The Ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment, Government of India,
assists NGOs in various ways to bring about social welface schemes to
the weaker and marginalised sections of the society. The ministry has a
set of guidelines for NGOs to seek assistance from the government which
are mentioned below:-
The Background
- The Ministry is charged with the promotion of welfare, ensuring social justice for and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized sections of society.It is the responsibility of the Ministry to reach the target group which includes the Scheduled Castes, Minorities, Backward Classes, Disabled, Aged Persons, Street children and victims of Drug Abuse.The objective is to bring them into the mainstream of development by assisting them to overcome their social, physical and educational handicaps.In this manner, their progress through capacity building can be ensured.This would equip them to employ their capabilities to their fullest potential reducing their reliance / dependence on others and achieving independence to the maximum extent possible - the ultimate goal of such assistance extended by the Government.
- The financial resources available with the Central and State Governments are limited and therefore it is necessary to ensure that the resources of the State are optimally utilized to bring maximum benefit to maximum number. It has been recognized that along side the efforts of the state, the services of the voluntary organization in assisting the target groups are indispensable.They supplement the efforts of the state in ensuring that the benefits reach the maximum number.In certain cases, it is the voluntary organizations that are in a better position to implement the schemes of the Govt. in a more efficient manner than Govt. itself.This is primarily attributable to the highly committed and dedicated human resources that are available with the voluntary organizations.Further, they often have better expertise and are more knowledgeable about the local conditions that make them a better delivery system than what the Govt. can put together. Therefore increasing participation of the voluntary organizations in nation and society building is not only desirable but also crucial.
- The presence of Voluntary organizations is not uniform throughout the nation. Similarly, there are certain spheres of activities that attract more voluntary organizations just as their concentration in some regions. This twin situation often results in disparate development of regions as well as of sectors. It is the intention of the Ministry to encourage the horizontal spread of development alongside sectoral growth in spheres that have received comparatively less attention or may need more attention.
- It is also the experience of the Ministry that some voluntary organizations are better equipped to avail of the financial assistance from the Ministry than others. Ideally, the scarce resource should be available to voluntary organizations according to the regions and sectors that require intervention according to the problems the society may be confronted with and the priorities identified by the Government.
- Some Voluntary organizations also thrive exclusively on aid from Govt. This is a situation that needs to be reversed. Voluntary organizations should be able to build on the support from the Govt. and establish other support systems that would gradually reduce their dependence on Govt. Such a policy would enable the growth of more voluntary organizations that can work in more sectors. The objective of the Govt. is not the support of existing voluntary organizations alone, but to encourage growth of new ones as well.
- It should be the intention of the voluntary organizations to obtain support of other sources for their operation. This could be achieved after they are able to establish themselves with the support of the Govt. and prove their usefulness to the society at large. With the credibility that they may be able to earn, they would be able to enlist the support of corporate houses and even the community. Contributions both in kind and finances would become easily available once credentials are firmly recognized. Additional resources could be mobilized in this manner.
- Voluntary organizations should also accord increasing priority to the involvement of the community in the social activity that the organization may be undertaking. Community involvement in projects has several apparent and consequential or spin-off benefits. It helps in improving the efficacy of the programme, effecting attitudinal changes towards the beneficiaries, identification of those acutely in need of the assistance and change in the psyche (feeling of acceptance or recognition by society can lead to increased motivation) of those affected and the like.
- Voluntary organizations be encouraged through a system of matching grants to raise resources from the public, business houses, national and international organizations.