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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

So Many NGOs, So Little Social Work

Editorial:
With 1,843 registered NGOs, Sikkim is arguably among the best-serviced states in the world when it comes to the density of organisations engaged in ‘social service’. Put the numbers in perspective and one stares at a number that projects one NGO for every 325 people in the State! Just to drive the point home, every set of 325 people in Sikkim, has an NGO dedicated to its welfare. This figure was presented in the year 2009 in the State Legislative Assembly, when the irony of so many NGOs and so little social service came home. In an apparent move to weed out the dubious from this plethora, the State Government had announced plans to make it mandatory for NGOs to submit audit reports to remain registered. One does not know what came of that exercise.
Interestingly, the Social Justice, Empowerment & Welfare Department lists only eight NGOs on its website. Six of these NGOs are based in Gangtok and one each at Nimtar (32 No near Singtam) and Namchi. This is probably the list of only NGOs which have received funds in the last financial year from the Department, which is a worrying sign because there are none here working out rural Sikkim, although this set of eight would, from time to time take their programmes to those parts as well.
An NGO, by general understanding, is a citizens’ organisation. Because only conscious citizens join hands to engage in social service and not-for-profit initiatives, NGOs are expected to be civil society collectifs. By definition, an NGO is a Non-Governmental Organisation. When the concept began, they were genuinely NGOs in composition and conduct, in that they neither sought government representation, nor pursued government funding. Over time, the Government realised the effectiveness of these bodies in getting things done at the grassroots level and sought their assistance and used their commitment to engage beneficiaries of State assistance, initiative and doles. It has been downhill ever since. Now, in Sikkim as elsewhere in the country, too many NGOs are launched when new schemes and funds are sniffed. At times, the corridors of power reflect the insider trading that one sees in stock markets, only in this case, NGOs are launched by sections close to hands that move files. This group et wind of funds arriving earmarked for specific NGO-managed programmes and a new non-governmental organisation get born. Then there are groups which start earnest, but soon lose direction. There are also some NGOs that actually work hard, but only as programme implementers of ‘projects’ that have state sponsorship, not as organisations that identify people’s crisis and work without profit to resolve the situations. It is not as if the society does not care, what’s probably to blame in Sikkim’s case is that their organisations have been co-opted and infiltrated [with executive member berths] either by the ‘government’ itself or by the politically ambitious. But this group has its priorities resting elsewhere and focus too divided. NGOs that are genuinely civil-society manifestations are unhealthily rare. Look around, how many of the 1,843 NGOs registered in Sikkim do you think are open, competent, effective, earnest and durable? Now, imagine the social engagement that could have happened if enough in the crowd had these attributes…

2 comments:

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  2. I am doing a government job.i am from rangpo,east Sikkim. I am very much interested to work for poor and needy people in future.how can i join social organisation ?can u give me some advice? My contacts 9734193465.

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