L7 Magna Carta Mains 2023.pdf

MAGNA CARTA
PAPER II CRASH COURSE : L6
MAINS 2023
COGITO ERGO SUM
GOVERNANCE : LEC 7 : THEME 2 : NON STATE ACTORS
ATISH MATHUR OFFICIAL

OFFICIAL SYLLABUS
GOVERNANCE LECTURE PLAN
Lecture 6 : Development Policy
Lecture 7 : Non State Actors
Lecture 8 : Good Governance
Pressure Groups and Formal/Informal
Associations and their Role in the Polity
Government policies and interventions for
development in various sectors and issues
arising out of their design and implementation.
Development processes and the development
industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various
groups and associations, donors, charities,
institutional and other stakeholders.
Important aspects of governance,
transparency and accountability, e-
governance- applications, models, successes,
limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and
institutional and other measures.
Role of civil services in a democracy.

Pressure Groups
Meaning :
Organised associations, unions or
organisation of people having
common interest
Aim is to seek better conditions for
their members through organised
efforts.
They try to influence the
legislature, executive and other
decision makers to have decisions
made in their favour
Indian political parties are weak in
principles and organisation.
Pressure groups are supposed to
be very significant in the
functioning of the Indian Political
System. In parliamentary system of
government, pressure groups exert
pressure mainly on the executive
with the assumption that
legislature is under the control of
executive (political and permanent
executive)
Role: "the study of politics is the study
of influences and influential." - Harold
Laswell
Informally attempt to influence the
government on a specific public
policy issue of a section of society
Interest formation and interest
aggregation.
Mediatory role between the people
and government.
Identifying possible policy
alternatives or options
Institutional Interest Groups Anomic Interest Groups
The Associational Interest
Groups
Non-Associational Interest
Groups
Formally organised which
consist of professionally
employed persons
Part of government
machinery and try to exert
their influence
Do have much autonomy
Political parties,
legislatures, armies,
bureaucracies
All India IAS Association
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
interest articulation, but to
pursue limited goals
Trade unions, organisations
of businessmen and
industrialists and civic
groups.
CII, FICCI, NSUI
1.
2.
3.
analogy with individual self-
representation
movement demonstrations
and processions, signature
campaigns, street corner
meetings, etc
Their activities may either
be constitutional or
unconstitutional
1.
2.
3.
kinship and lineage groups
and ethnic, regional, status
and class groups that
articulate interests on the
basis of individuals, family
and religious heads
informal structure
caste groups, language
groups
1.
2.
3.
Business Labour/Trade Farmers & Peasants Professional Religious
To protect its
business interests
like opposing tax
increases minimum
control on labour;
influence planning,
licensing bodies
and economic
ministries.
independent of the
political parties
FICCI, CII etc.
1.
2.
3.
Continuation of
subsidy, MSP,
tenancy rights,
electricity charges
The interplay of
language, caste
factor, weak
financial positions,
etc. have been
greatly responsible
for non-emergence
of national level
pressure groups.
1.
2.
payment of
adequate wages
and emoluments,
reasonable working
hours and
conditions of
service,
compensation in
case of accident
Politically aligned
Indian National
Trade Union
Congress
1.
2.
3.
service conditions,
facilities
Indian Medical
Association, SC/HC
Bar Association
1.
2.
caste & communal
associations can be
categorised as
religious pressure
groups
Scheduled Caste
Federation
1.
2.

Techniques
Characteristics
Based on Certain Interests : In every government and political party there are clashing interest groups. These groups try to dominate the political structure and to see that groups
whose interests clash with theirs are suppressed. Thus, each political party and system is pressurised by certain interest groups which may be similar or reactionary to each other
Use of Modern as well as Traditional Means: try to follow modem means of exerting pressure, without fully giving up the traditional or old ways of operation. They adopt
techniques like financing of political parties, sponsoring their close candidates at the time of elections and keeping the bureaucracy also satisfied. Their traditional means include
exploitation of caste, creed and religious feelings to promote their interests.
Resulting Out of Increasing Pressure and Demands on Resources : In every society there is a continuous generation of demands. In developing countries like India, where around
forty per cent population is below the poverty line, the demands emanate from the basic physical requirements of human beings. There are demands not only for food and basic
needs but demands for work and opportunities. It is significant to note that the pressure for these demands has come more from the elite than the poor people themselves.
Alternative to Inadequacies of Political Parties : The political parties have not been able to present the interests of the dominant groups as adequately and fully as one would
expect them to do. Most of the political parties compete for the same social base. With the result there is not much difference between one party programme and the other. This
has left enormous gaps in the socio-economic system of the country. These gaps have come to be filled up by the pressure groups.
Represent Changing Consciousness : The consciousness of different groups go on changing as the result (I) changing material conditions; and (ii) increasing politicisation. The
change in the material conditions leads to higher level consciousness. For instance the increase in the food production or industrial goods does bring a change in the way
individuals and groups look at the world. The stagnation in production leads to fatalism but increase in the production leads to demands, protests and formation of new pressure
groups
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Potential
Leadership : It has to be so projected that in public image it is viewed as a universal interest. The leadership should also regularly communicate to the political parties, policy-
making agencies and the public. The support of all these three forces is essential. The leadership should be able to establish credibility and be able to carryy public opinion.
Organisational Abilities : In a country like India with its size and magnitude, it becomes essential that there are units of the organisation throughout the country. These
organisations are needed for two reasons: firstly to associate the various facets of the interest groups and consolidate them and secondly, in a highly diversified society,
communication should take place at multiple points so that rapport with different agencies at different levels is maintained.
Mass Media : The political parties and policy-making agencies are sometimes kept on tenterhooks by the media. In fact during the post-Independent India one issue on which
government had to retreat is the issue of freedom of press. Whenever the bills were introduced either in the state legislature or union parliament, they had to be withdraw
Economic Power Base : From financing the elections and party funds to carrying propaganda, the economic power of the group plays an important role. In India the industrial and
trading houses have been far more influential and powerful than the farmers associations, inspite of farmers being spread all over the country
Mobilisational Techniques : The interest groups not only create public opinion but sometimes draw the general masses into agitational and protest politics. If they want to set an
industry in a particular area, they create the necessary climate and make the people of the area demand for the industry. If they want infrastructure facilities they pressurise the
government through its network at first and through a public demand and an agitation, later, if necessary.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

NGOs
Context
“The 21st Century will be an era of NGOs.” — Kofi Annan, Former UN
Secretary General
The World Bank defines NGOs as private organisations that pursue
activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor,
protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake
community development
The Central Statistical Institute of India reports that the country has
33 lakh NGOs
As per the International Business Standards Organisation, the world
has 1 crore NGOs.
Thus the 1/7th population of the world is serviced by 1/3rd of the
world’s NGOs
Rs 55,449 crore in foreign funding has been received by Indian NGOs
in the past three years
FCRA licence of 6,677 NGOs was cancelled between 2017-2021
In 2015, the government introduced the NGO-DARPAN platform as an
interface between NGOs and the government
The central government has established NITI aayog which is
establishing the central governance platform and has taken some
steps in establishing similar state-level units, called State Institute
for Transformation (SIT)
Participation on this platform has been made mandatory for FCRA
(foreign contribution regulations act) and government funds
Key Compliance
Nonprofit organisations in India usually take one of three legal forms
Public charitable trusts, societies, or Section 8 companies
Both charitable trusts and societies are generally subject to state laws which vary across states,
while Section 8 companies (public and private) fall under the ambit of the central Indian
Companies Act, 2013.
May also choose to operate as an informal organisation, but in doing so, they cannot obtain tax
exemptions for themselves or tax deductions for their donors.
Restrictions on the types of activities that nonprofits are allowed to undertake
political activities, including political campaigning and direct political advocacy; can, however,
communicate with legislators, government officials, or the media to indirectly influence
political processes.
definition of what makes a nonprofit’s activities ‘political’ is ambiguous, the courts in India have
ruled that an organisation whose primary goal is political in nature cannot have been
established for charitable purposes.
There are no restrictions on the incidental economic activities of trusts, societies, or Section 8
companies.
A nonprofit must maintain separate books of account for the commercial activities, and any
profits received must be applied fully towards towards the primary charitable purpose of
the nonprofit.
The Companies Act, 2013 has been amended to strengthen corporate social responsibility (CSR)
compliance
companies with a net worth of INR 5 billion or an annual turnover of INR 10 billion are required
to spend a minimum of two percent of their average pre-tax profit each fiscal year on CSR
activities.
The registration of a nonprofit can be cancelled if it has engaged in activities not listed in its
founding documents
Trustees and officers of nonprofits may be required to declare their assets under the Lokpal and
Lokayuktas Act, 2013
Indian nonprofits are not permitted to operate internationally and their funds have to be used
exclusively in India

NGOs & FCRA
Background
The Government of India passed the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in 1976 to prevent foreign agencies from interfering in Indian politics. In 1984, this was expanded to cover
foreign donations received by nonprofits.
In 2010, the law was revamped and repurposed to focus more on nonprofits than on electoral processes. This change was reflected in the new preamble, which dropped all
references to democratic institutions, as well as in the main provisions, which are concerned more with the activities of nonprofits rather than politicians
In 2020, the law was tightened even further, asking all nonprofits to:
receive money first in a gateway account in the State Bank of India (SBI) in Delhi
reduce the foreign contribution available for administration expenses
capping of the administrative expenses of NGOs at 20% of their foreign donations- only 20% of the foreign funds can be used for administrative purposes while the limit was
50% in FCRA 2010
stop re-granting FCRA funds to other nonprofits, regardless of whether or not they have FCRA clearance
1.
a.
b.
c.
i.
ii.
1.
iii.
NGOs and Policy
Spread awareness
In 2019, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation advertised in the newspapers to invite public comments on the issue of the felling of 2,238 trees in Aarey Colony, Mumbai. A local
community organisation, Let India Breathe, disseminated information on the importance of participating in this consultation through WhatsApp and social media platforms. They
provided detailed instructions on the submission of feedback via e-mail, resulting in increased participation.
Involve communities in impact
In 2020, the Ministry of Social Justice was seeking feedback on the draft rules for transgender people, which specified the process by which transgender persons could apply for an
identity card. Among other feedback shared, members of the transgender community—many of whom first heard about the rules through CSOs—gave specific and actionable
suggestions. The recommendations included inputs such as not making last names mandatory in the application form—a simple measure that made it easier for members to apply for
the cards. Such nuanced insights are frequently taken into consideration by government officials, as they are keen to provide clarity in the law and ensure that all possible areas of
contention are covered.
Streamline feedback
Open-source resources: Open-source resources that track and surface consultations in specific thematic areas can be used with considerable ease. Websites (such as TeamLease,
Civis, and Our Gov.in) and Telegram groups help share new laws that are open to public feedback.
IVR and WhatsApp: To engage with stakeholders, tools such as interactive voice response (IVR) and WhatsApp—which social tech companies like Gram Vaani and Glific provide for
nonprofits—can be leveraged. During a social accountability movement in Rajasthan, a coalition of six organisations—including Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (a nonprofit focused
on workers’ rights) and Gram Vaani—came together to send in responses to a Government of Rajasthan consultation
1.
a.
2.
a.
3.
a.
b.

SHGs - Microfinance
Meaning : "self governed, peer controlled information group of people with similar socio-economic background and having a desire to collectively perform common purpose."
Features
An SHG normally consists of not less than five persons (with a maximum of twenty) of similar economic outlook and social status
Loaning is mainly on the basis of mutual need and trust with minimum documentation and without any tangible security
The amounts loaned are small, frequent and for short duration
In an SHG, all members of a group take responsibility for a loan that an individual member takes. This serves as assurance to the lending agency that the loan repayment will be made
on time
Evolution/Background
In the 1950s, a vast network of rural cooperative banks was established
In 1969, many commercial banks were nationalised, and branches were opened in rural areas across the country - his resulted in a significant decrease in the average number of
customers per bank branch
In 1980, the government introduced many subsidised credit programmes. However, the provision of rural credit was not very successful. Banks found it challenging to provide credit in
tiny denominations to individual borrowers.
More
over, the then institutional structure built to provide rural credit focused more on the quantity of loans while ignoring vital qualitative aspects
They neither served the needs of the poor nor were they financially viable, with dismal loan repayment records.
A significant turnaround when NABARD attempted to move beyond the traditional banking system to provide the poor with the opportunity to utilise their potential to overcome
poverty - The idea was to bring formal financial institutions in contact with informal groups
In 1991, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) encouraged commercial banks to provide credit to SHGs that came under the NABARD project
Then, in 1993, regional rural banks (RRBs) also began to support the project. For the first time in India, mainstream financial institutions were collaborating with informal groups to
provide basic financial facilities and many non-financial services to empower the weakest sections of society.
NABARD’s strategy rests on two main pillars:
expanding the range of formal and informal agencies that promote SHGs
building up the capacities of stakeholders
In 1996, the RBI considered support to SHGs as priority sector lending for commercial banks, which further sped up the process of linking banks and SHGs and culminated in the SHGs-
Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP)
Later, the Government of India (GoI) adopted the SHG micro-finance concept as its primary anti-poverty, self-employment generation programme.
In 1999, the GoI launched the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) to eradicate poverty. The SBLP was linked with the SGSY to provide self-employment opportunities to the
rural poor
In 2011, the government introduced National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
In 2015, the NRLM was renamed Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM). Its aim was to recruit a large number of rural women to join the scheme.
In the 2020 Union Budget, the central government announced the setting up of storage facilities4 at the village level, which would be run by women SHGs. Moreover, the government
proposed uplifting the nano-enterprises of women SHGs to the level of micro-enterprises and providing more bank credit to them
1.
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
3.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
i.
ii.
j.
i.
k.
l.
m.
n.

SHGs - Microfinance - Policy Implications
Though the SHG programme has spread rapidly to many parts of the country, its success has been uneven. The programme remains heavily skewed in favour of the southern states, where
the programme has a better recovery performance. States in the eastern region have also significantly improved their performance in the last eight years. But the programme is struggling
in the central and north-eastern regions.
In terms of loan defaults, SHGs are facing a challenging situation in the wake of mounting NPAs in some regions, which requires immediate intervention. It is not just the gross NPA amount
that is worrisome, but also the diminishing trustworthiness of poor clients whom the programme targets. Among the several reasons mentioned in various reports for the rise in loan
defaults by SHGs, the most serious is wilful default. Such defaults hamper the whole developmental programme. They plant the seeds of corruption in the minds of the poor and, as such,
prevent the end objective of the SHG movement from being achieved.
it is essential to first build processes before pumping financial resources from the exchequer. This requires that agencies involved in SHG projects pay attention to the internal dynamics of
the group during group formation. Sensitive issues such as gender and caste should be kept in mind as they greatly influence the success of the group. While interacting with an SHG with
members from different socio-economic strata, it is imperative to ensure a balance between business activity and the social dimensions within the group
Programmes can easily be replicated, but people matter most. Therefore, there is a need for state-level studies in the regions where SHGs are struggling. Such studies will help
policymakers identify and remove the obstacles to the successful implementation of the SHG programme in different regions of the country.
It is also crucial for banks to develop and share credit information from a complete database of clients, including portfolios and financial behaviour. This involves tracking loans taken from
informal sources as well. Here, IT solutions can be beneficial. Banks should refrain from distributing loans only to achieve the government’s loan targets. They should also track loans and
incentivise SHGs to make timely repayments. Furthermore, SHPIs and banks should monitor loan defaults on a case-to-case basis. Evidently, groups tend to expel the poorer members who
default on their loans but refrain from taking action against defaulters who hold influential positions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The basic foundation of SHGs lies in the word “self,” which should be protected in the real sense. All plans and strategies should be designed to encourage, guide, and nudge people to move
towards achieving financial and social independence. The “self” in SHGs should not be replaced by “state”—focused on achieving targets or fulfilling political or bureaucratic interests

L7 Magna Carta Mains 2023.pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to L7 Magna Carta Mains 2023.pdf

Similar to L7 Magna Carta Mains 2023.pdf (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

L7 Magna Carta Mains 2023.pdf