{"id":21248,"date":"2024-02-05T17:21:49","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T11:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=21248"},"modified":"2024-02-05T21:13:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T15:43:04","slug":"changing-role-of-civil-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/05-02-2024\/changing-role-of-civil-society","title":{"rendered":"Changing Role of Civil Society"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus :GS 2\/Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Context&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Some Civil society Organisations have come under the increasing scrutiny of the government over their activities .<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About Civil society<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Civil society refers to the space for <strong>collective action<\/strong> around<strong> shared interests, <\/strong>purposes and values, generally distinct from government and commercial for-profit actors.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Civil society includes c<strong>harities, development NGOs<\/strong>, <strong>community groups<\/strong>, <strong>women&#8217;s organizations<\/strong>,<strong> faith-based organizations<\/strong>, professional associations, trade unions, social movements, coalitions and advocacy groups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The term became popular in political and economic discussions in the 1980s.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It has the power to influence the actions of elected policy-makers and businesses.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Brief History of Civil Society in India<\/strong><br><\/span>&#8211; India has had a long tradition of voluntary service, rooted in the concepts of <strong>dharma (duty) and daan (giving).<\/strong><br>&#8211; These were part of the teachings across all religious sections, encouraging people to help others in need.<br>&#8211; Therefore, voluntary contribution in the country took shape through the social and religious movements of serving others.<br>&#8211; It also gave rise to many organizations for the service of the disadvantaged, such as <strong>Brahmo Samaj (1828)<\/strong>, <strong>Theosophical Society (1879)<\/strong>, <strong>Ramakrishna Mission (1897)<\/strong>, and<strong> Seva Samiti (1914).<\/strong><br>&#8211; The most powerful civil society movements in Indian history, which were led by citizens, were <strong>Swadeshi movements of 1905.&nbsp;<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Chipko Movemen<\/strong>t, saw people protesting against deforestation by hugging trees to stop them from being cut<br>&#8211; It also gave rise to the society movement that contributed to the<strong> Right to Education Act in 2009,<\/strong> which provides for free and compulsory education to all children aged six to 14 years in India.<br>&#8211; The <strong>Anti Corruption Movement<\/strong> for Jan Lokpal Bill of 2011, led by Anna Hazare brought together a huge number of people, making it a one of its kind event in decades.&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Role and Functions&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Service provider<\/strong> (for example, running primary schools and providing basic community health care services).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Work by civil society could broadly be elaborated as service delivery to enable access to basic goods and services by citizens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Advocate\/campaigner <\/strong>(for example, lobbying governments or business on issues including indigenous rights or the environment)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Watchdog<\/strong> (for example, monitoring government compliance with human rights treaties)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Building active citizenship<\/strong> (for example, motivating civic engagement at the local level and engagement with local, regional and national governance)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Participating in global governance<\/strong> processes (for example, civil society organisations serve on the advisory board of the World Bank\u2019s Climate Investment Funds)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Supporting other organisations in research<\/strong>, capacity building, and networking;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Drafting policy action plans and legislation<\/strong>:&nbsp; Many CSOs today focus on stronger consultation and collaboration mechanisms with the government to support policy action plans and legislation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Research and evidence. <\/strong>With the growth of research and evidence in the policy landscape in India, civil society plays a significant role.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CSOs gather relevant data from the grassroots, implement and refine programs, and drive decisions rooted in evidence.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Innovation: <\/strong>Civil society in India is seen as a key player to develop and scale innovative models of change.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Given the diverse range and scope of CSOs, they have a unique strength to pilot test models, share good practices, and replicate through example.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Focus on substantial issues: <\/strong>&nbsp;Civil society in India also continues to provide formal and informal platforms to facilitate dialogue on key issues, be it the state of affairs, role of citizens, or government policies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges Faced by Civil Society Organizations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Civil society is governed by a <strong>complex legal and regulatory framework.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They face multiple challenges.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These include<strong> transparency and legitimacy<\/strong> with respect to the level of information expected of them and the degree of scrutiny that they are subject to, specifically around funding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;This issue is exacerbated by the tightening of regulations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A high portion of <strong>financial sources <\/strong>are <strong>external grants and donations, t<\/strong>his increases the dependency of organisations and often questions their sustainability.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is also <strong>more competition within civil society<\/strong> now.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>coronavirus disease (COVID-19)<\/strong> has also posed serious challenges to civil society in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The nature of civil society is evolving, in response to both technological developments and more nuanced changes within societies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Today, civil society in India has expanded immensely, covering a wide range of work.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Therefore ,It will be crucial for all stakeholders to support the civil society in regaining their strength and overcoming the existing challenges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Despite its complexity and heterogeneity, the inclusion of civil society voices is essential to give expression to the marginalised and those who often are not heard.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Civil society actors can enhance the participation of communities in the provision of services and in policy decision-making<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Mains Practice Question&nbsp;<\/strong><br><strong>[Q] <\/strong>Civil Society in India have evolved with time and with changing requirements. Discuss&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Daily-Editorial-Analysis-05-02-2024-1.pdf\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Syllabus :GS 2\/Polity and Governance In Context&nbsp; About Civil society Brief History of Civil Society in India&#8211; India has had a long tradition of voluntary service, rooted in the concepts of dharma (duty) and daan (giving).&#8211; These were part of the teachings across all religious sections, encouraging people to help others in need.&#8211; Therefore, voluntary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21248"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21267,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21248\/revisions\/21267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}