If we speak of NGOs, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? An organization free from the governmental interventions and independent as it seems. Solely constructed to deliver relief amongst the ones left deprived, far from the reach of basics provided by the Government who if we take into account are best known for words than actions. Most found with scripted wordings to play with these innocent fellow minds during elections aiming to increase their vote banks.
So technically an overall, peaceful, optimistic image stays in our minds regarding the ethical working or these non-profit organizations. Well! Let’s find out if these are true in themselves or not or are just for fame.
In an unprecedented time like this, we all agree that nature is against us. Where for some it’s a matter of just donating money through an online portal and think they have played their part of a Philanthropist, but this is just not sufficient. The NGO workers then take up further responsibilities to facilitate everything essentials in the time of existential crisis like this.
These NGOs are not all the same. For many, ethical functioning has taken a long vacation, years back. The premises are mostly, many of them are misleading as well. Not all, I would still say that there are many NGOs that are devoted completely towards serving society. It would be then cynical to say, they only care for their self-interests. Yes, there are few presents, who if we see, can be said are running independently, but the realism behind the picture is slightly hard to believe. Nevertheless, to have a relief delivered immediately are still done by the NGOs only. So, criticizing them for some handful corrupt individual or the one’s with the political backing, won’t be good.
This lockdown has been different for a variety of peoples’ living standards. For some families, it was a matter of simply sitting back home and work while for others it was as if their world has turned upside down. Yes, the migrants and the poor who were never that ready for such halt when the decision, mandatory but as brutal as none can imagine, and only they can narrate it to you, who survived. Stocked refrigerators after the panic buying, and a home you call a shelter is a blessing. This pandemic and enforced lockdown turned out to be a necessary evil for many, approx. thousands in numbers.
The Center and the States both urged local NGOs to come forward and assist but the question is, have all NGOs delivered relief as they promised or the so-called organization, under the theme of Non-Profit have turned the disaster into an opportunity? To dig deep, things will be perceived differently to a different set of individuals. Some NGOs are there undoubtedly standing with what it preaches that is the honesty and reaching out as many souls possible but sadly there are many under the shield in the name NGOs working for self-interests. But luckily the one’s who work for self-interests are very few in numbers.
The ones running to deliver services to the nation under the banner of “religion” is more or less shall not be taken into account and are pretty much working well and are backed by religious funding and politicians for fake propaganda. Their sole purpose is only to serve their religion, so these are also taken out of the account either. They make their reach only to the said selective society and individuals.
Since the first lockdown was imposed, unplanned and vague, none but the officials on their level made a reach to help the ones who have been most affected especially when this pandemic left the most deprived community in sheer distress. What Government aids to combat any unfavourable situation reaches the people much later but before that, they need the helping hands of those who help them at a personal level and almost every NGO has been doing that in India.
Not just the deprived sections shall be taken into consideration but the daily wagers solely dependent on factories, constructions were left unreached, un-helped. Some stayed back, while others made a long walk. Did anybody realize who provided them with food and necessities on the road? Yes, the individuals of NGOs. Don’t stay in a false belief that the money NGOs used this pandemic was from the so-called PM Cares Fund. That money’s statistics and data is long gone stay still un-revealed by our finance minister.
Whenever such situation in India has risen, we have seen people on roads helping the needy and the affected religiously. They not only put their valuable time but efforts regardless of the fact who the person is. The only thing that matters is whether the person is in need or not.
Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi’s foundation, “Bachpan Bachao Andolan” “Save Child” is one such foundation, non-profit in nature that is working for the rights, every child shall be facilitated from the moment of her/his birth. A known figure that is working since 1980 to fight against Child Slavery.
“I was barely 5 years old when I saw a boy of my age sitting outside my school. It was the first day of my school. The poor boy had a shoe polishing box with him as he continued to stare at my new finely polished school shoes. This incident disturbed me as I entered my new classroom. And the first question I asked my teacher was, “Why was the boy outside the campus and not inside the classroom?”. To which my teacher replied that it is very common for the poor.” Said, Kailash Satyarthi in an interview with UNESCO.
Since 1980 when this organization came into existence, he and his foundation has been striving hard to alleviate poverty amongst the children. Till now more than 1 lakh children have been saved from human-trafficking and slaveries with the help of his organization either through sending them to schools, making free education available or providing rehabilitation.
Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and many more run NGOs or a charitable trust to serve the society. Being Human- The Salman Khan Foundation is a registered charitable trust established in 2007 that works in the areas of education and healthcare.
Likewise, Actor Akshay Kumar is also associated with a Non-Profit Society named Navjyoti India Foundation registered in 1998.
The NGOs are attracting students from all over India to study subjects of Social Work. Samra Khan, Post Graduate Student from the Department of Social Work, JMI says, “After a long burdensome journey of commerce stream, I was left with no interest in continuing the same path. Social work was the only option I was left with which filled enthusiasm again in me to peruse a career with passion.”
“I did an internship with an organization called Mobile Creches that works for the development of mother and child. Major work of the Agency is to create Creches for children at construction and slum areas. It performs other secondary functions like advocacy, creating awareness about the issues of children and mother’s health and training with other NGOs and govt agencies. I was assigned with regular tasks like making community profile, take part in the agency’s activities, create awareness, do a case study, make the group as a part of group work etc. The course has changed my perception that I will be helping the underprivileged but rather taught me to teach them how to help themselves.” Samra continues
How does an NGO Function
NGOs better known as a non-profit organization Formed under the Societies Act of 1860, is a citizen-based run by a group of voluntary individuals with no government intervention. But yes, for some basic and special needs government funding are most welcome, Let’s say for developmental projects or social missions. Organized mostly on local, national and international levels. Most NGOs serve social purposes, others are for religions.
Funding projects include crowdfunding or donations by member groups, rich individuals, philanthropists or big profit organizations. Many times are situations in which NGOs rely heavily on Governmental fundings. The only problem that lies with these kinds of NGOs is that as they are funded by Government or certain political group or a party, they ultimately tend to support certain political ideologies because of this political backing or let’s say this becomes their compulsion.
The struggle of NGOs in India
To have your image maintained in people’s eye especially when you are serving a large number of people in a society is a big challenge for almost all the NGOs. As we all are very well aware of the fact that not every NGO work with full credibility. Some are engaged in self-interest, fraudulent activities or to say, least without much intent. Therefore, honest NGOs often face challenges to maintain their dignity in society. Many times, there comes situations, where they have to vouch for credibility, struggle to reach out to generous donors and even convince certain political parties to have their backings for smooth functioning.
2014 when Modi Government came, a report was leaked accusing NGOs such as Greenpeace, Cordaid, Amnesty and Action Aid for reducing India’s GDP by 2-3 %. This investigation was done by India’s Intelligence Bureau.
In 2019 when Modi Government got re-elected at the centre, the Modi government attacked the NGOs by almost cancelling the license of 20,000 NGOs after a report was leaked of them receiving foreign funds under FCRA.
NGOs such as the Public Health Foundation of India that works for public health and Dalit rights have had their license cancelled in the allegation of foreign funding.
If we say, it was not only Modi but Manmohan Singh also criticized the NGOs involved with the foreign delegates for the funding and called it a threat to the development.
“There are NGOs, often funded from the USA and the Scandinavian countries, which are not fully appreciative of the development challenges that our country faces,” Singh said.
This just doesn’t end here. NGOs often fall subject of distrust and fake allegations. In 2016, Modi without giving any proven references of his facts and figures used his political platform well and alleged an NGOclaiming that it was planning to finish him and remove his government.
Appreciable work of NGOs during CAA-NRC protests.
On 12th December when the Center declared the obvious implementation of the CAA-NRC act, lakhs of people were on roads overnight protesting for their rights. Because the matter was not constrained to the Government vs People but was for what is right over wrong. In the midst of all this, hundreds of organizations from across India joined hands under one banner We the People in retaliation and aim to fight back this un-constitutional Bill turned Act.
“We have urged the protesting citizens of India to come and join us under one banner. This is the first phrase of the constitution and there can’t be anything bigger than this.” Said, Yogendra Yadav, founder of Swaraj Abhiyan Party.
On 14th Jan 2020, An NGO named ‘Minority Front’ moved to the Supreme Court seeking the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and government notification on the exercise for preparing National Population Register (NPR) be declared “unconstitutional”. The plea was filed by lawyer Ejaz Maqbool alleging CAA grants based on religion making it an “unreasonable classification” which is said to be against the morality and basic structure of the Constitution. It questioned the inclusion of only three neighbouring countries and the exclusion of Muslims, Jews and Atheist that gave a line of the unfairness of the Government against the country’s minorities.
The protestors were fed free foods by various NGOs and individuals. One such example is the “Langar” that was organized at Shaheen Bagh to provide food.
People from the Sikh community Khalsa Aid came with the vessels to prepare meals in large quantity. There were people from Punjab, including members from Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan). They fed the hungry at Shaheen Bagh till the end.
NGOs that worked amid the Coronavirus outbreak in India
In the aftermath when the first lockdown brought a complete halt to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a video link on March 30th reached out many NGOs urging for immediate help and assist both the Center and the States to combat the virus. Exactly a week later, Niti Ayog which is said to be the think tank of the Government wrote to some 90,000 NGOs working in India to help them combat this sudden pandemic outbreak.
An NGO named Minds Foundation has helped people deal with the mental illness that has arisen because of this lockdown. This foundation has collaborated with teachers, local leaders and clinicians with the management done by some 2.5 lakhs individuals. This organization came into existence in the year 2011.
Neptune Foundation of Mumbai also helps the poor in coping up with stress, difficulties and hardships. In this Novel Coronavirus Outbreak, that left many souls unsheltered to die on roads hungry, this foundation has strived hard by arranging them shelters and everyday essentials required for their survivals. Free treatment was also provided to the migrant labourers.
An NGO at Delhi named MCKS Food for the Hungry Foundation amid the pandemic increased the capacity of their kitchen six times to feed the hungry deprived souls at home. They immediately collaborated with the Delhi Government and delivered nutritious, hygienic food to the hungry.
An NGO run by the name SAFA Organization in Hyderabad collaborated with the other NGOs like Cry, BGIF and 15 others, distributed essential commodities and food to the poor and un-sheltered during Covid-19 outbreak. They mainly worked in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai and North Karnataka.
Zomato, an online food delivery portal also stepped in with the name Zomato Feeding India and started feeding the hungry soon after the 21 days lockdown was announced. They made the poor food kits available and aimed to raise INR 50 crore for this. It partnered with other NGOs working on the same ground as the Center for Education and Health Research Organization in Delhi and Balancing Bits in Gurugram. It also educated people on roads about the importance of sanitizations and implementations of Social Distancing Norms and urged people to abide by the rules and regulations until the lockdown is over.
Conclusion
NGOs play a crucial role in our society right from arranging of the funds to not limiting itself to only service deliveries but engaging themselves in welfare works, community development, protecting democratic rights, human rights and evoking the conscience in the citizens’ mind by equipping them with what is right and what is not. Every time, when India strived hard, fighting a calamity or a pandemic, NGOs have been always available backing the Government and authorities responsible. To say that it’s just for the namesake is wrong. Yes, I do agree that certain bodies are only working for their self-interests but generalizing all will be un-ethical for some handful.
NGOs are the ones who work hard to bridge the gap that has been created by the Government to fulfil their selfish political self-interest by changing the complete narrative. It’s the NGOs that educate the society about the falsehood and realism. Not only are NGOs facilitated with human resources but educated people. They have expertise from almost all the fields collectively working towards the same goals– the welfare of humanity. The funds that are raised by the members are need of the hour as they are immediate and has always reached the needy before the aid or policies of the Government have.
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