Article: Tradition of Voluntary Action

The voluntary efforts in the process of welfare and development have undergone evolutionary changes with the changing emphases of various experimental development programmes in India. In the last few decades, the growing awareness of the limitations and intrinsic constraints of the Government has led to an increasing recognition of NGOs and voluntary efforts and sought their greater cooperation and involvement in the process of development and in the process of nation building. Today, they are important partners in the process of development and are an inalienable part of the contemporary scene. Their involvement is not only seen in the implementation of governmental programmes but also in the process of formulation of public policies and even in the enforcement of social legislation.

The voluntary sector however, has been facing enormous structural, operational and financial constraints

in their endeavor. While they have improvised ways and means to overcome certain set of constraints, they have encountered new ones in their endeavor, posing serious functional bottlenecks.

Recognising the productive role of VOs in the socioeconomic activities, the Government of India hadearmarked nearly Rs. 1,500 million for the voluntary sector during Seventh five-year Plan Period. The Estimates Committee of Parliament reported that, for the year 1989, government sources alone provided funds to the voluntary sector to the tune of Rs. 2,500 million. The funding by the Central Government to the voluntary sector presently may be estimated to cross about 10 billion rupees per annum. Many Central Ministries and Departments are now releasing funds to the tune of thousands of million rupees to the voluntary organisations.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with its largest number of Welfare and Developmental Programmes for example, had released funds of nearly 1,800 million rupees to the voluntary sector during 1999-2000. This Ministry alone has supported with funding to more than 2,100 voluntary organisations in the country up to December 1999. On the other hand, funds from international donors have increased manifold in the last decade or so, from Rupees 7 billion in 1988 to nearly rupees 40 billion today.

Over 21,000 NGOs have been registered under Foreign Contribution and Regulation Act, 1976 (FCRA) since its inception until October 1999 and these NGOs are now eligible for getting the foreign funding.

The nature of VOs in India has been changing from the traditional role. Voluntary organisations have now changed their focus from the traditional relief, rehabilitation, charity and welfare activities to more towards developmental endeavours. There has been nowa clear-cut shift in emphasis in the voluntary sector from care, charity and welfare towards empowerment, development and change. The presence of VOs is clearly visible today than ever before, in the traditional as well as unconventional areas of developmental endeavors. The VOs are now more concerned about capacity building, and development of human resources, conscious raising, conscientising and awakening. They are now widening their outlook towards area development and rural transformation.

However, an organised voluntary action in the field of rural development in India is comparatively new, slowly evolving and not yet fully complete in the country. Although the voluntary action in rural areas is more diversified today, however, there are many areas which need to be covered by voluntary action. The total voluntary efforts particularly, in the rural development in terms of geographical coverage are insignificant as compared to the needs of the country. As per some estimates, only 3 to 5 percent of the 0.75 million villages in the country are covered by voluntary action. Although there is no complete survey or comprehensive study on the total number of VOs & NGOs working in India, however, according to some estimates their number is about 1,00,000 of which, only 25,000 to 30,000 are active. They are now more diversified with growing professionalism and the sector has been playing greater role in welfare and development, holding an immense potential for social action and change in the years to come.

India has a long history and tradition of voluntary action, providing services to the sick, needy and destitutes. It is a part of our cultural heritage and way of life. Voluntarism in India is as old as the emergence of organised society itself. It originated as pure philanthropy of charity and this motivation sustained the voluntary efforts all through history in the ancient and medieval period. The voluntary efforts in the process of welfare and development have undergone evolutionary changes with changing emphasis on various experimental development programmes in India. The history of voluntary action is an integral part of the study of evolution and changes in the Indian society.

The dawn of voluntary action was the emergence of reform movements. The introduction of western ideas and christian faith by the end of the eighteenth century precipitated the widespread emergence of religious and social reform movements in India during the first half of the nineteenth century (1800-1850). Social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ravindranath Tagore, Dayananda Saraswathy, Iswara Chandra Vidyasagar, Kesava Chandra Sen, Ram Krishna Paramhansa, Sayyed Ahmed Khan, Swami Vivekananda had focussed their social action against the rigid social evils and practices like Sati, Child Marriage, prohibition of widow remarriage and other caste-directed practices etc.

The social reform movement was spear-headed by Raja Ram Mohan Roy with the formation of Atmiya Sabha in 1815 in Calcutta, which was one of the earliest voluntary association in India. The other prominent associations originated during this period were: the Unitarian Committee (1822), Brahmo Samaj (1828), Dharma Samaj (1830), Widows Remarriage Association (1850) and so on. Many literary and educational institutions e.g. Royal Asiatic Society (1834), Dhyan Prakash Sabha (1840), took

shape at this time.

The work of the christian missionaries that began at the end of the eighteenth century, took concrete shape in augmenting the voluntary action during this period. In the beginning, missionaries had confined their activities to purely evangelical work. Historically, American Missionaries started schools in Naga villages as early as 1830. They also taught the villagers, the technique of cultivating tea. The advent of christian missionaries dates back to 1845 when Lutheran Missionaries started their activities particularly, in rural and tribal areas. They participated in charity, reform activities and services in the fields of education and health. Eradication of untouchability and other social evils were part of missionary works during the period of social reform movements. In the succeeding periods, they ventured into new areas.

The establishment of the Friend-in-Need Society (1858), Prathana Samaj (1864), Satya Shodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj (1875) further consolidated the reform movement and also the voluntary movement. The National Council for Women in India (1875), Indian National Social Conference (1887) etc. The Ram Krishna Mission founded in 1898 was actively involved in many amelioration programmes.

Literary and educational societies and associations became a widespread phenomenon during this period. The voluntary organisations received growing importance and the process of greater institutionalisation prompted the enactment of the literary, scientific and charitable organisations. The enactment of Societies Registration Act, 1860 was another hall mark of voluntarism during this phase of history.

The National Council of Education (NCE), at present Jadavpur University was set up in 1906 to impart literary, scientific and technical education on a national basis. The year was significant in Bengal's history as the province had just been partitioned by Lord Curzon, the Governor-General of India, into East Bengal on the one hand (the area that was eventually to become Bangladesh in 1971) and West Bengal and Orissa on the other. In 1906, a group of Bengali intellectuals including Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick and Brajendra Kishore Roychowdhury decided that they would protest the partition of Bengal by setting up an institution that would challenge British rule by offering education to the masses 'on national lines and under national control'. The NCE was set up with Rashbihari Ghosh as its first president. The establishment of Servants of India Society in 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale laid the foundation of secular voluntary action in India. The wave of Swadeshi Movement swept the country during the initial decades of the twenteth century and marked the beginning of mass involvement inculcating the spirit of strengthening voluntary action through self-help and autonomy, through institution building in education, agriculture, industry, business and fostering economic production, particularly of industrial goods through swadeshi and boycott of imported British goods. Cooperative movement started during this period. Several national literary and educational societies were set up to expose the emerging middle class to secular western thoughts and ideas. Notable among them were Gokhale Education Society, Servants of India Society (1905), Servants of People Society (1921) etc. Some organisations aiming at the goal of emancipation of women and backward classes, were also established e.g. Depressed Classes Mission (1906), Mahila Silpasrama (1907) and the All India Seva Samiti (1914).

Gandhiji propagated national reconstruction on the basis of swadeshi, village self-government and selfsufficiency. Gandhiji gave a new impetus to voluntarism. His model of society was based on values of non-violence, justice and freedom. He reinforced the strength of voluntarism in the economic aspect of national life by decentralisation of political authority to the Gram Panchayats (Village Councils). His wisdom that India lives in villages, guided him to concentrate his efforts on villages. His strong adherence to high social ideals and a practical approach inspired sincere and conscientious workers to follow him with a genuine sense of dedication towards voluntarism. With Gandhiji, began a process of networking of organisations and he played a vital role as the chief propounder of voluntary efforts in rural development in the country.

Gandhiji started his ‘Constructive Work’ between 1922-28 which entailed among others Charkha (spinning wheel), Khadi (handwoven cloth), Gramodyog (village industries), basic education, removal of untouchability etc. Development of village crafts and village industries were his main thrusts. ‘Gandhiji’s Constructive Work’ became part of the mass national movement for political freedom and he insisted that political freedom must go hand in hand with a sense of social responsibility. The fundamental principles of Gandhiji’s Constructive Programme were: voluntariness and sharing, cooperation, mutual aid, decentralisation, non-violence, self-reliance, self-help and moral action. Inspired by Gandhiji’s ideology, voluntary movement in India gained further momentum and a large number of organisations based on Gandhian Constructive Programmes emerged in the Indian voluntary sector. Gandhiji founded Harijan Sevak Sangh, Gramodyog Sangh, Hindustan Talim Sangh, Adivasi Seva Mandals, etc. Many other specialized organisations like e.g. All India Spinner’s Association (1925) and All India Village Industries Association (1934) were active in this era. Gandhiji’s call for people’s participation at the grassroots level enabled voluntarism to penetrate into villages.

Rabindra Nath Tagore was convinced that real freedom could come when people are independent of fear and hunger. His experiment in rural reconstruction at Sriniketan, at present in West Bengal in 1921 aimed at making villagers self reliant and helping people to develop their own resources.

Other similar notable experimental projects for rural development undertaken by a number of outstanding individuals from different walks of life from both within and outside the government include:- Marthan dam Project in Kanya Kumari district in Tamil Nadu in 1921 under the leadership of Dr. Spencer Hatch, Gurgaon Project in 1927 by F.L Brayne, the Deputy Commissioner of the Gurgaon district, Baroda Rural Development Project initiated by Raja Sir T. Madhav Rao, a minister of the princely state of Baroda and gained momentum with V.T. Krishnamachari, the Dewan of Baroda who started Rural Reconstruction Centres (RRCs) in 1932; Gandhiji’s Rural Reconstruction Project at Sevagram, a village near Wardha in 1936, the Firka Development Scheme in Madras Province in 1943 for the economic development of villages by promoting khadi and village industries, and Nilokheri Project also known as Refugee Rehabilitation Project, though started in 1943 became fully operational in 1948 when it developed a new township for displaced persons from West Pakistan.

Another project named Etawah Project launched by the government of Uttar Pradesh in October 1948 under the guidance and help of Albert Mayer, was a new experiment in rural planning and development. The success of Etawah Pilot Project later led to the evolution of Community Development Projects (CDP) in October 1952 as an instrument to transform the social and economic life of the village community. In the formulation of the CDP, a major role was played by the ‘Grow More food Campaign’ (GMFC) which was the first organised effort to increase food production in the country. This campaign was initially started in 1943 in the wake of the Bengal famine.

Vinoba Bhave in his attempt to transform rural India came forward with the idea of Bhoodan and Gramdan Movements in 1951 and 1952 respectively, giving a new  impetus to voluntary efforts. He started the Bhoodan (land gift) movement in Pochampalli (Telangana in Andhra Pradesh) with the essential characteristic of the movement being that the surplus lands were to be donated by landlords and redistributed to landless peasants. Similarly, his Gramdan Movement (village gift) started in Mangroth village in Uttar Pradesh involving community action with the ownership of land vested in the village community. He further widened the concept to Shramadan (gift of labour); Sampatidam (gift of wealth) and Buddhidan (gift of mental abilities) for the realisation of Sarvodaya (welfare of all) and the benefit of the society as a whole.

With the introduction of the planning model in 1951 and the launching of the community development

programmes, the voluntary organisations redefined their role in the process of nation-building particularly in the process of rural transformation and development. The community development programmes with its approach of effective participation of people, provided the voluntary efforts fresh impetus and the voluntary organizations continued, with renewed vigour, their innovative experiments in rural development. The National Extension Service (NES) was launched in the country in October 1953 for development with the self-help strategy.

The year 1953 was a turning point in the history of voluntary efforts with the formation of Central Social

Welfare Board (CSWB) with the primary objective of the promotion of voluntary organisations in social welfare and development. The establishment of CSWB also marked the beginning of government funding to the voluntary organisations through the Grant-in-aid. The Board has been focusing on a special emphasis on women and children, taking up projects through voluntary organisations such as ‘Balwadis’ (community creches and pre-basic schools) etc. The creation of CSWB brought revolutionary changes in voluntarism in the country. In the early fifties, with the introduction of National Community Development Programme and National Extension Service, started the process of decentralisation of voluntary efforts in development. Further decentralisation took place with the introduction of a three tier Panchayati Raj in 1958.

By the end of first decade after independence, Balwant Ray Mehta Committee reported on the adoption of

democratic decentralisation as a means of promoting local action for development. This report further stimulated voluntary efforts in the process of development under the aegis of the CSWB and the Panchayati Raj institutions. During the 1950s, Farmer’s Unions were formed to generate interest in the community development projects.

Association for Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) began in 1958 as a consortium of major voluntary agencies, coordinating voluntary efforts in rural development in the country. In the early sixties the emphasis in planning was laid on agricultural development. This was followed by programmes specially designed for the weaker sections and special areas such as drought prone, hilly, tribal, coastal areas etc. 

The approaches shifted from the community to agricultural production during the third five year plan (1961-66). This approach led to the introduction of Intensive Agricultural Development Programme (IADP) in 1961 and Intensive Agricultural Area Programme (IAAP) in 1964. The voluntary efforts made gradual evolutionary changes according to the changes in the governmental experiments in approaches and programmes in the process of development.

During the late 1960s, the country was caught up in the crisis of economic stagnation and political instability. This period was marked by massive droughts, floods and famine (1963-67) and increased rural misery. Student movements gained momentum during 1967-69. The National Social Service Scheme (NSS) formed in 1969, provided impetus to voluntarism with young students motivated to work on voluntary basis for the development of the weaker sections of the society. The Nehru Yuvak Kendras that were established at the grass-roots level offered opportunity to rural youths to participate in community services. Youth Clubs and Mahila Mandals operated in rural areas involving themselves in extension services and development programmes.

During the Third Five Year Plan, the government recognised voluntary efforts as an aspect of public cooperation and sought more cooperation from voluntary organisations particularly in the rural development programmes. During the mid-60s, many foreign NGOs entered the Indian scene to work in the voluntary sector for organising relief and rehabilitation work necessitated by severe drought (1965-66 & 1966-67) and famine. Foreign funds started flowing in during this period thus changing radically the character of the voluntary sector in the country. During the early seventies, at the call of Jaya Prakash Narayan during 1973-74 for ‘Sampurna Kranti’ (Total Revolution), a large number of voluntary organisations rallied behind him and built up People’s Power (Lok Shakti) against the State Power (Rajya Shakti).

‘Integrated ruraldevelopment’ during the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74). The Rural Works Programme was redesignated under the area programmes as e.g. the Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) in 1973-74 and later the Desert Development Programme in 1977-78. The Janata Government (1977-80) assigned special roles to the voluntary organisations and thus began a new phase in the history of voluntary efforts in India. The government visualised a special role for voluntary organisations through its programmes such as Adult Education, Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Antyodaya Scheme, block level planning and training programmes of lower level functionaries. The industrial and business houses were granted special tax exemption to involve voluntary organisations in rural development works.

With this changing emphasis with the passage of time, the ministries and departments also changed their nomenclature e.g. the Union Department of Rural Development which was under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was reorganised into the Ministry of Rural Reconstruction in 1979 and later into the Ministry of Rural Development and now to the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment. Similarly, the Ministry of Welfare changed its nomenclature to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Although the developmental programmes passed through several evolutionary stages, yet the concept of development with people’s participation as the basic approach did not undergo changes.  Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Development Agency (MFAL) were integrated into a new programme called Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) which was launched on 2 October 1980.

Although there has been a steady growth of voluntary organisations in India during the post- independence era, however, the advent of state welfarism and government initiatives of programmes and the establishment of Panchayati Raj institutions as people’s institutions hindered the full promotion of voluntarism in the rural areas. With the introduction of economic liberalization policies since 1984, shift of power from a centralised state sector and decentralisation of people’s own efforts and the growing recognition of the role of voluntary organisations since the Sixth and Seventh Plan period, there have been marked changes in the complexion of voluntarism in India. The Seventh Plan Document (1985-90) pronounced a greater involvement of the voluntary sector particularly in the process of rural development. The government provided support to voluntary organisations in successive plan periods in the rural development programmes. The government provided funds to voluntary organisation for rural development through People’s Action for Development of India (PADI) which came into being in 1973. A new organisation of Council for Advancement of Rural Technology (CART) was formed in 1983 aiming at improving rural conditions through promotion of technology and supporting voluntary organisations. Both PADI and CART merged together in 1986 as the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) to encourage, promote and assist voluntary efforts in the implementation of rural development programmes. The establishment of CAPART was another turning point in the history of voluntarism in India and it became an apex developmental agency for voluntary action in rural development. Since then, there has been an unprecedented growth of voluntary organisations in the country working in rural development programmes.

During the 1980s & 90s, with the growing recognition and support of the government and the international donor agencies, the growing volume of funding by them, and the changing paradigm of the concept of development with more emphasis towards people’s participation in various development projects, all have contributed to a more rapidly growing voluntary sector. In fact, voluntarism in India has undergone fast revolutionary changes and the voluntary sector has become a distinct third sector in the civil society. They are now more diversified with growing professionalism and the sector has been playing a greater role in welfare and development, holding an immense potential for social action and change in the years to come.

To address the revolutionary changes in voluntary sector, to cope with the changing paradigm of the concept of development with more emphasis towards people’s participation in various development projects  there arise the need for a comprehensive approach to develop Human Resources. Present condition and history pushes us to take a policy decision on the matter.