times. The management of the SHG programme was in the hands of two
representative bodies: one that dealt with the children’s programme and was made
up of a parents’ committee; and the other was the main representative body
dealing with the women’s empowerment programme – the Grameena Mahila
Okutta, registered in 1997. These two bodies were responsible for the day-to-day
running of the programmes, income generation (including dealing with donors),
local-level advocacy, basic social sector work and SHG management. Gram Vikas
was also involved in higher-level advocacy and managing some local
environmental programmes. It also provided some secretariat support to the two
representative bodies, broader strategic work as it related to community needs, and
also in the strategic direction and support to the federations. Grama Vikas has an
all-women staff team apart from the General Secretary.
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It has been indicated as important for the effective organizing of groups. Of
the 40 staff in 2005, around 15 were involved in working with the SHGs, with
another three having an SHG audit role. The reason Grama Vikas had such a
successful programme in employing women is that it provided secure live-in
facilities with rooms attached to the balwadis, all within walking distance of the
groups the women were working with. At these facilities a couple of women lived
together and so provided support to each other. This strong reputation for catering
for the safety and security of women staff, and an all-women team, made Grama
Vikas an attractive place for young women to apply to work. The vast majority of
the women who worked for Grama Vikas were young and single so staff turnover
was high. This was not seen as a problem and was even an advantage as the staff
could not dominate the groups over time.
The fostered self-reliance in the groups, with the staff having a supporting
role. Gram Vikas was very clear in its empowerment policy and ensured the staff
had values in common with the organization. There was a one year orientation
programme, which involved regular training programmes and new staff being
placed with more experienced staff for mentoring: this way the new staff member
had to complete a form of apprenticeship. In 2007 there were over 300 women’s
SHGs in over 167 villages, with more than half having reached a level of self-
management that they can be linked directly with commercial banks. Grama
Vikas’ programme was committed not only to economic and social empowerment
among marginalized women in Kolar District, but also to self-run institutions for
the SHGs. The majority of the groups was sustainable and could largely manage
their own revolving funds. One problem for Grama Vikas was that its programme
was resource intense in that the women’s groups were not only responsible for the
SHG management, but had a role to play in other resource distribution to the
village, e.g. having a role in managing the children’s programmes. It was in part
the threat of losing some of these resources (such as the children’s programme)
that focused the SHG leadership energy on resolving issues within the group, to
avoid the group failing.
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The success of this programme meant that it attracted further funding from
donors and government to provide as credit to SHGs. An injection of large sums
into groups through government or donor subsidized schemes, however, meant
that the members’ equity in the group could possibly drop from a high of, say 90
or 100 per cent, to as low as 10 per cent. There was the risk of problems with
repayment rates, and given that even in the older groups not all members had
accessed loans for capital, the groups themselves could have easily divided among
themselves into a situation of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. The risk here was that it
could create conflict and fragmentation, and disempower some members within
the SHGs. Grama Vikas managed these risks well and did not have the same drop
in INGO support that the other Non Governmental Organizations this chapter
covers had. It managed the changes in funding by maintaining long-term
relationships with child sponsorship agencies, and had even expanded to the
neighbouring Raichur district in 2007. The advantage of child sponsorship funding
is that it does not use the programmess cycle approach that other INon
Governmental Organizations use with official back donors. This way Grama Vikas
can secure its funding in the medium to longer term.
4.16 MYRADA
MYRADA is a large NGO aimed at social and economic empowerment. It
operates in three states of southern India; Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu. MYRADA’s values were: justice, equity and mutual support for
marginalized communities through ‘fostering alternate systems of the poor
through which they mobilize and manage the resources they need [through]
institutions which form the basis for their sustained empowerment’ (Fernandez
2004: 3). MYRADA began in 1968 and was the oldest and largest organization of
the case studies. In its first decade it worked with Tibetan refugees in Karnataka
but in 1979 moved into broader development work. In 2009 MYRADAworked in
12 districts across three states, with over 10,000 SHGs (which MYRADA refers to
as self-help affinity groups – SAGs). This figure included 500 sex worker groups
and 400 watershed area groups. These were all women’s groups with the
exception of the small number of watershed groups, which had both men and
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women members (MYRADA 2009: 6). There was a staff complement of around
500. By 2009 MYRADA’s donor profile had changed markedly, with around 70
per cent of their funding coming from Indian federal and state governments. While
there was strong growth until the early 2000s, the two major INGO donors flagged
that they would be withdrawing their programme from southern India in around
2010, and so from 2005 MYRADA began a planned change in its approach to its
work. Over a four-year period (2007–2010) the various programmes within
MYRADA were set to become autonomous organizations within MYRADA, with
a greater setting of direction by the local staff and aid recipients, with a view to
them becoming independent Non Governmental Organizations in their own right.
The mechanism for the devolution was through the Community Managed
Resource Centres (CMRCs), of which there were 96 established in 2009. These
CMRCs would continue to provide support to the SHGs as well as watershed
associations and sex-worker groups, with each CMRC being responsible for
around 100–120 SHGs (MYRADA 2009: 6). This more decentralized structure
provided an opportunity for upward growth from the community organizations
directly, but with the centres taking a greater role in accessing resources
themselves. As the major source of resources was increasingly government funded
programmes, MYRADA felt that it would be more successful and sustainable if
the CMRCs directly accessed these programmes, as they were closer to the target
communities, which some government programmes preferred. In 2009 around
one-third of the 96 CMRCs were in a position to cover their own costs with over
half being able to cover 75 per cent (MYRADA 2009: 40). The CMRCs each had
their own Board on which MYRADA had two nominees. The plan was for all of
the CMRCs to become fully independent in the years following 2010, when the
first eighteen CMRCs became independent Non Governmental Organizations.
MYRADA saw itself as being no longer at the centre, but providing a mentoring
role and the ‘institution’ of last resort for the CMRCs (Fernandez 2004).
Following these changes MYRADA began to focus its work on more strategic
issues, and on engaging with government. In 2009 it was working with village
governments to improve their administrative capacity for the programmes they
implemented. It undertook training and capacity building for Non Governmental
181
Organizations and SHGs and gram panchayats (Village Government), and it was
working with the central government to improve the management of government-
run SHG programmes. It also assisted the Indian Planning Commission in
developing district development plans in those districts whereMYRADA had
experience, but district administration lacked the capacity themselves. This shift of
focus for MYRADA meant that it was still able to have influence and
development impact, but from a much lower resource base that was derived from
their independent sources of income, such as consultancies, and a corpus of funds
that covered their head office expenses, rather than INGO donors.
Goals and Objectives of MYRADA
The goal of MYRADA is to facilitate social, political and economic
empowerment of rural women by developing self-managed and sustainable
people’s institutions. MYRADA introduced both income and employment
intensive activities through the following objectives:-
1. Developing SHG’s as gross-root institutions of rural poor women.
2. Promote savings and credit activities through SHG’s formation.
3. Linking SHG’s with banks to take up individual/ community based
activities.
4. Making awareness and skill building programmes so as to strengthen
their institutional capacity.
5. Dissemination of information of various governmental programmes.
6. Conducting training programmes and exposure visits.
7. Enabling effective participation of women in panchayat raj institutions.
Activities of MYRADA
MYRADA believes that empowerment of women is crucial for
development for their true empowerment need to know their rights. Awareness of
rights brings about involvement of people in developmental activities, there by
increasing in transparency accountability and enhanced quality of governance.
MYRADA conducts regular campaigns on issues such as alcoholism, voter
awareness, transparency, accountability and women’s participation and panchayat
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raj institutions and related process, violence against women. They are working on
improved PDS services, sustainable agriculture practices, restoration of traditional
water harvesting, public health care services in rural areas and quality of education
in rural areas, with focus on girl children, encouraging groups to approach
livelihoods as a fundamental right. Facilitating savings and credit activities by
SHG members, bank-SHG and linkage for group and individual income
generating loans, conducting advocacy for increasing employment for women
particularly during drought and women to avail government schemes for land
purchase and livestock are the mail activies.
4.17 Prakruthi
Prakruthi is a small organization aimed at social and economic
empowerment working in Mulbagal Taluk in Kolar District in Karnataka. It had its
origins as a small village group within Grama Vikas 1982, but as it grew in size
and influence it slowly developed its own identity until it reached a stage where it
could be independent. Prakruthi was also an intermediate service organization
supporting 35 other Non Governmental Organizations in Karnataka Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka on behalf of a local network of former partners funded by a major
INGO in the early 2000s. Prakruthi worked in 70 villages with 150 women’s
SHGs covering some 2,200 families. As well as the SHG programme, Prakruthi
was involved in a natural resource management programme, child development,
health, and strengthening village assemblies. It saw itself as a non-political body in
the civil society. The values of the organization were based on the premise that
‘sustainable development can only take place in the context of an organized
committed groups or society.
Like the other Non Governmental Organizations mentioned in this study,
from 2005 Prakruthi had the challenge of a sharp drop-off in donor funding, when
the last international donor ended its support in 2009. Prakruthi was also involved
in the KWDP programme and as with the Non Governmental Organizations in
Dharwad, the changes in policy within the programme saw Prakruthi not being
reimbursed for one year’s expenditure that it incurred as part of that programme.
183
As a result of the issues with KWDP and the move of INGO donors away from
Karnataka there has been no expansion, and Prakruthi had to cut back their staff
from a peak of 73 people in 2004, to 33 by 2010. Overall Prakruthi had a
programme committed to economic and social empowerment among marginalized
women in Kolar District; however, one of the schemes that was being considered
by Prakruthi was a government-supported microfinance scheme that would see an
injection of Rs 150,000 into each SHG and also provide a fee to be able to cover
some of Prakruthi’s costs. As for IDS, the challenge for Prakruthi was that the
members’ equity in the group would drop from 90 or 100 per cent to a mere 10 per
cent, leading to the problem of insufficient attention being given to addressing
social issues in the group and fostering an atmosphere for empowerment. The
danger was that this could cause problems with repayment rates and a feeling of
reduced ownership, which could in a worse case disempower the groups. As with
the similar microfinance programme taken up by Chinyard there are quite a lot of
risks for the organization as it goes forward, both in terms of maintaining values
and being viable. Of the organizations in this set of case studies Prakruthi has been
the most affected by both the loss of INGO donors and the issues of the debt from
KWDP. In 2009 there was no clear plan to manage the funding issues.
4.18 RORES
RORES (Reorganisation of Rural Economy and Society) was a small NGO
aimed at social and economic empowerment that worked in Kolar District, but
also had a small programme across the border in Chittoor district in Andhra
Pradesh. It started in 1989–90 but spent the first three years establishing it and
making contact with local communities. Initially it worked in 15 villages, but
through the 1990s RORES expanded its programme reach to 60 villages. From
this work in the 1990s a federation of SHGs facilitated by RORES supported the
SHGs, and by 2009 it was largely independent. In the early 2000s RORES had a
number of separate programmes, such as a watershed programme supported by the
Andhra Pradesh government in Chittoor district in AP; a government of Karnataka
State Women’s Development Corporation supported programme, with 40 villages;
and the Integrated Sustainable Development programme working in 60 villages in
184
Srinavasapura taluk (sub-district of 500 villages) supported by a number of INon
Governmental Organizations. RORES was also involved in the KWDP but did not
incur losses as many of the other Non Governmental Organizations did. Since
2005 most of these programmes had been wound back as INon Governmental
Organizations withdrew, and the fall in INGO donor funding had seen the RORES
programme reduce so that in 2009 it was involved with only 146 SHGs, and this
number was unlikely to change. Their staff numbers had fallen from a high of 30
people in 2005, to 12 in 2009.
In 2009 RORES was involved in a school lunch programme, a horticulture
programme funded by the state Department of Forestry, and organic farming
programmess supported by the state Department of Agriculture. Most importantly,
however, was that RORES had become more strategic in its approach, with their
most important programme being an information campaign in one taluk on the
Right to Information Act. Under the Right to Information Act all levels of
government – federal, state and local – had to provide information on government
programmes if requested. RORES published a bi-monthly broadsheet newsletter
with details of government programmes available and their details. The newsletter
included information on: infrastructure programmess, such as the winning of
tenders and their details; the school lunch programme, to which schools, and what
was included; and the welfare programmes including the ration shops, the food
that was available and details of which ration shops had their scales certified by
the Weights and Measures Board. Making this information more widely available
ensured that people knew their entitlements, and at the same time made it harder
for providers to skim off benefits for themselves, or engage in corruption. RORES
managed and implemented this programme with only one staff member, and the
information provided had a direct and ongoing benefit to these communities,
especially the marginalized.
The other issue was the sustainability of RORES as an organization. In 2009
it was reducing its presence in the core programme area, and at the same time it was
also engaging in income generation activities through the production of spirolum, a
185
dietary supplement made of processed blue-green algae, which it marketed through
its NGO network. It was also supported by funding generated from the executive
director’s commercial microfinance programme for the middle class that operated in
local urban areas. The profits these commercial activities generated were sufficient
to support the Right to Information newsletter and covered the core costs of the
organization. The strategy of RORES, to overcome the drop in funding, was to
develop independent commercial sources of income and take on only a few
government programmes. This has enabled it to continue some of its core
programmes, and ensured that it was able to have a major focus on the marginalized
in the district. The cost was a narrower focus of their programme.
4.19 Maitri Institute of Rural Development (MIRD)
MIRD NGO is working in Mandya district with head quarter at Mandya city.
It was established in 1988. It is a registered trust with a vision to mainstream of
socio-economic development of rural poor especially weaker sections of the society.
Since 1988 it is working as a NGO covering in 3 taluks in Mandya district namely
Mandya, Maddur and Pandavapura. Its focus is on sustainable development of rural
people, women’s through developmental initiatives. MIRD is providing training for
rural youths and women for self-employment activities with maintaining some
programmess and programmes availing income generation activities. MIRD is a
growing NGO in the state, which has formed 130 SHG’s in Mandya district, which
comprises 2000 members.In last 20 years it has grown and recognized as NGO with
a team of specialists in education, technology, councilors for children and women
problems, research methodologies to tackle a variety of socio-economic problems.
Goals and Objectives of MIRD
The goal of MIRD is making better life of poor people through providing
all types of basic needs of their life. And it is also aimed to provide promotion and
strengthening of rural women unemployed youths and economically weaker
sections of the society. The main objectives as follows:-
1. Provide relief to poor people through promotion and formation of self-
help groups in rural areas.
186
2. Promote and strengthening self-help groups through capacity building.
3. Implementation of watershed development programmes in rural areas
through community participation.
4. Conducting health, sanitation and hygiene education classes to poor
people.
5. Organize intervention activities to access livelihood support services,
credit, and social securities schemes to achieve self-dependency.
6. Making awareness in women and her status in the present society
through active participation of panchayat raj institution and socio-
economic programmes without discrimination and fear.
7. Providing self-employment training for rural youths for their better
future.
Activities of MIRD
MIRD is involving actively in rural development, irrigation programmes,
forestry, agriculture activities, formation and promotion of self-help groups. In
addition, educational awareness and micro entrepreneurship, participatory
planning, non-formal education, environmental sanitation also in their agenda.
MIRD is also conducting advocacy for increasing employment opportunities for
women and providing basic support for formation of SHG’s and their linkages
with banks.
Coverage of MIRD
MIRD is a rural Non Governmental Organization working for providing
different level supports for economically socially weaker sections of the society.
There are 16 permanent staff and 20 part-time employees with graduation. It
covers more than 75 villages in Mandya district. MIRD is working with women,
children and men from landless and poor people.
4.20 Conclusion
This chapter has looked at the rapidly changing circumstances in the
districts of Karnataka, and how Non Governmental Organizations have responded
187
to the changes brought about by rapid economic development, and as a result the
withdrawal of many INGO (International Non Governmental Organisations)
donors from the Karnataka. The focus has mainly been on the smaller Non
Governmental Organizations and the strategies they have adopted to survive.
Three points have emerged: the first is that level of poverty and marginalization in
Karnataka was still serious in the poorer districts, despite the rapid economic gains
made at the state level; the second is that the Non Governmental Organizations in
the case study had all continued their work, but with serious disruption and
restructuring required; and third, they adopted a range of different strategies for
survival. These strategies ranged from expanding commercial operations to
provide core support, in the case of RORES; splitting off local operations so that
they can better access state resources, as was the case with MYRADA; operating a
microfinance operation as was the case with Chinyard; to establishing new long-
term donor linkages, which Grama Vikas undertook. While there was no uniform
solution to the challenges, it was the resilience and ingenuity of these local Non
Governmental Organizations that saw them through periods of rapid change and
uncertainties. The other key feature of the experience of these local Non
Governmental Organizations was the role of International Non Governmental
Organizations, and also multilateral donors such as the World Bank. While it was
expected that International Non Governmental Organizations and their funders
would pull out of economically successful states such as Karnataka to put their
limited resources in areas of greatest need in the north of India, it was the process
of withdrawal that is worth examining. With the exception of the MYRADA
donors, there did not seem to be a process of withdrawal and adjustment from the
donor over a longer time frame. Given the extent of the work for many of these
Non Governmental Organizations and the communities they reach, a three to five
year process of withdrawal would seem reasonable. Related to this were the
management processes of the World Bank KWDP, where the Bank saw the move
to results-based contract management as a strength. In effect it resulted in the
failure to reimburse the Non Governmental Organizations for work completed and
effectively shut down some of the Non Governmental Organizations’ ongoing
programmes that were outside the scope of the KWDP. More work was required
188
by the Bank and government agencies in their results-based management
approaches as the search for quick results often left ineffective programmess and
reduced Non Governmental Organizations infrastructure in their wake.
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