Anatomy of the Bombay NGO sector

Environment and Urbanization

Volumn 11, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 247-263

  Desai, Vandana ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION; PARTICIPATORY APPROACH; STATE ROLE; URBAN PLANNING;

INDIA;

EID: 0032797902     PISSN: 09562478     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1630/095624799101284788     Document Type: Article

References (21)

1. Since the fieldwork for this paper was undertaken, the state government of Maharashtra has declared that the city should be renamed Mumbai.
2. The absence of any comprehensive directory of such NGOs posed a problem when creating a sampling frame from which a representative sample could be drawn. A list of active NGOs was formulated by drawing information from a wide variety of sources including visits to known NGOs, a review of the past two years of newspapers, research theses, contact with academics, donor agencies and word of mouth. Each NGO identified was then approached and, if willing to cooperate, visited for the purpose of collecting data on activities, target groups, staff, age, structure, sources of funding, linkages and relationships with other NGOs and government agencies with whom they work or collaborate. Information was gathered through a combination of formal questionnaire surveys and key informant and focus group discussions with NGO staff. Willingness to participate was high and discussions with those active in the sector indicated strongly that all possible types of NGOs active in the metropolitan area were covered by the 67 NGOs identified. Preliminary findings were disseminated to NGOs at a workshop which was held in Bombay in September 1994 and a directory of NGOs was prepared and circulated to participants and others. This is available from the author as Desai, V. (1995), Directory of NGOs in Bombay, Royal Holloway, University of London.
3. Data on staffing are treated in a separate paper. Data on activities, linkages, funding and staffing are used as the basis for a statistical classification exercise in Desai, V. and I. Preston (1997), "A typology of urban grassroot NGOs: the case of Bombay", CEDAR Research Paper No.21, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London.
4. In reality, there is a far wider range of sub-markets open to at least some of the urban poor in various parts of the city. These encompass squatting, renting and the erection of temporary shelters in peripheral irregular areas; upgrading and site and service schemes (again, either as owners or tenants); rooming; rental for various durations of rooms, beds or simply a sleeping space in market guest houses, brothels, construction sites, pavements, garages and so forth, in addition to conventional public housing.
5. See Paul, S. and A.Israel (1991), "Non-governmental organisations and the World Bank: an overview" in Paul, S. and A. Israel (editors) (1991), Non-Governmental Organisations and the World Bank: Cooperation for Development, World Bank, Washington DC.
6. In 1992, the National AIDS Control Programme was established under the Ministry of Health, with a budget of Rs. 2,800 million (US$ 100 million) over the five-year period of the Eighth Plan (1992-1997). The major component of this was to be funded by a World Bank loan. The main activities of the AIDS Control Programme are to be advertising, condom promotion and the provision of hospital equipment.This represents 15 per cent of the total health budget in the Eighth Plan period; only malaria control receives more, at 19 per cent.
7. Most Northern NGOs finance projects from their headquarters or regional offices, often channelling funds through partner organizations in the South with whom special relationships are frequently developed.
8. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 1985 stipulates a set of legal requirements which compels all Indian NGOs, charitable, political and commercial, to seek permission of the Indian government to become eligible for receiving funds from abroad. In addition, they are obliged to submit regular accounts to the government on a bi-annual basis, documenting the amounts received, the source of the funds and the way in which these are spent. Conditions or grounds on which the FCR can be rejected by the home ministry are: prejudices against a friendly nation; conviction of a criminal act; being anti-national; not being in the national interest. In 1987, some 11,000 NGOs were registered with the Home Ministry, entitling them to receive foreign funding for development activities.
9. SOSVA tries to nurture new NGOs, helping with experience and skills they lack in their early years, as well as assisting existing agencies to expand their operations.They also aim to provide training programmes in fund-raising, project proposal writing, accounting, budgetary control, taxation and charity commission matters, public relations, management of information systems; and to publish books to guide NGOs. Initially funded by Ford Foundation, SOSVA was later funded by state and central government grants and the USAID. It is the first organization of its kind in India.
10. See Desai, V. and M.Howes (1995), "Accountability and participation: a case study from Bombay" in Edwards, M. and D.Hulme (editors) (1995), NGO Performance and Accountability, Earthscan/ Kumarian Press, London.
11. SPARC (Society for Promotion of Area Resource Committees) is a well-known innovative housing NGO formed in 1984, working with various groups among the urban poor (women, slum and pavement dwellers, street children and drug addicts). SPARC has worked first to create an information base about each group and then with local community organizations in order to support the struggle for a just allocation of resources and free access to resources for the poor.
12. Niwara Hakk Sureksha Samiti has been working on housing issues of slum dwellers and has actively advocated access to housing for the urban poor in various situations.
13. See Bebbington, A.J. and J. Farrington (1992), "The scope for NGO-government interactions in agricultural technology development: an international overview", Agricultural Research and Extension Network, Network Paper No.33, ODI, London.
14. The term "networking" is open to a wide range of interpretations. Here, it is defined loosely as interaction among a group of institutions in order to realize anticipated benefits for themselves or for their clients. Useful definitions of research networks are provided by Plucknett, D.L., N.J.H. Smith and S. Ozgediz (1990), Networking in International Agricultural Research, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York and London.
15. See Edwards, M. and D. Hulme (editors) (1995), NGO Performance and Accountability, Earthscan/Kumarian Press, London.
16. See Bebbington, A.J. and G.Thiele with P. Davies, M. Prager and H. Riveros (1993), Non-Governmental Organizations and the State in Latin America, Routledge, London and New York.
17. See Yap, K.S. (1982), Leases, Land and Local Leaders, and Analysis of a Squatter Settlement Upgrading Programme in Karachi, Free University, Amsterdam; also Yap, K.S. (1983), "Access to resources as a form of participation" in UNCHS (1983), Community Participation for Improving Human Settlements, pages 54-59, Nairobi.
18. See Yap, K.S. (1982), Leases, Land and Local Leaders, and Analysis of a Squatter Settlement Upgrading Programme in Karachi, Free University, Amsterdam; also Yap, K.S. (1983), "Access to resources as a form of participation" in UNCHS (1983), Community Participation for Improving Human Settlements, pages 54-59, Nairobi.
19. Robinson, M., (1991), "Evaluating the impact of NGOs in rural poverty alleviation: India country study", Working Paper No.49, Overseas Development Institute, London; also Robinson, M. (1993), Governance, Democracy and Condilionalify: NGOs and the new policy agenda, Overseas Development Institute, London.
20. Robinson, M., (1991), "Evaluating the impact of NGOs in rural poverty alleviation: India country study", Working Paper No.49, Overseas Development Institute, London; also Robinson, M. (1993), Governance, Democracy and Condilionalify: NGOs and the new policy agenda, Overseas Development Institute, London.
21. Desai, V. and R. Imrie (1998), "The new managerialism in local governance: North/South dimensions", Third World Quarterly (in press).