Challenges for civil society organizations

(MainsGS2: Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.)

Context:

• The ability of civil society to shape policy and public discourse has shrunk dramatically because civil society many a times is seen to be the new frontier for war and foreign interference.

Challenges for CSOs:

• There has been a systematic clampdown on CSOs lobbying for greater constitutional and civic freedoms. 
• The activists, journalists, academics and students have been targeted by a plethora of the governing instruments and non-state actors (who have resorted to violence and abuse, online and offline). 
• This has been further exacerbated by restricting the access of CSOs to resources including cancelling Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act clearances, revoking 12A/80-G licences, imposing retrospective taxes, and pressuring private companies and philanthropists to redirect funding.
• Civil society is being vilified as disruptive to India’s development trajectory and therefore anti-national which portends a grave threat to the system’s integrity because civil society is an indispensable safety valve for tensions in a polity.

Facing constraints:

• Progressive CSOs fail to blend socio-cultural values with welfare/constructive work or calls to protect constitutional values. 
• Consequently, they are unable to reshape hearts and minds, and thereby guide mass consciousness. 
• This situation is untenable for various reasons because of the financial and structural constraints imposed on them makes CSOs/movements bleed conscientious youngsters, who naturally need some financial sustenance. 
• Without sustained support, CSOs cannot positively mould public discourse or make a tangible impact on the nation at large. 
• And with governments consciously avoiding CSOs/movements, their ability to shape policy is diminished (which adversely impacts organisational morale).

Way forward:

• Faced with a drastically reduced spectrum of options, some progressives CSOs will migrate to safer avenues and others may limit the scope of their work.
• The net result is that civil society will be unable to speak truth to power, amplify the voices of the most vulnerable, enrich policies/legislation through constructive feedback, or further the collective good.
• If an aligned civil society organisation took up issues like communal disturbances, atrocities against Dalits and women, championing the rights of activists fighting for Adivasi rights or civic and political freedoms, it would ensure that a party remains connected to genuine community problems, while allowing for a permeable wall of separation. 
• Private philanthropies and companies need to realise that they are the only lifeline for progressive CSOs today.