It is High Time Civil Society Looked to Local Resources

 

The civil society in India is at crossroads today with overseas funds shrinking gradually for the last couple of decades and the new FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) rules breathing down its neck. The dilemma is much deeper if viewed in the light of issues like human rights, climate change and environmental justice which along with other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which serve as a common thread for the entire global community. And at the receiving end are the NGOs, especially those at the grassroots, without the wherewithal to access international donors directly, and have depended on intermediary organisations to bridge the gap. Apart from this, Indian non-profits will have restricted or no access to resources to invest in technology, capacity building, and research.

So, the bigger question is- how will International donors re-configure their India strategies to find alternate ways to identify and align with existing or potential NGO partners and how effectively Indian non-profits will cope with this situation? 

In all contextual narratives which are emerging following the amended laws, the impact is going to be huge for Indian Civil Society which has been doing remarkably for decades addressing issues like poverty reduction, health, education, gender justice, climate change, rights and entitlements, etc. It has always strived to ensure that those who are at the lowest rungs lead a life with peace and dignity. In a democratic environment, civil society voices peoples' issues and acts as a mediator between the people and the State. It plays a major catalyst in improving the performance of government programmes and in giving fillip to the impact of state policy. Apart from promoting and strengthening democracy, it also contributes to economic development and poverty reduction. So in the current scenario, civil society has to enable itself to continue working as an effective facilitator, collaborator and enabler.

The challenge of looking beyond foreign funds has not arrived all of a sudden. If we look into the recent history, many unfortunate incidents happened in the twenty-first century are responsible for the global resource crunch for the civil society. Some of these incidents which emerged in quick succession and had far reaching impact on the flow of development funds from north to south were- 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre, subsequent diversion of global resources to tackle terrorism and the global recession. India with high GDP growth and acknowledged as a fast developing country also sparked off debate in the north on its aid need.  The result was that international donors started withdrawing support and bilateral agencies began reviewing their policies of development assistance.  This also worsened crisis of funding for the CSOs. Many believe that this was deliberately encouraged by the state. The CSOs, especially the Voluntary Development Organizations (VDOs) have suddenly found themselves vulnerable because of these global and local events. Amidst the country’s changing socio-economic and political context, VDOs face unstable sources of funding, multiple and complex demands for accountability, transparency and measurement of impact amidst questions/debates of legitimacy.

In this scenario of reducing foreign funding, NGOs and CSOs will have to rely heavily on government aid and businesses (CSR) to sustain itself. While many NGOs are already collaborating with the government on various projects, a larger dependency on government funding would mean greater restrictions on the organizations’ freedom to critique government policies. On the other hand, linkages with companies through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) would mostly include interventions around non-controversial aspects of development like basic health and education rather than research, evaluation, and in-depth critical analysis of policy.

But what came as a big shocker for CSOs was a stricter legislation, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010. It seeks to regulate the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution and to prohibit its acceptance for any activities detrimental to the national interest. Organizations of a “political nature” are prohibited from accepting foreign contribution for propagating political agenda or engaging in political activities. As ‘political activity’ not clearly defined, any development oriented actions like rallies, demonstrations etc. could be considered as political activity.

In a situation which is tricky and fluid it is difficult for organizations to fight for the rights of indigenous people over issues like land alienation by industries and MNCs, issues of rights and human-rights violations. Reduction in foreign funding as well as the general attitude towards civil society increases complex compliance requirements which pose far reaching consequences for organizations. This could have direct impact on nature, efficacy in securing the rights of the people, benefits and entitlements, community empowerment and mobilisation. Reduction in number of interventions, personnel, and infrastructure will adversely affect the sustainability of the process of community development and mobilization.

A large number of organisations have been actively engaged in social transformation processes responding to the sufferings, injustice and exploitation of the poor and most vulnerable sections of the society. The growing pressure by the government on organisations working on rights based approach and issues related to governance has made the situation difficult for them to sustain the advocacy efforts at different levels.

I believe that people and their institutions, the social capital mobilization are the best local mechanism to sustain social transformation where local leadership would be further nurtured for ensuring transparent and accountable governance. 

Therefore, alternate sources of fund mobilized locally would have lesser restrictions and would provide scope and opportunity to enable people and their institutions to raise critical issues. Resource mobilization at local level is often considered as an alternate to fundraising and could act as a counter stimulus in current situation.  Local Resource Mobilization is far more than just fund raising as it entails access to resources in all form not just cash.

Keeping the above mentioned issues in mind, it has become vital that CSOs look to Local Resource Mobilization as a mechanism to ensure continuity of activities and programme. Various avenues are present for potential resource mobilization but so far very few have been tapped. Those avenues need to be identified and explored.

Many organisations can share their experiences and learning in various states where efforts have been made to raise resources locally and a model has been established which required minimal outside support for sustaining them.

In the development sector (NGO) there has always been struggle for resources. There has always been dependency on foreign funding to carry on development initiatives in India through civil society. Huge foreign funding also has come with strings attached and NGOs are expected to take up issues according to wish of resource sharing agencies. The real hard issues related to governance, unaccountability, exclusion, structural poverty cannot be addressed through foreign funding directly in the current context. I perceive Local Resource Mobilization as any contribution from within local community that assists the implementation of an activity, project or programme. Resource mobilization at local level by the community gives an opportunity to those who are able to contribute, irrespective of quantity, quality or type of contribution. These resources are the enablers of an activity which not only satisfy organizational need but also satisfy the community (local people) that their contribution has been wisely and effectively used.

It also needs to be clear that that local resource mobilization is not-begging and premised on the belief on People helping people. This is an opportunity to give people to contribute (whatever may be) and asking people for contribution in which they can share their cause. This is also an an opportunity for developing ownership amongst local people with a prerequisite for developing road map for self dependence. It is a sustainable approach and helpful in creating unity among the community.

Categorization of Local Resources

It is essential to be aware of the availability of the resources in the context and the region where the organization is working which makes it convenient for the community to pay or contribute. Before selecting the categories we have to understand local resources and which may be available in the houses of poorest of the poor. All forms of local resources are equally important. Resources can be mobilized for short term or long term objectives.

There are several questions which need to be answered before finalizing the strategies of resource mobilization at the local level. For instance how is it possible? Who will do it? Is it practical? (we always consider very poor to be never able to contribute), is the team able to achieve? Are they ready to plan and to mobilize resources? Has the team got good understanding, type of resources that need to be mobilized at the local level? Who will manage and what is his/her role? How to win trust of the community? And how to start and what is the right time to start for it? The following could give answer to these questions.

Roadmap for successful LRM

Strategy for Local Resource Mobilization (LRM): For resource mobilization we need strategy as we want to mobilize it from our target communities. Following are important strategies:

•       Identifying resources available and needed for programme interventions: What type of resources is available with the community? Most of the time we come across statements like communities are too poor to contribute. However there have been incidences which show that community contribution is important not only to ensure ownership but also sustainability of developmental efforts. We also need to see what types of resources are needed for different programmatic priorities.

•       How the resources would be tapped: Depends on what methodology would be adopted to ensure that the community contribute without hesitation.

•       Develop timeline and timeframe: To ensure successful contribution we have to look for the period in which community can easily contribute without hesitation. For example contribution of grain like rice, wheat etc. can be done easily after the harvesting season of the state. Similarly if we want to take contribution as labour we may see the time in which they are free and can come without any daily wage loss.

•       Identifying capable leaders: Build a team of community leaders and volunteers who will be responsible for mobilizing the resources needed.

•       Develop a channel:  For easy support, develop a model in which all can be connected from VDC level to district level forum. Every panchayat must have someone to support at any time.

•       Team building: Local resource mobilization is a team work and every team member is important and should have a very clear understanding of the process of LRM.

Set a clear objective: As Local Resource Mobilization (LRM) is a team work, the concept and objective of the LRM must be very clear from bottom to top. The objective will convince people to contribute and small contribution will be helpful to achieve the target. And every individual contribution should be acknowledged.

What motivates community to contribute?

 

•       It is important to understand the motive behind contributing in cash/kind for the village level intervention. My own experience is that if the intervention is of their choice/priority then they will contribute.

•       Community would be eager to contribute if transaction/recording process is kept transparent.

•       Everybody in the village can contribute evenly/uniformly. So ‘what’ they contribute should not matter but ‘whether’ they have contributed is important.

So, to sum up and conclude, if civil society want its rich legacy to continue unhindered, it must go back to the basics- motivate people to part with their resources for the poor and the underprivileged. Local resource mobilization is certainly a way ahead. 

 - By Dr. Jayant Kumar

The views expressed by the author are personal