The Hindu : PM lauds voluntary organisation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 21, 2002

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National

PM lauds voluntary organisation

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 20. That the voluntary sector should have been sidelined in the land of Gandhi — who believed "constructive work is the cornerstone of nation-building'' — is, according to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the "collective failure of our entire political establishment'' which has "tended to focus on `sanghathan' (organisation) and `sangharsh' (agitation)'' at the expense of `samrachana' (constructive work).

Delivering the inaugural address at the All India Conference on the `Role of the Voluntary Sector in National Development' — organised by the Planning Commission here today — Mr. Vajpayee said though the Government and the citizens are to be blamed for the "over-dependence'' on the State, the "responsibility of the former is greater'' for ignoring the power of social transformation that is latent in voluntarism.

Saluting the voluntary sector for carving out a space for itself despite inadequate Government encouragement and political support, he said politicians ought to realise that "democracy at the grassroots cannot be strengthened without a tradition of public spirit and a spirit of voluntarism''.

While lauding the work of the voluntary organisations, Mr. Vajpayee made out a case for rewriting their relationship with the Government. The relationship of `daata' (benefactor) and `yaachak' (supplicant) should give way to one of partnership where the Government acts as a facilitator and the NGOs deliver on what they promise. Also, voluntary organisations should shed their "excessive dependence on foreign aid'' and move away from the tendency of being "individual-centric'' to "outlast their founder''.

Though billed as the first such meeting between the Centre, States and the voluntary sector, only few States were represented by their Chief Ministers. Still, a common refrain of most State representatives was the uneven growth of the voluntary sector as a result of which some areas that are crying for development remained untouched by this grassroots effort.

This observation, thus, found its way into the recommendations which has called for removal of regional imbalances and greater voluntary effort in underdeveloped areas where socio-economic and environmental development and population stabilisation are urgently required.

Given the Prime Minister's call for widening and deepening the activities of the voluntary sector, another recommendation pertained to mobilisation of resources for such work from not just the Government, but also the private sector, NRIs and global funding agencies.

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