Today for the first time I am short of words, I have not been able to understand how Voluntary Organizations in Orissa have placed themselves. As per my knowledge Voluntary Organization can broadly be classified as per the roles they perform and they are as follows:
1. Public Service Contractors (Provide services for a fee).
2. Collaborators(Those who associate with Government or agencies for a particular cause or issue).
3. Social Innovators (those who ensure social changes through innovative ideas).
4. Builders of Civil Society Institutions, (those who facilitate in building up core civil society building)
5. Last but not the least Social Critics and Policy Innovators.
In Orissa as far as I know most of the organizations work as Public Service Contractors, even INGOs who enter into an agreement to work as Collaborators are soon working as Public Service Contractors, Look at Care-India or Action AID all of them are currently extensions of Government, they have established themselves as Technical Resource Units for Government, but in every meeting that you go, they act as representatives of the Government, and justify and support initiatives of the Government even if they are faulty and lack the necessary insight and are anti poor.
When you get grant funding and you try to package yourself as per the Governments' will and wishes,then does it not affect civil society movement and the very foundation of establishing a Voluntary Organization? Looking at the scenario don't you think we have lost our prerogative of questioning the Governments political will and need to question ourselves and our ability to speak out?
I hope I get more ideas and opinions on this and hopefully people associating themselves and working with Voluntary organizations are going to go through this and say you are wrong, this is not what we do in Orissa.......
Sarita
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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What has been said above is symptomatic of civil society in general, and not limited to its organisations. There are no nay-sayers left, who consider themselves as having a responsibility towards the society that we are part of. The kind of responsibility that is predicated on following the principles of equality, liberty, and justice to all....cornerstones of any decent movement. Organisations in Orissa are set up on the cynical premise of making money, through grant funding. They are headed and staffed by people with neither the experience nor sensibility of development/ social conscience. Their purpose is to receive grants, through paying money and currying favour, and use this money for very personal gains, usually a building, and a car, at the least. Development projects are sub-let to smaller organisations, who feed off the grant as well.
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