6 March 2025 : Daily Answer Writing

MAINS MODEL QUESTION: 06th MARCH 2025

Q1) How do partnerships between Civil Society Organizations and Government entities contribute to India’s development goals? (15 marks, 250 words)

ANSWER

Civil society is the “third sector” of society, along with government and business.

The term “civil society” generally is used to refer to social relations and organizations outside the state or governmental control. Sometimes it is also taken to mean outside the economic or business sphere as well. Usually “civil society” refers to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and associations that people belong to for social and political reasons: churches and church groups, community groups, youth groups, service organizations, interest groups, and academic institutions and organizations.

PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES CONTRIBUTE TO INDIA’S DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN THE

FOLLOWING MANNER

1. Reduce Inclusion and Exclusion: CSOs and NGOs have volunteers and resources who work within the communities. They can help the Government to reduce the inclusion and exclusion errors in a scheme or a policy by engaging with the citizens and helping them reach out to the Government for enrolment and engaging with the Government to reduce operational issues such as network failures, biometric failures.

2. Holding Government Accountable: A key pillar to effective public service delivery is the citizens’ power to question the Government. CSOs and NGOs build capacity of the citizens to hold the Government accountable through awareness campaigns, social audits etc. For example, CMIE publishes unemployment data to help citizens hold the Government accountable in job-creation programs.
3. Innovation: The Indian bureaucracy has little appetite for risk-taking and innovation. They often take recourse to the status quo even if it is an ineffective way of service delivery. In such a context, it is the NGOs and CSOs which innovate and propose breakthrough models of public  service delivery. For example, NGO Operation Red Alert uses data analytics and data mapping to curb human trafficking. This helps police in better and quicker investigation into complaints and prevention of human trafficking than the obsolete methods.
4. Corruption-Free Service Delivery: Since, NGOs and CSOs do not have any financial motives, they help in providing corruption-free service delivery. This reduces the administrative burden of the Government as it reduces the leakages in the scheme. For example, in 2013, Government of India roped 22000 NGO to work as “Lok Sevaks” in the villages for effective implementation of MGNREGA and to improve the asset quality and ensure payment to the workers.
5. Plugging Gaps: CSOs and NGOs help in plugging gaps in public service delivery where the Government is unable to reach effectively. For example, during the recent CoViD-19 crisis, NGOs like Prathan worked in villages to provide access to internet facilities to students who were not able to afford online education.
6. Awareness Campaigns: CSOs and NGOs also help the Government spread awareness about campaigns and schemes so as to educate people about its benefits. For example, to implement the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Government of India enrolled several NGOs to spread awareness about the disadvantages of open-defecation.
7. Policy Formulation: NGOs and CSOs work in depth within the communities so they are aware of the problems and gaps in policy. Thus, many times NGOs and CSOs have contributed to some of the path-breaking laws in the country, including the Environmental Protection Act 1986, Right to Education Act 2009, Forests Rights Act 2006 and Right to Information Act 2005.
8. Citizen-to-Government Link: CSOs and NGOs can play the role in effectively communicating the needs of people to the government. For example, PM Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan was launched in response to Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan petitioning for distributing food grains to everyone.
9. Providing Expensive Services: NGOs and CSOs raise funding through channels like crowd funding, foreign grants etc. to provide services to marginalised sections of the society who cannot afford such services. For example, Help Age India helps old-age people with disabilities, prosthetic devices, medicines and surgeries they cannot afford by themselves.
10. Research: NGOs and CSOs engage with experts, witnesses, government officials, communities and other stakeholders to come up with effective data and research which improves policy implementation.
11. Effective Vent: NGOs and CSOs are effective ventures for citizens who oppose certain policies and schemes of the Government. They provide a platform for citizen-government engagement on contentious issues.
12. Collaborative Governance: In the current scenario, public service delivery is a collaborative effort between the market and the Government. CSO and NGOs collaborate with the corporate and the Government through CSR activities (Section 135, Companies Act, 2013). Since NGOs and CSOs have depth of engagement in the communities, it helps corporates by bringing patient capital and Government through welfare activities.
13. PPP Service Delivery: NGOs and CSOs act as executing agencies of certain PPP projects which are focused on areas and sections of society where the Government’s reach is limited. For example AROH Foundation works in naxal areas for implementation of DDU-GKY scheme which is market-linked and based on PPP model.
14. Outsourcing Services: Though this model of service delivery has not yet been implemented in India, there have been several Asian countries where the Government outsourced or contracted out several social services to NGOs. For example, in Cambodia, “Contracting of Health Service Project” undertaken between 1999 to 2003 to provide district health services in selected districts that encompassed 1.26 million populations found that health centres that were contracted out by NGOs achieved a higher percentage of the catchment population’s needs.

CSOs and NGOs are an integral part of the development of any country. And in the current scenario where market forces are as strong as the Government, collaborative public service delivery through NGOs, Corporates and the Government is the holy grail for inclusive growth and development.

Read more- MAINS MODEL QUESTION: 05th March 2025