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The NGO sector in India: historical context and current discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

D.L. Sheth and
Harsh Sethi
D.L. Sheth
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, India
Harsh Sethi
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, India
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Abstract

The last two decades have witnessed a veritable mushrooming of NGOs in India. What, however, is inadequately appreciated is that the conversion of voluntarism into primarily a favoured instrumentality for developmental intervention has changed what was once an organic part of civil society into merely a sector — an appendage of the developmental apparatus of the state. Further, this process of instrumental appropriation has resulted in these agencies of self-activity losing both their autonomy and political-transformative edge. What is required, therefore, is to reorientate voluntarism from a framework of subserving the needs of delivery to one promoting self-governance in the widest sense.

Résumé

Résumé

Ces derniers vingt ans les ONG ont proliféré en Inde. Ce dont on se rend moins bien compte est le fait que cette transformation du bénévolat en un instrument préférentiel du développement a conduit à un autre changement: ce qui était autrefois partie intégrante de la société civique est devenu un simple secteur, une extension de l’appareil de développement de l’Etat. En plus, ces organisations indépendantes se vont vues amputer de leur autonomie et de leur possibilité d’influencer la politique. Il faut donc qu’il y ait une réorientation du bénévolat vers une autogestion dans le sens le plus large du terme.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Während der vergangenen zwei Jahrzehnte gab es eine rasche Zunahme von NGOs in Indien. Was dabei nicht angemessen berücksichtigt wurde, ist die Umwandlung im Bedeutungsinhalt des Begriffs ‘Freiwilligkeit’ in ein bevorzugtes Instrument für Entwicklungsstrategien, wobei aus einem vormals organischen Bestandteil der ‘civic society’ lediglich ein Sektor wurde — ein Anhängsel des staatlichen Entwicklungsapparates. Darüberhinaus hat dieser Prozeß der instrumentellen Aneignung dazu geführt, daß diese Organisationen auf der Basis von Eigeninitiative ihre Autonomie und ihre Kraft als politische Transformatoren eingebüßt haben. Es ist daher nötig, Freiwilligkeit und Freiwilligenarbeit aus dem Rahmen der primären Bereitsstellung von Dienstleistungen herauszulösen und neu zu bestimmen.

Resumen

Resumen

Las últimas dos décadas han sido testigo de un verdadero florecimiento de ONGs en India. Sin embargo, lo que no es apreciado adecuadamente es que la conversión del voluntarismo en una instrumentalidad favorable primariamente a las intervenciones de desarrollo ha transformado a lo que alguna vez fue una parte orgánica de la sociedad civil en simplemente un sector — un apéndice de los aparatos gubernamentales de desarrollo. Además, este proceso de apropiación instrumental ha resultado en que estas agencias con actividades autónomas han perdido tanto su autonomía como sus ejes políticos transformadores. Lo que se requiere, por lo tanto, es la reorientación del voluntarismo de un contexto en el que sirven a las necesidades estatales de provisión de servicios a otro que promueva el autogobierno en su sentido amplio.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , November 1991, pp. 49 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © International Society for Third-Sector Research 1991

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Footnotes

*

This paper is an abbreviated version of a longer monograph prepared for the Indian Council of Social Science Research for inclusion in the forthcoming ‘Survey of Research in Public Administration’, ICSSR, Delhi, 1991.

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