Voluntary organizations in development in South Asia
Maloney, C.
Ufsi Reports 11: 1-10
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0743-9644 PMID: 12269041 Document Number: 351970
The governments of South Asian countries have become aware of the substantial role that nongovernment organizations (NGOs) or voluntary agencies can play in rural development and other nation building activities. Although private agencies cannot substitute for government programs, there is general consensus that NGOs use development funds more efficiently and innovatively than government programs. NGOs in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan exemplify the influence these organizations have on development in South Asia. The Lutheran World Service in Bangladesh, a foreign origin NGO, has branched out from its original aim of providing relief and war rehabilitation to give skills training and technical assistance to the poor. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, an indigenous NGO, works for the well-being and self-reliance of the landless poor, those with very small farms, and women. NGOs in Bangladesh have been especially innovative in developing methods to encourage self-help, such as local organization and credit, which are often combined with training in practical skills, literacy, nutrition, and family planning. Present NGO activity in India is dominated by the Gandhian tradition. There is a potential conflict between the philosophy of the NGO's in terms of building on the people's felt needs from the bottom up and the tendency of government agencies to want to plan for the people. In Pakistan, the concept of development-oriented NGOs is recent and not yet strong, although the government has adopted a policy of routing funds from government and from bilateral donor agencies through NGOs in 2 areas--family planning and women's welfare. The chief limitation of NGOs is their scope, meaning that the major burden of the development process rests on government agencies.