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Soon
after independence from British rule in 1947, India adopted a democracy
with constitutional laws, codified rights and freedoms, periodic
elections, multi-party system and a representative parliamentary
form of government. The aim of this democratic set-up was to promote
socio-economic transformation of society marked by hierarchies of
different kinds through right to equality, equal opportunities and
principles of protective discrimination.
However even after 57 years of independence,
majority of the population have not been able to take advantage
of the existing laws and policies mainly because of their disadvantaged
position in the social and economic scenario. Also, people in general
are disillusioned with the three 'pillars' of democracy, that is,
legislature, judiciary and bureaucracy. Even the Fourth Estate of
India, the press which is supposed to be the watchdog of society
in a democracy, has succumbed to market forces. In this backdrop,
the role of civil society assumes great significance.
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) India
office believes in the efficacy of civil society initiativesto promote
"public good". In fact, civil society can provide the third leg
to the "trinity" model of development. The state-led public sector
model has been called the First Sector; the private sector model
for economic development and for profit-making enterprises may be
called the Second Sector; and civil society provides the balancing
act as the Third Sector with its non-profit associational life which
is only interested in the good of the masses.
Objectives :
The objectives of activities of
the FES in India relating to civil society are:
1. Mobilizing of civil society
2. Capacity-building of civil society
Supporting civil society
3. initiatives, mainly in the area of social
justice
Issues dealt by this Unit are :
Capacity-building
of NGOs
Civil society can be described as
interest groups trying to divert public resources to their favored
causes, whether tribal development, women's and children's healthcare,
or the protection of biodiversity. These 'interest groups' are non-governmental
organisations. A non-governmental organisation (NGO) is any non-profit,
voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national
or international level. The World Bank, defines NGOs as "private
organisations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote
the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic
social services, or undertake community development". A World Bank
Key Document, Working With NGOs, adds, "In wider usage, the term
NGO can be applied to any non-profit organisation which is independent
from government. NGOs are typically value-based organisations which
depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary
service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalised
over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism
remain key defining characteristics." Task-oriented and driven by
people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service
and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments,
advocate and monitor policies and encourage political particpation
through provision of information. Some are organized around specific
issues, such as human rights, environment or health. While most
of the NGOs work at the grassroot level with the communities, some
provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms
and help monitor and implement international agreements. But can
they translate it into proper communication? Many times the Vision
/ Mission statements of NGOs read as tall claims. While it is easy
to play the blame game, you need to appreciate that this may be
because these NGO Leaders are not able to articulate their mission
statements. Here comes the need to train the NGOs particularly the
small NGOs that work at the grassroot level, directly with the community.
In the NGO Sector, training is usually called as Capacity Building.
Some NGOs only work on Capacity Building of the other NGOs.
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Participation
of Youth In Politics
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) believes
in creating from youth a cadre of inspiring and competent role models
and change agents with the courage of conviction who in turn will
trigger off the process of building a healthy nation. Civil cleansing
and mass action is the key to this change and the youth are the
catalysts who will bring about the change. The entire system needs
revamping and the young people will play an instrumental role. It
is found that capable conscientious youth shun politics and shirk
shouldering political responsibility. To encourage the youth to
participate in political decision-making, to create awareness of
the citizen's role in good governance FES has conducted a series
of workshops to encourage involvement of youth in politics and also
to find out the expectations of the youth from responsible political
parties of India.
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