Non-Governmental Agencies and Public Policy
| Author | Rumki Basu |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120150305 |
| Published date | 01 July 2015 |
| Date | 01 July 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
NON-GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES AND PUBLIC
POLICY
RUMKIBASU
India has the largest number
of
recorded NGOs
in
the world.
The article
loob
at the nature
of
the work they do and the
different roles they play in public llfe as non-state actors.
The
National Policy
on
the Voluntary Sector is analysed and
the impact
of
NGOs
in
policy-making, implementation and
monitoring is critically examined.
INTRODUCTION
A
NON-GOVERNMENTAL
organisation
(NGO)
is a
non-profit
organisation that pursues developmental activities to promote the interests
of
the have-nots and the excluded (socially, economically or politically),
provide basic public goods and social services, or undertake community or
group empowerment on a philanthropic or activist mode. In other words,
NGOs are legally constituted organisations, operating independently from
the government and are generally considered to be non-state, non-profit
oriented groups who pursue purposes
of
public interest.
The World
Bank
has
identified two main categories
of
NGOs:
Operational NGOs andAdvocacyNGOs. The main purpose
ofthe
former
is the design and implementation
of
development-oriented projects. They
may be national organisations, international organisations, community-
based organisations, etc. The purpose
of
Advocacy NGOs
is
to influence
the policies and practices
of
national or international organisations.
NGOs in India
Though the term NGO came to be used popularly in India only .from
the 1980s, the voluntary sector has an older tradition which can be traced to
pre-Independence times. From the 1980s, NGOs became more specialised
and the voluntary movement was fragmented into three major groups.
The first group included traditional development NGOs, which went into
a specific place/area/region and conducted literacy, health or poverty
alleviation programmes, encouraged farmers to experiment with new crops
and livestock breeds, helped village artisans market their products, and so
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