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Civil society means the entire range of organized groups and institutions that are independent of the state, voluntary, and at least to some extent self-generating and self-reliant. This includes non-governmental organizations, independent mass media, think tanks, universities, and social and religious groups. Civil society derives its strength from the Gandhian tradition of volunteerism, but today, it expresses itself in many different forms of activism. In independent India, the initial role played by the voluntary organizations started by Gandhi and his disciples was to fill in the gaps left by the government in the development process. The volunteers organized handloom weavers in village to form cooperatives through which they could market their products directly in the cities, and thus get a better price. Similar cooperatives were later set up in areas like marketing of dairy products and fish. In almost all these cases, the volunteers helped in other areas of development – running literacy classes for adults at night.
In the 1980s, however, the groups who were now known as NGOs became more specialized and the voluntary movement was, in a way, fragmented into three major groups. There were those considered the traditional development NGOs, who went into a village or a group of villages and run literacy programmes. There are many examples of voluntary organizations of this kind running very successfully in India for the last five decades. Perhaps the most cerebrated example would be the treatment centre for leprosy patients run by Baba Amte in central India. The second group of NGOs were those who researched a particular subject in depth, and then lobbied with the government or with industry or petitioned the courts for improvements in the lives of the citizens, as for as that particular subject was concerned. A well-known example of an NGO of this type is the Centre for Science and Environment. It was a CSE who picked up that sample of well water and then submitted the results of the chemical analysis to a court because the organization had not been able to get the factory to change its polluting practices in any other way. In the third group were those volunteers who saw themselves more as activists than other NGOs did. Of course, all NGOs undertook a certain amount of activism to get their points across – they petitioned the bureaucrats, they alerted the media whenever they found something wrong and so on. But this third group of NGOs saw activism as their primary means of reaching their goals, because they did not believe they could get the authorities to move in any other way. Perhaps the best-known example of an NGO in this category is the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Why do we need Civil Society in India?
Democracy is founded on a self-reflective choice and on institutional arrangements which secure the equal sharing of political, economic and social power. These are just necessary conditions for democracy. The sufficient condition so that democracy will not degenerate into some kind of “demago-cracy”, where the demos is manipulated by a new breed of professional politicians, is crucially determined by the citizens’ level of democratic consciousness. Democracy is the one type of government that cannot exist without the approval and input of the people. This is because its main characteristic is choice – without active political choices being made by the citizens living in a democracy, a democracy does not really exist. India is a representative rather than a participatory democracy. Once the elections are over, the politicians who run the federal and state governments do not really need to go back to the electorate for every major decision – there is not tradition of referendums in India, as there is a Switzerland or Denmark. So, in the five years between one election and another, the civil society are often the only means available to the citizens to voice their opinions on any decision taken by a government. A strong and vigilant civil society can be a check on corruption and form the basis for countervailing. A free media has a crucial role in the prevention, monitoring and control of corruption. Voter education, electoral reforms and periodical highlighting of the performance of elected representatives should be high priority items in civil society’s agenda. In a large developing country like India, there are numerous gaps left by the government in the development process. These are the gaps that civil societies try to fill in modern India. Civil Society Supplements the government effort to provide health care to citizens, and by raising awareness in society about issues like child and maternal malnutrition. A number of NGO’s like Childline India Foundation, World Vision, Arambh India have played important role in raising awareness on child sexual abuse. In the last 20 years, a very large number of NGOs in India have been active in the area of environmental protection. The NGOs have often been helped by the judiciary whenever the government of the day has proved. The engagement of civil society and the media in educating citizens about the evils of corruption, raising their awareness levels and securing their participation by giving them a ‘voice’ . Civil society can influence policy and project formulation through membership of committees and submission of memoranda.
Functions Civil Society should perform in a Democracy
Civil society contributes to good governance by being a Watchdog — against violation of human rights and governance deficit, Advocate -- of the weaker sections’ point of view, Agitator — on behalf of aggrieved citizens, Educator — of citizens on their rights, entitlements and responsibilities and the government about the pulse of the people, Service provider — to areas and people not reached by official efforts or as government’s agent, Mobiliser — of public opinion for or against a programme or policy. Some of the stellar achievement of the civil society includes -- Right to Information Act, Consumer Protection Act, Citizens Charters, Whistleblower protection, e-governance, Democratic Decentralisation, Public Interest Litigation, etc.
Civil society groups may establish ties to political parties and the state, but they must retain their independence, and they do not seek political power for themselves. The first and most basic role of civil society is to limit and control the power of the state. Civil society actors should watch how state officials use their powers. They should raise public concern about any abuse of power. They should lobby for access to information, including freedom of information laws, and rules and institutions to control corruption. They should expose the corrupt conduct of public officials and lobby for good governance reforms. Even where anti-corruption laws and bodies exist, they cannot function effectively without the active support and participation of civil society. Civil society empowers the citizens about their rights and duties and the necessity of them. It also encourages the traditionally excluded groups such as women, dalits and minorities to utilize their rights and the access to power. One function of civil society is to promote political participation. NGOs can do this by educating people about their rights and obligations as democratic citizens, and encouraging them to listen to election campaigns and vote in elections. NGOs can also help develop citizens’ skills to work with one another to solve common problems, to debate public issues, and express their views. Civil society organizations can help to develop the other values of democratic life: tolerance, moderation, compromise, and respect for opposing points of view. Without this deeper culture of accommodation, democracy cannot be stable. These values have to be cultivated in young people and adults through various programs that practice participation and debate. Civil society also can help to develop programs for democratic civic education in the schools as well. Civil society is an arena for the expression of diverse interests, and one role for civil society organizations is to lobby for the needs and concerns of their members, as women, students, farmers, environmentalists, trade unionists, lawyers, doctors, and so on. NGOs and interest groups can present their views to parliament and provincial councils, by contacting individual members and testifying before parliamentary committees. They can also establish a dialogue with relevant government ministries and agencies to lobby for their interests and concerns. Civil society can strengthen democracy is to provide new forms of interest and solidarity that cut across old forms of tribal, linguistic, religious, and other identity ties. Democracy cannot be stable if people only associate with others of the same religion or identity. When people of different religions and ethnic identities come together on the basis of their common interests as women, artists, doctors, students, workers, farmers, lawyers, human rights activists, environmentalists, and so on, civic life becomes richer, more complex, and more tolerant. Civil society can provide a training ground for future political leaders. NGOs and other groups can help to identify and train new types of leaders who have dealt with important public issues and can be recruited to run for political office at all levels and to serve in provincial and national cabinets. Civil society can help to inform the public about important public issues. This is not only the role of the mass media, but of NGOs which can provide forums for debating public policies and disseminating information about issues before parliament that affect the interests of different groups, or of society at large.
Civil society is not simply in tension with the state. Because civil society is independent of the state doesn’t mean that it must always criticize and oppose the state. In fact, by making the state at all levels more accountable, responsive, inclusive, and effective and hence more legitimate. A vigorous civil society strengthens citizens’ respect for the state and promotes their positive engagement with it. A democratic state cannot be stable unless it is effective and legitimate, with the respect and support of its citizens. Civil society is a check, a monitor, but also a vital partner in the quest for this kind of positive relationship between the democratic state and its citizens. The state must respect the articulation of the politics of voice and not just the politics of the vote. The promises of democracy can only be realised through collective action in civil society. A democratic state needs a democratic civil society and a democratic civil society also needs a democratic state. They mutually reinforce each other.
Question - Civil society is considered to be in a state of constant tension and conflict with the state. Critically analyze
By: Vinay Joshi ProfileResourcesReport error
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