Abstract
Over the years, NGOs have emerged as important agents of change in many countries, contributing to several areas. According to some estimates, there are as many as 3.3 million non-government organisations or community service organisations in India, many of which started with the aim of serving the poor, the oppressed, the rural and the underprivileged sections of society. They are engaged in the direct delivery of services, sustainable systems of development in a larger institutional and policy context, or in social and political advocacy, and action research, supporting people’s movements and promoting broader social vision. Some NGOs have worked in collaboration with governments and contributed to strengthening of the public systems. But except for a few, one finds no authentic comprehensive account of how the NGOs work and what contributions they make. Anchoring Change gives us interesting accounts of 24 well-known and less-known interventions at the grassroots, many of which owe their origin to the efforts of civil society organisations, and some to the efforts of the state or local governments, or the corporate sector, and how they made a difference to the well-being of the people. The collection covers initiatives made over a long period—spanning over about 75 years of India’s independence, though some trace the origins of the activities to earlier periods.
An important feature of the book is that, by design, each essay was contributed by the protagonists of the concerned initiative. So, the readers hear the story from the horse’s mouth, which may have its own strengths and shortcomings—authenticity and bias; some are nostalgic in their narratives, but many of them are self-introspective, if not highly critical. All the cases presented here are successful stories, and they discuss the process of achieving their success. However, all the authors are proud of their achievements. The agents of change included in the book are Seva Mandir (Udaipur, Rajasthan), Eklavya (Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh), Jamkhed (Maharashtra), noon meals programme (Tamil Nadu), Anandi (Gujarat), the Ant (Assam), Araku Valley coffee project (Andhra Pradesh), Jeevika (Bihar), Aajeevika (Rajasthan), Kutumbashree (Government of India), Dastkar (Delhi), Goonj (Delhi), spastic societies and ITC e-Choupal, etc. Although many agencies were originally conceived as small, local and micro-initiatives with possibly very low effect, they have expanded and made significant contributions, giving a big impetus to enduring social change and development. The authors and editors belong to various backgrounds, but all are actively involved in social change in one way or the other.
The editors observe that most of the interventions at the grassroots have been driven by the interactions of the state, the market and the society. The relations between the three have evolved over the years and this has influenced the nature, shape and scope of social action (pp. 3–4). To buttress this view, the editors describe with examples from specific cases, how the first five-year plan (1951–1956) of the Government of Independent India created space for civil society to take initiative and enabled smooth relationships between government and civil society organisations, how the state encouraged these organisations during the 1970s and 1980s to play a supportive role in development and how during the 1990s, the government partnered with these organisations at the local level for the implementation of the government programmes and schemes. With the mandatory corporate social responsibility act in the new millennium, the corporate sector entered and acted on its own, or partnered with civil society organisations on the one hand and with the government on the other.
Many of these cases suggest that successful initiatives rest on the bedrock of a few basic principles of selflessness, empathy, honesty and integrity. As elucidated in the case of Seva Mandir, one can say that seva (service), sadhana (dedicated practice) and kranti (revolutionary change) form the basic ingredients of any initiative to succeed. The success of any initiative requires a group of committed people, and professionals if available, all of whom share a common vision, patience and persistence in their efforts, periodic honest self-critical interpretations and necessary mid-way corrections in their approaches. The success of an initiative requires understanding and influencing community aspirations, and considering the people not as objects or receivers of development activities, but as active partners in making and creating their own development, taking responsibilities and even sharing costs. Many successful initiatives aimed at helping improve the dignity of the people, the entire community (‘all or none’—100% inclusion), and their autonomous development. It may have to be realised that all initiatives are not necessarily scalable, but some are replicable. Every specific issue requires a specific approach, considering the specific context. Obviously, one model does not fit all. However, some initiatives stood on their own, and some influenced government policies, programmes and their implementation, making governments adopt or adapt the same or partly modified ones, or to respond intelligently with new models.
The editors underline five major strands behind these several successful interventions at the grassroots: (a) strong conviction and belief in their abilities to make a change and to convince the people in their abilities to make a change, (b) a sound design and framework of their initiatives that involve significant alliances and strategic partnerships with other actors in the society, (c) involvement of the people in the process, (d) stability, continuity and tenacity of leadership and (e) development of a healthy ecosystem in which relationships are forged with the bureaucrats, politicians and other institutions at the micro- and macro-levels. The cases also suggest that civil society organisations should be non-hierarchical and distributive, one has to be adaptive and innovative and continuously strive for optimal outcomes, not compromising on sub-optimal solutions–viewing that is ok for the poor.
Two minor limitations, I note with the book are in relation to its scope and structure: a few major unsuccessful initiatives may also have been included, as one can learn a lot from failures also. second, the content of the book could have been thematically organised classifying the 24 essays into different sections under, say, government initiatives and non-government initiatives, or chronologically into two to three distinct phases as already noted, or under economic, social, political and other initiatives, or by some other way. Despite these limitations, Anchoring Change is an excellent book, highly readable, with inspiring narratives of diverse kinds of initiatives that have brought a change in the lives of many people and in the approaches of public and non-state entities to social and economic issues. Not only those who are involved in and wish to take such initiatives but also others interested in social issues and living conditions of the people would find it a rewarding reading.
