UPSC IAS exam preparation - Governance in India - Lecture 14

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Civil Society in India

[हिंदी में पढ़ें ]

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The term civil society has a long history. The first mention of the term goes back to Aristotle's phrase koinonía politike, occurring in his Politics where it refers to a 'community', commensurate with the Greek city-state (polis) characterized by a shared set of norms and ethos, in which free citizens on an equal footing lived under the rule of law. The ultimate objective of society was defined as common well being. Traditionally, the two terms 'State' and 'Civil Society' were used inter-changeably and treated synonymously. This trend continued till the eighteenth century.

Hegel gives an explanation of the basis of the Marxist concept of society. According to Hegel, civil society consists of individuals who have left the unity of the family to enter economic competition. Marx insists that civil society arose from the destruction of medieval society. Previously individuals were part of many different societies such as guilds or estates, each of which had a political role so that there was no separate civil realm. As these partial societies broke down, civil society arose in which the individual became all important. The old bonds of privilege were replaced by the selfish needs of atomistic individuals separated from each other and from the community.

2.0 DEFINITIONS

Jeffrey Alexander: "Civil Society is an inclusive, umbrella-like concept referring to a plethora of  "institutions outside the state".

Niraja Gopal Jayal: "Civil Society covers all forms of voluntary association and social interaction not controlled by the state".

S.K. Das:  ''Civil Society is the organised Society over which the state rules".

George Hugghis: "Civil Society is a social space, distinct from the state and business sectors but having a, sometimes tense, corelationship with that state, functioning through association".

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph: "Civil Society is defined variously by different theorists, but a minimal definition would include the idea of a non-state autonomous sphere; empowerment of citizens: trust-building associational life; interaction with, rather than subordination to the State''.

Larry Diamond: "Civil society represents the realm of an organized social life that is voluntary, self-generating, largely self-supporting, and bound by a legal order or set of shared values".

Neera Chandhoke observed, "Civil Society in India is seen by most theorists as a fluid association of social groupings which are based on caste and kinship linkages or on religious mobilisation as much as on voluntary social associations".

3.0 Features and components of Civil Society

The important features of a civil society are:

1. It refers to non-state institutions.
2. It covers a large space in society.
3. It refers to the organised society.
4. It covers groups which are intermediate between the state (political society) and the family (natural society).
5. It, though automonous, is subject to the authority of state.
6. It implies the existence of freedom of association, freedom of thought and other civil and economic rights.
7. It is in pursuit of common public good.
8. It opposses authoritarianism and totalitarianism.
9. It promotes citizenship by educating the individual.
10. It facilitates citizens' participation in the politico-administrative affairs.
11. It formulates public opinion and sets the demands which are general in nature.
12. Its important attribute is voluntarism, not coercion.
13. It advocates pluralism to reduce the domination of the state.
14. It serves as a moral referent in the community value system.

John Keane, the British theorist, summarises the current positive thinking about Civil Society as: "The emerging consensus that Civil Society is a realm of freedom correctly highlights its basic value as a condition of democracy; where there is no Civil Society there cannot be citizens with capacities to choose their identities, entitlements and duties within a political-legal framework."

Larry Diamond observed: "Democracy-in particular, a healthy liberal democracy- requires a public that is organised for democracy, socialised to its norms and values, and committed not just to its myriad narrow interests but to larger, common, civic ends. Such a civil public is only possible with a vibrant civil society".

Components: The organisations and groups included under the umbrella concept of Civil Society are:

1. Non-governmental organisations
2. Community-based organisations
3. Indigeneous people's organisations
4. Trade Unions
5. Farmer's organisations
6. Cooperatives
7. Religious associations
8. Youth groups
9. Women's groups, and
10. Other similarly organised groups.

In USA, the Civil Society is highly developed, while in India, it is fast growing since the 1970s. In the words of Niraja Gopal Jayal, "with regard to India, it has been argued that Civil Society, in the sense of opposition to the State, is developed, while Civil Society, in the sense of associational groups, is not".

4.0 Origin of Civil Society in India

In the 1970s, in the tribal belt of Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, an outfit called the Social Action Group (SAG) was born out of the sufferings of the tribal people. Their objective was to emerge as an alternative to the administration. Slowly and gradually, the SAGs started making their presence felt under the leadership of people known for their radical thinking and selfless service to society, mostly from outside the region. Of concern was the subtle ways with which the leaders carried out political indoctrination of the indigenous people, exploiting their pent up feelings of distrust and disaffection towards the government and the state. A close scrutiny revealed linkages of some of these outfits with the organisation known as the Christian Action Group (CAG) whose activities were mostly religious and philanthropic, involving the local Christian community. Education, health, water, sanitation and doles of different types formed the bulk of their social responsibility. Soon the people of the region started looking up to the SAGs and the CAG as the provider of help and relief of all sorts with the Church acting as the pivot. 

Government’s  efforts to regularise developmental processes and its benefits has had two major shortcomings. Firstly, there were probelms in monitoring the actual use of funds which were received through various channels. Secondly, the government and its agencies failed to redress the grievances of the people and could not form any partnership with the SAG. A study revealed that the NGOs really mushroomed with the end of the cold war and the onset of globalisation of economy. Overnight, Human Rights Groups appeared on the scene with an aggressive propaganda, characterising the actions of the Security Forces dealing with terrorism and insurgency in conflict-prone regions as violative of human rights. The prompt support extended by their international counterparts imparted a measure of legitimacy to the campaign. The latter also lined up other support and assistance in money and kind to raise the tempo of the publicity. 

Rajesh Tandon has classified Civil Society associations in India into five categories:

• Traditional associations based on caste, tribe or ethnicity.
• Religious associations like Ramakrishna Mission, Islamic Institutions, etc.
• Social movements of several types, viz.,

1. movements focusing on the needs of a particular group like women or tribals;
2. movements to reform social evils like dowry or liquor;
3. movements to protest against displacements due to developments; and
4. movements focussing on governance like civil liberties campaigns or anti-corruption campaigns.

• Membership associations of different types, viz.,

1. Representational like trade unions, peasants organisations and so on.
2. Professional like associations of lawyers, doctors, etc.
3. Socio-cultural like sports clubs, recreational clubs and so forth.
4. Self-help like ward committees in cities or community-based organisations in villages.

• Intermediary associations of different types, viz.,

1. Service delivery like schools, homes for destitutes and so on.
2. Mobilisational which help organise marginalised sections to demand their own rights.
3. Supportive which provide support to other community-based associations.
4. Philanthropic like Child Relief and You (CRY). Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and so forth.
5. Advocacy which explicitly advocate a particular cause.
6. Network which extend collective voice and strength like Association of Voluntary Agencies in Rural Development (AVARD).

5.0 ROLE OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY

The Civil Society Organisations (Voluntary or non-governmental organisations) play an important role in the welfare and development administration. The various dimensions of their role are:

1. They organise and mobilise the poor for socio-economic development.
2. They disseminate information and make the people aware of various schemes, programmes, and projects initiated by the Government for their betterment.
3. They facilitate the people's participation in administrative process.
4. They make the administrative machinery more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
5. They impose a community system of accountability on the functioning of administrative machinery at lower levels. Thus, they reduce the scope for corruption.
6. They help the administrative machinery in identifying the target groups.
7. They facilitate the usage of local resources for local development and thus make the communities self-reliant.
8. They create political consciousness among the people by discussing various political issues.
9. They act as the watch-dogs of the public interest. 
10. They strengthen the principle of self-help.

However, it must be mentioned here that the role of voluntary agencies lies in supplementing the efforts of government and not competing with it.

Milton Esman identified four agencies of development viz., political system, administrative system, mass media, and voluntary organisations. He felt that the involvement of voluntary agencies in the developmental process has three merits, that is, a sense of solidarity, participation in decision-making, and opportunity to interact with agencies of development including government.

According to Raj Krishna, an eminent economist and a former member of the planning commission, the voluntary agencies are superior to government agencies in three aspects:

• their workers can be more sincerely devoted to the task of reducing the sufferings of the poor than government staff,
• they can have a better rapport with the rural poor than government staff, and
• they can operate with greater flexibility as they are not bound by rigid bureaucratic rules and procedures. L.M. Prasad adds two more points: 

1. their efforts are more economical than the government agencies, and 
2. they can motivate more public participation in development efforts than government agencies.

Challenge to the state? In recent times as is evident from the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign of Anna Hazare, the clout and influence of the civil society groups has grown manifold. Frequently they pose a challenge to the state and upset the establishment.  They try to force compliance with these by the states where they operate. The objective is to compel the national or state governments to share powers so that the NGOs could bring to bear on them sufficient pressure to follow a particular course of action dictated by them. In terms of resources and expertise, some of these NGOs are sometimes as strong, if not stronger, than some of the small sovereign states and international bodies. Their range of activities is multi-dimensional and goes beyond all proportions. They have the capacity and capability to breed new ideas, advocate protests, mobilise support, both within and across the borders, provide goods and services, shape, implement and enforce national and international commitments. The vast networking within and outside the territorial boundaries, offers the civil society groups an unprecedented channel, reach, and extent of influence. Some of the NGO leaders who have developed a high profile, acclaim, and popularity, have managed to influence the decision making process of the government from within by being part of government delegations. Recently there has been a growing awareness that being apolitical, there is only so much that can be achieved. Civil society organisations have started metamorphosising into political parties now. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is an example of this.

The Role of Information technology: The overthrow of the Egyptian government of Hosni Mubarak and the success of AAP in Delhi have proved the potential of IT to change the game. The revolution in Information Technology has broken all physical barriers, connecting the people across the borders with growing ease to separate them from natural and historical associations within nations. This has brought in place a powerful globalising force with capacity and prospects of amplifying social and political fragmentation by enabling more and more identities and interests catered around the globe, to coalesce and thrive. It has potential of creating new forces of stress, strain and unrest in regions or areas otherwise peaceful and stable. This has helped the NGOs draw world-wide media attention to issues or causes that may not be very desirable in the interests of a polity.  The NGOs must see to it that their track record improves, showing greater loyalty and better orientation towards programmes and measures meant to resolve people's problems with speed and commitment. They try to outperform the government agencies in the delivery of public services and goods, and project the latter in poor light. They anticipate and respond to new demands and challenges much better and much before the state does. All these help rally the people around and fuel disaffection towards the state.  Ever since security has become a concern with life and dignity and the credibility of the government is being judged by the measure of freedom available to the people from fear and want, the field of activities and interference of NGOs have increased exponentially, and become more frequent.

The democratisation of technology has vested the civil society groups with the capacity to undermine the state's monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Citizens now are connected to each other constantly and there are no gaps in information which the government can exploit. The RTI has also broken government’s monopoly on data and information. It was the lack of equation of power between the state and the citizen that helped the state, in the past, to keep a semblance of order and stability. It also provided the glue required to keep modern civilization together. It has made central control on the storage and flow of information difficult. It has connected everyone but left none in command and control. The satellite communication has opened highways and super-highways providing access to information with the same speed to both the government and the civil society groups. Earlier, it was very difficult for the latter to obtain but now, with the press of a key, the whole world of information is available on the screen of the computer. Depending on the requirements of the NGOs and others, the information is collected, collated, coordinated and refined for commission of acts which may or may not be prejudicial to the interests of the state and the government. The important question that confronts us is how do we deal with the NGOs and transform multi-dimensional challenges they pose into opportunities to strengthen the state and the government. It is time that the government accepts that in today's complex world, it is not possible for it and its agencies to keep track of happenings around the world and round the clock. 

There is a need for structured consultations between the two for meeting the gaps and inadequacies in information/ knowledge while reviewing the politics, policies and administration for correction and improvement. 

6.0 Civil society and international relations

Due to the shift in international politics after the cold war era, there has been a resurgence of political consciousness in civil society. A  whole range of new associations, citizens' formations, new social   movements, knowledge-action networks and policy advocacy groups have   emerged at the national and international level. 

The new stress on human rights in the aftermath   of the Vienna Human Rights Summit, in 1993, gave new spaces and international   legitimacy to new human rights movements, integrating civil, political,   economic, social and cultural rights. A series of United Nations conferences,   starting with the Rio Summit in 1992, created an enabling global space   for civil society processes and organisations. The Beijing Summit in   1995 on women's rights, the Copenhagen Summit on social development   in 1996, and the Durban Summit on racism provided a global platform   for civil society movements to advance a new discourse on politics and   public policy. The exchange of knowledge, linkages and resources began   to create a new synergy between countries and communities in the South   as well as in the North. In fact, the United Nations became a key mediating   ground between civil society and various governments.

Such a mediating role between  civil society and state provided a new legitimacy and role for the United   Nations. As highlighted by the adoption of the MDG by the United Nations in 2000 the new stress on human development, human rights and global   poverty created a legitimate space for global action and campaigns for civil society. New technological and financial resources helped international  networking and a new trend of globalisation from below. As the new hegemony   of power politics driven by unilateral militarism, conservative politics   and a neoliberal policy paradigm began to dominate the world, the new   social movements and consequent civil society process became the arena  for a new politics of protest and resistance against unjust globalisation.   Such a new civil society process was driven by communities, communications   and creativity. New modes of communication, networking, campaigning   and mobilisation made civil society discourse one of the most influential  political and policy discourses in the 21st century.

In the 1980s, civil society was more of a conceptual   tool to legitimise and organise the protest movement against authoritarian   governments in Latin America and Central Europe. In the 1990s, the term   'civil society' became an instrument of policy and politics at the international level, supported by both aid and trade. And in the last   10 years, the idea of civil society has been increasingly contextualised to become a plural arena of political praxis for transformative politics in multiple contexts. The old civil society discourse was submerged in new movements for radical democratisation, feminist politics, and ecological, social and economic justice. It is the new emerging discourse on civil society that seeks to address the issue of democratic deficit, and crisis of governance. Therefore it is important to reclaim civil societies as plural and diverse spaces for collective human action as an arena for transformative politics. The reclaiming of civil societies would mean a reassertion of the dignity, sovereignty and human rights of all peoples. 

There is the need to reclaim a new political  consciousness driven by freedom from fear and freedom from want; freedom of association and freedom of beliefs. The idea of civil   society needs to be reinforced by new civil values and virtues: the values of equality and justice; values that would help us fight all  kinds of injustice and discrimination based on gender, race, caste or creed. 

Civil society can be transformative when it combines the politics of protest and the politics of proposal. Civil society will become an arena that can help combine the politics of people and the politics of knowledge.  Civil society becomes a transformative space when it can   help to create the politics of dissent, politics of association and   citizens' action against monopoly of power and spaces for counter-discourse   and counter-hegemony.

7.0 Limitations and problems of civil society organisations

Civil Society organizations face a lot of limitations:

1. Lack of sufficient financial resources
2. Lack of trained and professional workers
3. Bureaucratic non-cooperation and even resistance
4. Inadequate information base        
5. Limited functional perspective (not holistic approach)
6. Political interference and influence                     
7. Resistance from local landlords, money-lenders and the like
8. Diverse socio-economic environment like casteism, communalism, poverty and so on.

The World Development Report of 1997 observed, "The voluntary sector not only brings its own strengths to the table, but also its own weakness. It does a lot of good work in increasing public awareness, voicing citizens' concerns, and delivering services. Local self-help organizations are sometimes the preferred providers of local public goods and services, because of their closeness to local concerns. But their concern is often for certain religious or ethnic groups and not the society as a whole. Their accountability is limited and their resources are often constrained.'

On the other hand, the government has to bear in mind that the lack of strategic thinking, dysfunctional administration, delay in putting its acts together, self destructive streaks, talking in different voices, moving in different directions and inability to combine power with principle in a dispassionate manner, provide space and fodder for the growth and irresponsible behaviour of civil society groups.  The latter rise from the ashes of the failures of the government and the state. The strategic thinking underscores the imperative need for consultations with the civil society groups to get integrated into the systems and institutions of the government at different levels so that a strong bridge of relationship is built with boundaries of propriety, legal, constitutional and moral, properly delineated and clearly understood by the concerned players and the people.

On the operational side, these challenges would require proper and regular upgrading of four distinct elements of intelligence and warning, prevention and deterrence, crisis and consequence management and coordinated acquisition of equipment and technology for application. Without these, the state will often be found remiss in its approach and action. The formulation of the National Security Doctrine, for which a Task Force was set up recently by the government under the chairmanship of former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra, would require an in-depth study of all these issues for the nation to have in place an institutionalised response mechanism, after 64 years of independence. Civil society in India seems defined by exclusion. It is crowded with human rights lawyers and activists, NGO leaders, academics and intellectuals, high-profile journalists, celebrities and think tank-hirelings. Mass media debates never see landless labourers, displaced people, nurses, trade union workers, bus conductors being asked to speak for 'civil society.' Though, indeed they should.

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