Future Development Sector Institutions...

What is the Future Institution in the Development sector?

NGOs (of Civil Society organizations if you prefer the American term for it) in India have had the toughest decade in existence since Independence.  Five key factors have impacted the sector which many are unable to cope with. These are -

1. the changes in the regulatory ecosystem
2. raising expectation of the newer generation of employees
3. impact and entry of market forces in the development sector
4. fast changing needs of the communities they work with and
5. the ecosystem of funding and finance available for development organization

Regulatory Challenge: Never before has a national government regulated the work of civil society with such rigor as the current one. While some feel the regulatory nature of the changes have helped address several long pending needs for accountability and bring much needed reforms to the sector. However, the same regulatory body being used to achieve vindictive political ends has been deeply disturbing. The intolerance to constructive criticism of government's favourite programme to any caricature of the leadership, all have resulted in multi-departmental legal quagmire for the NGOs. Even a semblance of association with anyone remotely critical of the government can be construed as 'non-compliance' to bring down reputed institutions. Auditors are editing out annual reports of whatever they think can be construed as being critical of the government.  If it was merely staying away from the politically sensitive subjects, most NGOs would gladly do so. However, with the governments increasingly being representatives of ambitious bureaucrats and extractive and exploitative corporate interests, 'compliance' has got a new definition.

Expectation challenges: Recently I met with a Principal of a NGO managed school, who gets a salary of around INR 30,000 in her rural school. While she lives in a nearby town and has to commute an hour to get to the school, she is content with the salary. When I asked her about the pay scale, she said, "my husband also works as a teacher, with whatever we get, we have managed to provide good education to our children, that is all we were aiming for in life". She has a Ph.D. and 30 years of experience, some with other institutions and 18+ with the current institution. At the same time, another rural NGO trying to recruit a youngster who wants to migrate to such a rural institute in search of a job that will help him to learn and grow, demanded that he be paid a salary of INR 75,000. He has a bachelors degree in management, has tried various odd jobs for 3 years, took a year off with a Fellowship with an organization and has no experience in working in such venture. The disparity of the expectations between the two defines India today. It has been repeatedly flagged by the subsequent NSDC Skill Gap reports over the years. In a state like Tamil Nadu the different between what an industry pays for new comers is almost 60% lesser than what they expect. These are driven by the anxiety of the new generation, their aspirations and lifestyle choices, and vulnerability, primarily driven by their isolation in society. Everyone is earning to be an independent person rather than someone in a relationship, in a family or a community.

Market impact: The market has entered development sector in several ways. People working on livelihoods directly contend with the ever increasing market competition, those not directly involved have to contend with the cost of everything from products, services, infrastructure and facilities, then the manpower as mentioned above, shaped by the market forces as well. One of the worst impacts have been the entry of all-knowing corporate front organizations, with their market presence and access, claiming to represent the development sector. One large IT corporate sets up a marketing entity supposedly to provide marketing support for rural producers, but, demands that it be provided an exclusive rights to do the marketing.  Another IT corporate has created an app for the development sector activity with its CSR funds used to fund its own development team, and now wants to provide the same to the NGOs free, but, with a string attached that they have to hire the IT company for the maintenance. The diverse pressure that the corporate houses apply on the NGOs for providing little financial support is bad enough, but, to usurp their work and claim the same to be their own is worse.  

Community expectation changes: Communities with whom NGOs have worked, particularly in the space of rural livelihoods or micro-credits, have also changed in their expectations significantly. The politicisation of all social benefits over the last couple of decades has reached everyone's language, if not behaviour. SHG members who used to commute streets of villages by foot to recruit others with non-collateral loan needs similar to themselves, for often no other support than the satisfaction of spreading the access to finance, have been replaced by young scooter borne educated women who demand that they be renumerated if they have to move from one spot of the village to another. The aspirations of the village folks are no different in many cases than that of the city folks. 

Dried-up Funding: India is increasingly seen as a 'developed' country and NGOs are unable to attract funds from global donors. It is not merely the ones working on economic issues, but, even the ones who are working on charity based activities - education, healthcare, vulnerable communities, people with special needs, etc., The domestic philanthropy circuit is over crowded with demands and often is driven by the pet projects of corporates or to satisfy governments. Increasingly greenwashing, and moral-cleansing projects are preferred by the corporates to compensate for their otherwise dirty businesses. The middle class mind that occupies the CSR wings of large corporates have devised ways and means of benefiting personally or professionally through their projects rather than dispense it for the needy.   

The challenge for many of the large NGOs is that these changes have often hit them together and leaving many in utter disarray and unable to respond. Others have encountered this in stages and have had opportunity to respond to each one. Primarily those who have survived have been the ones that have managed to do the following -

• create a source of revenue to sustain in the new market space or
• groomed either from within the institution or family someone as the next generation leader

All others are struggling in several ways. My idea of the  Future Development institution has been based on the analysis of the changes in the sector and the ecosystem as well. I consider the following as the key factors for the future development sector institutions -

• strong conviction rooted in the understanding and idea of the local
• leadership that is proximate to the local community and
• a community of team members who agree to work and grow together apart from these of course
• a financial model of operation that is self-sustaining 

Leadership, sound financial processes, teams, and convictions, may sound like a tall ask for any institution to have together. But that is the reality, there is no other way of going past this very difficult times. We are currently shaping strategies for several institutions that are willing to navigate these very difficult times with course corrections. Do reach out and write to us if you are head of an NGO and would like us to help you too.