DOCUMENTATION

A STUDY FOR ROLE OF HR IN NGO

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Human resource practices play a vital role as humans are the main resource to use rest of
resources. The overall purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the
organization is able to achieve success through people. Human resource practices play a
vital role as humans are the main resource to use rest of resources. It is now being
increasingly realized that the people working in organization are human beings. Investment
for increasing the resource is important, and the more an organization invest in its human
resources, the greater return from the investment is likely to be. Human resource practices
focuses on the different aspect that can enhance the potential of an individual not in just in
the reference of an organization but in his/her personal life. Training and developing,
performance appraisal, potential appraisal, career counseling, employee welfare, health and
safety are few of them. The role of human resource as an integrating factor in any of the
industry or sector and it matters most when it is related to the service sector like NGO’s.
Further, owing to the changes in the business environment and the advances in technology,
communication and consumerism, planning of human resources has become an incessant
activity on the part of HR functionaries working in service organization. Broadly, human
resource practices are required not only to maintain the people as resources, but also to
enhance the capability of the organization, through its competent people.

Over the past several decades, NGOs have become major players in the field of
international development. Since the mid-1970s, the NGO sector in both developed and
developing countries has experienced exponential growth. From 1970 to 1985 total
development aid disbursed by international NGOs increased ten-fold. In 1992 international
NGOs channeled over $7.6 billion of aid to developing countries. It is now estimated that
over 15 percent of total overseas development aid is channeled through NGOs. While
statistics about global numbers of NGOs are notoriously incomplete, it is currently estimated
that there is somewhere between 6,000 and 30,000 national NGOs in developing countries.
CBOs across the developing world number in the hundreds of thousands.

The World Bank defines NGOs as "private organizations that pursue activities to relieve
suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social
services, or undertake community development". In wider usage, the term NGO can be
applied to any non-profit organization which is independent from government. NGOs are
typically value-based organizations which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable
donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly
professionalized over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain
key defining characteristics. The term NGO is very broad and encompasses many different
types of organizations. In the field of development, NGOs range from large, Northern-based
charities such as CARE, Oxfam and World Vision to community-based self-help groups in
the South. They also include research institutes, churches, professional associations and
lobby groups The World Bank tends to interact with two main categories of NGOs: i)
operational NGOs - whose primary purpose is the design and implementation of
development-related projects, and; ii) advocacy NGOs - whose primary purpose is to defend
or promote a specific cause and who seek to influence the policies and practices of the
Bank. A growing number of NGOs engage in both operational and advocacy activities, and
some advocacy groups, while not directly involved in designing and implementing projects,
focus on specific project-related concerns. Further operational NGOs is categorized into
three main groups: i) community-based organizations (CBOs) - which serve a specific
population in a narrow geographic area; ii) national organizations - which operate in
individual developing countries, and; iii) international organizations - which are typically
headquartered in developed countries and carry out operations in more than one developing
country. In recent years, however, this trend has been reversed. Among projects involving
NGO collaboration recorded in FY94, 40% involved CBOs, 70% involved national
organizations and 10% involved international organizations. CBOs (also referred to as
grassroots organizations or peoples' organizations) are distinct in nature and purpose from
other NGOs. While national and international organizations are "intermediary" NGOs which
are formed to serve others; CBOs are normally "membership" organizations made up of a
group of individuals who have joined together to further their own interests (e.g.: women's
groups, credit circles, youth clubs, cooperatives and farmer associations). In the context of
Bank-financed activities, national or international NGOs are normally contracted to deliver
services, design projects or conduct research. CBOs are more likely to be the recipients of
project goods and services. In projects which promote participatory development,
grassroots organizations play the key function of providing an institutional framework for
beneficiary participation. CBOs might, for example: be consulted during design to ensure
that project goals reflect beneficiary interests; undertake the implementation of community-
level project components; or receive funds to design and implement sub-projects. Individual
operational NGOs vary enormously according to their purpose, philosophy, sect oral
expertise and scope of activities. A number of different NGO typologies exist. For example,
NGOs have been classified according to whether they are more relief or development-
oriented; whether they are religious or secular; whether they stress service delivery or
participation and whether they are more public or private-oriented. Sources for further
reading on NGO typologies are listed at the end of this section.

IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN NGO

Human resource management is the part of the organization that is concerned with the
“people” dimension (De Cenzo and Robbins, 1996). It is a staff, or support, junction in the
organizations. Its role is to provide assistance in HRM matters to line employees, or those
directly involved in producing the organization’s goods and services. Every organization is
comprised of people; acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high
levels of performance. And ensuring to maintain their commitment to the organization is
essential to achieve organizational objectives. This is true, regardless of the type of
organization; government, business, education, health, recreation, or social action. Getting
and keeping good people is critical to the success of every organization. HRM is an
approach consisting of four functions; staffing, training, development and motivation, and
four activities; getting people, preparing them, stimulating them, and keeping them. Today,
professionals in the human resource area are vital elements in the success of any
organization. Their jobs require a new level sophistication that is unprecedented in human
resource management, not surprisingly; their status in the organization has also been
elevated as the name has changed. Companies today recognize the importance of people
in meeting their goals. For instance, at Standard Chartered Bank and Sony Music
Entertainment, people are “viewed as how each employee is important toward the
organization achieving its strategic goals.” In return, these people have needs to be met.
Consequently, when major decisions affecting the organization and its people are made by
the company’s executives, HR typically is present to represent the people side of the
business. Many colleges and universities are also helping to prepare HRM professionals by
offering concentrations and majors in the discipline. Additionally, there exists an
accreditation process for HRM professionals. The society for Human Resource
Management offers opportunities for individuals to distinguish themselves in the field by
achieving a level of proficiency that has been predetermined by the Human Resource
Certification Institute as necessary for successful handling of human resource management
affairs.
 The importance of Human Resources (HR) in a non-governmental organization (NGO) as a
means of ensuring sustainable growth for an organization cannot be overemphasized, as it
is the fundamental strength upon which people, strategies, processes and operations are
based. Effective employee management should be on top of the list of priorities for
progressive improvement of an organization. A NGO must strive to attract, develop and
retain qualified and enthusiastic employees as they are the key to the success of one’s
business. HR in a NGO is no different to HR in any other sector, but the problems that HR
professionals face within the NGO industry are quite unique.

Abraham Kriel Childcare is continuously developing and training their childcare workers to
deliver high standard childcare services. Interventions such as this help employees to feel
valued. NGOs have an ever increasing need to attract the right people in the right positions
in a constantly evolving environment.

Heads of NGOs and those long associated with the development sector will confirm that the
supply of well qualified people, prepared to make the necessary sacrifices in respect of
remuneration, for the sake of the cause, has diminished rapidly in the last 18 years or so.
Job opportunities for today’s educated youth are more widespread. This has made a career
in development less attractive to people in the age group from which the sector drew its
strengths from in the 1970s and 1980s. The days when NGOs were driven by social
activists are no longer. NGOs now have a high demand for skilled employees to help the
organization function at its best.

In the case of a NGO that works with children or vulnerable people, it is of utmost
importance to implement a vetting system that screens all new appointees.

Applicable screenings would be:

 The child protection register;

 Qualifications,
 Criminal record; and
 Identity and professional registration.

Almost all the HR practices are being adapted by larger NGOs and the roles and
responsibilities are equally challenging. Clear selection criteria must be created. A NGO
should take advantage of the benefits of tools like psychometric testing in the selection
process. Psychometric testing and other similar tools can contribute significant value by
helping HR practitioners in placing the right types of individuals in the right positions. This
also helps to ensure that new employees receive the correct training to enhance their own
skills, specifically in critical positions such as childcare and management roles.

Providing employees with support and understanding is especially important in

organisations that work with children and trauma cases. An example is that of a wellness
initiative that focuses on the well-being of staff, including, health, trauma and employee
stress. Such initiatives are aimed at retaining qualified, enthusiastic employees and
developing a positive organizational culture. It is critical for HR practitioners to partner with
businesses in understanding the needs of an organization. As well as what challenges the
industry is facing, skills shortages, salary disparities, best practice HR procedures and
government policies that stands as a hindrance to the success of a NGO.

The personnel function in the NGO industry has evolved to the HR business partnering
concept and is well embraced by many NGOs in recent years. Any NGO using the business
partnering model with strategic intent in aligning people to business is bound to achieve
organizational success. The NGO world is continuously evolving and is becoming an
industry to be recognized as the change frontier in economic and social development in the
country and with the right people it’s bound to achieve success.

CONCEPT OF NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION: -

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by

natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term is
usually used by governments to refer to entities that have no government status. A non-
governmental organization (NGO) is a citizen-based association that operates
independently of government, usually to deliver resources or serve some social or political
purpose. The World Bank classifies NGOs as either operational NGOs, which are primarily
concerned with development projects, or advocacy NGOs, which are primarily concerned
with promoting a cause.

There are two main problems concerning HR in the NGO environment today:
 The first is the high unemployment rate which causes an exceptionally high number of
under qualified job seekers to stream into the childcare environment, the reason for this can
also be attributed to an industry that does not have the competitive advantage when it
comes to salary benchmarking. This leads to shortages of qualified skilled childcare workers
in the industry; and
 The second is retaining highly skilled and qualified people and keeping them motivated.
Learning and development are central to both the performance and development of
employees. It can be beneficial for an organization to offer employees equal and full access
to learning and development opportunities that are aligned to their career development, as
well as the skills and competencies required to meet business performance and growth
objectives.

HRM IN NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION: -

If Non Governmental Organizations can play better role in the corporate social
responsibility, the question here is who can play better role in linking industry with
community. The answer here is Human Resource Management Department of the industry.
The HR managers should take lead in its effort to make a linkage between community and
the industry. To develop better rapport with the people, HR managers have to make use of
their Strategic Relationship Management Skills. They should interact with the community by
establishing better linkage with the Non Governmental Organizations working there in the
locality. The HR managers can initially conduct Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the
community and community leaders with the help of Non Governmental Organizations and
need evaluation and need prioritization is to be conducted. Non-government organizations
(NGOs) have become significant players in development policy over the last two decades.
The evolving relationship among NGOs, developing states and donors are a critical aspect
of international development assistance and the wider development policy debate. NGOs
vary in their missions, internal management, scope of engagement, source of funding,
relations with developing sates and targeted areas of operations. NGOs are the vanguard of
civil society. They have increasingly been seen as the vehicles of the new polices agenda of
economic liberalization and political channeling resource through northern and indigenous
NGOs support grassroots organizations, social change, political empowerment and
sustainable development. Developing states have ceded space to NGOs to deliver services,
perform contract development work and promote institutional capacity building. The role of
NGOs in the contemporary world is elaborately described in the present study along with
the management challenges and other issues faced by NGOs, social activity, policy-makers
and all concerned.
Objectives in Human Resources

• To identify and examine the extent of HR Practices in NGOs.

• To understand the emerging trends of HRM spreading in the NGO.
• To find out the procedure of recruitment in NGOs.
• To discern the mode of training to the existing employees in NGO.
• To find out the ways of appraising the performance of employees in NGOs.
• To know the grievance handling methods in NGOs.
• To explore the existence of union in NGO sector.
• To identify the activities like welfare, health and safety in NGO culture.
• To identify the culture of NGOs and the establishment of HRM.

Human resource professionals serve as the heart of an organization. They help hire the
people who move a business forward, as well as ensuring those workers are paid and have
benefits. They're also responsible for terminating employees when necessary. An HR team
has a clearly defined set of duties, just as every other team in a business does. This
includes setting actionable policies and helping with the creation of a work culture that
ensures high worker morale.

1. Building a Strong Workforce

A good team starts at the point of hiring. Although HR generally isn’t the final decider on
hiring, you’ll likely make recommendations and even coordinate and sit in on interviews.
You’ll also probably be responsible for recruiting candidates, whether through posts on job
boards or reaching out to existing connections. The larger your candidate pool during hiring,
the better the odds that you’ll find the best person for the job. Make sure you have a sound
recruitment process in place so you’ll be able to narrow the list down to only those who have
the most relevant qualifications. Then, during the interview process, make sure you hire
based on solid reasons – gut decisions are only right about 50 percent of the time.

2. Supporting Employees
No matter who in your organization will be managing an employee, HR is the go-to source
for on boarding. HR should work hard to create a process that makes it as easy as possible,
both for themselves and the new employee, to sign all relevant documents and get started.
For a smoother first day, this process can even start beforehand, in the days following
official job acceptance. From that first day, though, HR usually serves as a consultant to
employees, who need to feel that they can trust that anything they say won’t be shared
outside of the HR department. This starts with questions about benefits and pay, but it also
includes serious talks about issues they’re having with their own supervisors and co-
workers. HR also has a responsibility to make sure anything said in a closed-door meeting
will not only be kept confidential, but also will be taken seriously and investigated.
3. Supporting Managers
Managers rely heavily on HR to support them as they hire, manage and occasionally
terminate workers. This starts with having fully-formed policies in place that supervisors can
consult. If you have a dress code, for instance, managers have more leverage if an
employee shows up for a client meeting wearing flip-flops, cargo shorts and a T-shirt. In
addition to writing and translating policies for managers, HR also often serves as a
consultant on a one-on-one basis. A manager may have two employees who are disrupting
the work environment with constant fighting, for instance. If disciplinary action or termination
needs to take place, HR will help with that, gathering paperwork and including it in the
employee’s personnel file.
4. Building a Strong Work Culture
Today’s businesses realize the importance of work culture to employee morale. It’s
important that HR teams realize the role this plays and help set an environment that is both
professional and motivating. Some mistakenly think this means arcade games in the break
room and beer carts on Fridays. But it actually means creating an environment where
employees know the rules and follow them, and also feel appreciated in the work they do
every day.
Some things HR can do to reach the objective of a positive work culture include:
 Training managers to positively motivate employees through positive reinforcement and
worker recognition.
 Ensuring employees have a good work-life balance.
 Fairly enforcing rules and guidelines.
 Encouraging bosses to be mentors.
 Initiating programs that bring fun into the workforce, such as birthday celebrations and
“lunch and learns.”
 Ensuring policies are employee-friendly.
RESEARCH METHODOLGY AND LIMITATIONS

• Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem.

Researchers need to understand the assumptions underlying various techniques and
they need to know the criteria by which they can decide that certain techniques and
procedures will be applicable to certain problems. In other words, a system of
models, procedures and techniques used to find the results of research problem is
called a research methodology.
• This research plan will include the Exploratory and Descriptive Research as stated
here under:- Exploratory Research – This research will be proved the most beneficial
for the researcher because the study of topic is the one about which the researcher
has very little knowledge. Thus, this research will be qualitative which becomes
useful in testing hypothesis. Descriptive Research - Descriptive research includes
surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of
descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present.
• Variables – A concept which can take on different quantitative values is called a
variable.
Collection of Data -The task of data collection begins after chalk out the research plan.
Here the researcher uses both primary and secondary data. Primary data – The primary
data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to be
original in character Secondary data – The secondary data are those which have already
been collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the
statistical process. Here the research study will mainly be supported by Primary Data which
will be collected through Structured Questionnaire by the people working in NGOs and
secondary data which will be collected from the annual reports of selected NGOs.
LIMITATIONS:-Every research has its limitation and merits as well. This research is no
exception to his and prone to the following limitations: 1. Very less articles are available
related to HRM Practices in NGOs. 2. Respondents become bias while filling the
questionnaire.

CONCLUSIONS
• The collected data from the respondents (employers/managers) were presented in
the present chapter in the farm of tables and graphs. The researcher has made an
effort to understand the human resource management practices in NGOs in the
Hyderabad Karnataka Region. The study concludes from the above analysis that the
Non Governmental Organisations are practicing best human resource management
practices. Respondents of the study have positive opinion on HRM practices in their
organisation as it was revealed from the hypothesis testing.
IMAGES FOR OBJECTIVES OF STUDY FOR ROLE OF HR IN
NGO WHICH IDENTIFIES AND DECRIBES MORE CLEARLY

Managing People (Human Resource Management for NGOs)

Essentials of NGO Management

The Importance of HR Management in an NGO Environment

ROLEOF NGOs IN DEVELOPMENT
The role of NGOs in global health research for development

A STUDY ON NGOS AND ROLE IN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

Department of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras

Hindu University- Varanasi (U.P.) -221005

India is a highly populated and predominantly rural country; non-government

organizations and voluntary action have been part of the historical legacy. The term, "non-
governmental organization” came into use in 1945 because of the need for the UN
to differentiate in its charter between participation rights for intergovernmental
specialized agencies and those for international private organizations. This present study
focus on NGOs
status and their role in agriculture and rural development in India. This study covered origin
of NGOs, basic objectives of NGOs, various roles of NGOs, functions in agricultural and
development of rural area of India and top ten NGOs working in india is also covered
through this study.Catalyze rural population, build models experiment, supplement
government efforts and organizing rural poor these are main role of NGOs in agriculture and
rural area development.
KEY-WORDS: voluntary organization, NGOs, SHGs, poverty alleviation and micro finance.
INTRODUCTION
The term, "non-governmental organization" or NGO, came into use in 1945 because of the
need for the UN to differentiate in its Charter between participation rights for
intergovernmental specialized agencies and those for international private organizations. At
the UN, virtually all types of private bodies can be recognized as NGOs .They only have to
be independent from government control, not seeking to challenge governments either as a
political party or by a narrow focus on human rights, non-profit-making and non-criminal (Ali
Mostashari, 2005). On the contrary India is one the poorest countries housing one third of
the total world poor population. 43% of Indian children are malnourished, a third of the
world’s total. Over 25% of Indians are illiterate, and more than 20
million children are out of school (Asheesh Bisht et al., 2013). India is a highly
populated and predominantly rural country. It is classified as a country of medium
human development, ranked 128th in the United Nations Development Programme’s
Human Development Index 2007. Life expectancy is 63.7 years at birth, and four fifths of
the population lives on less than $2/day. The adult literacy rate is 61 percentages. India has
a long history of civil society based on the concepts of daana (giving) and seva (service).
Voluntary organizations that are voluntary inspirit and without profit-making objectives were
active in cultural promotion, education, health, and natural disaster relief as early as
the medieval era. They proliferated during British rule, working to improve social
welfare and literacy and pursuing relief projects. During the second half of the 19th
century, nationalist consciousness spread across India and self-help emerged as the
primary focus of socio-political movements. Numerous organizations were established
during this period, including the Friend-in-Need Society (1858), Prathana Samaj
(1864), Satya Shodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj (1875), the National Council for
Women in India (1875), and the Indian National Conference (1887). Mahatma Gandhi’s
return to India in 1916 shifted the focus of development activities to economic self
sufficiency. His Swedish movement, which advocated economic self-sufficiency
through small-scale local production, swept through the country. Gandhi identified the
root of India’s problem as the poverty of the rural masses and held that the only way to
bring the nation to prosperity was to develop the villages ‘self-reliance based on
locally available resources. He also believed that voluntary, action, decentralized to gram.
panchayats (village councils), was the ideal way to stimulate India’s development. Gandhi
reinvigorated civil society in India by stressing that political freedom must be accompanied
by social responsibility. Voluntary organization is not a new phenomenon in our
country. Voluntary effort has always been an important part of our culture and social
tradition Voluntary organization can play a crucial role in rural development by
supplementing government efforts as they are close to the minds and hearts of the rural
people. They have their roots in the people and can respond to the needs and aspirations of
the community very effectively. They can experiment new approaches to rural development
(Dhillon and Hansra, 1995). Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and Voluntary action
have been part of the historical legacy. In early 20th century, several voluntary efforts were
started in the fields of education, health etc. The NGOs became prominent after
independence, especially after 1970s.Development practitioners, government officials
and foreign donors consider that Non-Governmental organizations by the virtue of being
small- scale, flexible, innovative and participatory, are more successful in reaching the
poor and in poverty alleviating. This consideration has resulted in the rapid growth of
NGOs involved in initiating and implementing rural development programmes. According
to the estimates of the working groups of NGOs, there are about 30,000 NGOs in India. A
rapid growth took place in the 1980s and the early 1990s. With the SHG linkages
programme introduced in 1989, the NGO sector has been recognized as a crucial partner,
recognizing the strengths of the NGOs in organizing the community and the potential in
10saving and credit programmes (both under the linkage programme and other credit
delivery innovations. (Laxmi R. Kulshresth et.al, 2002). The concept of NGOs and Social
welfare are not new. India has a glorious tradition of Voluntary organizations. In the pre-
Independence days, Rabindranath Tagore in his Santiniketan experiments’ showed
how rural development could be brought about by integration of education and culture.
Gandhi ji in his Wardha experiment showed how village industries could bring about the
development of the poorest sections of the people in this country (Malik, 1995). After
Independence, India was declared as a welfare state and relevant were included in the
Constitution of India. Social welfare was included as part of the Five Year Plans. The major
responsibility of organizing social welfare services continued with the voluntary
organizations. Hence, even today it is the voluntary organizations that are taking care of
welfare activities (Neelima Kumari, 2013). The VII plan documents had anticipated that
voluntary efforts would be forthcoming in a massive way for better implementation of anti-
poverty and minimum needs programmes. Also in the VII plan (1992-97), a greater
emphasis has been laid on the role of voluntary organizations in rural development. The
plan document states: “A nation-wide network of NGOs will be created. In order to facilitate
the working of this network, three schemes relating to the creation/replication/multiplication
and consultancy development have been worked out by the planning commission (Malik,
1995). The widespread belief that NGOs are more successful in reaching the poor in
poverty reduction also resulted in rapid growth of funding for NGOs by government and
external donors. As far as the government funding is concerned, there are over 200
government schemes initiated by the central and state governments through which NGOs
can have direct access to resources for rural development (Reddy and Rajasekhar, 1996).

OBJECTIVES OF NGOs IN INDIA

1. To promote Information collaborations and Constructive communication between
NGOs, to develop effective partnership with each other.
2. To networking for the access, sharing and dissemination of information collaboration and
partnerships between NGOs themselves and with other organizations.
3. To electronic networking to strengthen community organizations by boosting its
knowledge base and its ability to share information and experiences with strategic allies
and other partners in relevant field.
4. To capacity building of grass root level NGOs, social workers through free online
resources and information on a single platform.
5. To serve non-profit organizations, charities, grassroots and community groups,
educational and research institutions.
6. To sharing of ideas among NGOs and development agents.
7. To avail free, easy and instant access to information to NGO.
8. To help NGOs in their fund-raising efforts.
9. To provide more options before Funding Agencies to select the right choice of NGO to
support and work.
10. To provide information regarding NGO Regisreation and NGO Consultancy.
11. To provide Volunteers to NGOs and collaborate between NGOs and Volunteers.

NGOs IN INDIA
Since ancient times, social service has been an integral part of Indian culture. Soon
after Independence, a number of NGOs had emerged in India. Mahatma Gandhi even
pleaded to dissolve the Indian National Congress and transform it to a Lok Seva
Sangh (Public Service Organization). Though his plea was rejected, but the followers of
Mahatma Gandhi started many voluntary agencies to work on various social as well as
economic issues of the country. This was the first phase of NGOs in India. The second
phase of NGO development started in 1960 when it was felt that just the government
programs were not sufficient to complete the task of development in rural areas. Many
groups were formed whose role was to work at grass root levels. Moreover, favorable state
policies had drastically affected the formation of NGOs and their roles at that time. Over
the years, the role of NGOs in rural development of India increased. At present too, their
role significantly changes with the change in the policies of the government through
different plans. In the sixth five-year plan (1980-1985), a new role for NGOs in the rural
development had been identified by the government. In the seventh five-year plan (1985-
1990), the Indian government envisaged an active role of NGOs in developing self-reliant
communities. These groups were supposed to show how the village resources along with
human resource, skill, local knowledge that is greatly underutilized could be used for their
own development. As NGOs were working in close connection with local people so bringing
such a change was not a tough task for them. Owing to this, in the eighth five-year plan,
more importance to NGOs for rural development in India had been given. Under this
scheme, a nation-wide NGO network had been created. The role of these agencies was
the rural development at a low cost. In the ninth five-year plan, it has been proposed that
NGOs would play a significant role in the development on the public-private partnership
model. More scope has been provided to NGOs by the government for rural
development through the agricultural development policies as well as their
implementation mechanisms. As with every five-year plan, the role of NGOs in the rural
development of India is growing, so NGOs are now attracting professionals from
different fields. NGOs act as planners and implementers of developmental plans. They help
in mobilizing the local resources to be used for development. NGOs help in building a self-
reliant and sustainable society. These agencies play the role of mediator between
people and government. NGOs are actually the facilitator of development, education
and professionalization.

TOP 10 NGO – INDIA

1. Help Age India - Rank 1
2. Sargam Sanstha - Rank 2
3. Smile Foundation - Rank 3
4. Give India
5. Lepra Society
6. Udaan
7. Deepalaya
8. Uday Foundation
9. Karmayog
10. Pratham

VARIOUS ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF NGOs –

Voluntary action stimulated and promoted by voluntary agencies engaged in

development play a significant role at the grass roots level in the Indian social milieu; the
success of rural development depends upon the active participation of the people through
Self Help Organizations. The various roles of NGOs are described below for better
understanding. (Neelima Kumari, 2013).
1. Catalyze Rural Population
2. Build Models and Experiment
3. Supplement Government Efforts
4. Organizing Rural Poor
5. Educate the Rural People
6. Provide Training
7. Disseminate Information
8. Mobilize of Resources
9. Promote Rural Leadership
10. Represent the Rural People
11. Act as Innovators
12. Ensure People’s Participation
13. Promote Appropriate Technology
14. Activate the Rural Delivery System
The widespread belief that NGOs are more successful in reaching the poor in poverty
reduction also resulted in rapid growth of funding for NGOs by government and external
donors. As far as the government funding is concerned, there are over 200
government schemes initiated by the central and state governments through which NGOs
can have direct access to resources for rural development (Reddy and Rajasekhar 1996).

ROLES OF NGOs IN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

The essence of non governmental organizations remains the same: to provide basic
services to those who need them. Many NGOs have demonstrated an ability to reach poor
people, work in inaccessible areas, innovate, or in other ways achieve things better than by
official agencies. Many NGOs have close links with poor communities. Some are
membership organizations of poor or vulnerable people; others are skilled at participatory
approaches. Their resources are largely additional; they complement the development effort
of others, and they can help to make the development process more accountable,
transparent and participatory. They not only "fill in the gaps" but they also act as a response
to failures in the public and private sectors in providing basic services. Mirroring the
support given to northern NGOs, official funding of southern NGOs has taken two
forms: the funding of initiatives put forward by southern NGOs, and the utilization of
the services of southern NGOs to help donors achieve their own aid objectives. Donor
funding of southern NGOs has received a mixed reception from recipient governments.
Clear hostility from many non-democratic regimes has been part of more general
opposition to any initiatives to support organizations beyond the control of the state. But
even in democratic countries, governments have often resisted moves seen as diverting
significant amounts of official aid to non-state controlled initiatives, especially where NGO
projects have not been integrated with particular line ministry programs. The common
ground between donors and NGOs can be expected to grow, especially as donors seek to
make more explicit their stated objectives of enhancing democratic processes and
strengthening marginal groups in civil society. However, and in spite of a likely expansion
and deepening of the reverse agenda, NGOs are likely to maintain their wariness of too
close and extensive an alignment with donors. (Newman C. Enyioko, 2012).
CONCLUSION
By scanning the entire responses of objectively conducted study, it is pertinent to draw
a conclusion that the NGO’s under study have taken enormous efforts for agriculture and
rural development in India and to provide basic services to those who need them. Since
ancient times, social service has been an integral part of Indian culture. Soon after
Independence, a number of NGOs had emerged in India. This present study also concludes
about origin of NGOs and objectives of NGOs and their various roles and functions
in agriculture and rural development of area. The main role of NGOs in agriculture and rural
area development are; catalyze rural population, build models experiment, supplement
government efforts and organizing rural poor. So we can conclude that NGOs play
very important roles in agriculture and rural development which is lead to economic
development of any economy.
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The growing importance of human resource management in the NGO,

volunteer and not-for-profit sectors-

In recent years, the role of HRM within the non-government organization (NGO), volunteer
and not-for-profit sector and its potential to positively contribute to volunteer well-being and
build healthy communities has become topical among governments, management
practitioners, scholars and communities across different national settings. The third sector is
important to the welfare of many communities across all geographical levels from the ‘local
to the global’ (Cavanagh, McNeil, & Bartram, 2013Cavanagh, J., McNeil, N.,
& Bartram, T. (2013). The Australian Men’s Sheds Movement: Human resource
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Scholar]; Lambell, Ramia, Nyland, & Michelotti, 2008Lambell, R., Ramia, G., Nyland, C.,
& Michelotti, M. (2008). NGOs and international NGO, volunteer and not-for-profit
organizations business research: Progress, prospects and problems. International Journal
of Management Reviews, 10, 75–92.10.1111/ijmr.2008.10.issue-1[Crossref], [Web of
Science ®], , [Google Scholar]). Consequently, throughout the world, efficient and effective
management of NGO, volunteer and not-for-profit organisations and their HRs is critical,
particularly in challenging economic, political and social environments such as war-torn
areas and during natural disasters. These organizations encompass an enormous range of
organizations including community sport and recreational clubs, community service
organizations, industry associations, social movements, charitable organizations, religious
organizations and emergency service organisations. The nature, operations, capacity and
clientele of each of these organisations and the subsequent use of HRM will differ
depending on organisation, environmental context and scope of international operations
(Fee & Gray, 2013Fee, A., & Gray, S. J. (2013). Transformational learning experiences of
international development volunteers in the Asia-Pacific: The case of a multinational
NGO. Journal of World Business, 48, 196–208.10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.004[Crossref], [Web
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& Michelotti, M. (2008). NGOs and international NGO, volunteer and not-for-profit
organizations business research: Progress, prospects and problems. International Journal
of Management Reviews, 10, 75–92.10.1111/ijmr.2008.10.issue-1[Crossref], [Web of
Science ®], , [Google Scholar]). In fact, many of these organizations are multinational in
nature spanning operations around the globe. However, the one constant is the critical
importance of HRs both in terms of their ability to impact the levels of participation and the
management of scarce resources within these organisations
(Akingbola, 2013Akingbola, K. (2013). A mode of strategic nonprofit human resource
management. International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24, 214–
240.[Web of Science ®], , [Google Scholar]; Ridder, Piening, &
Baluch, 2012Ridder, H., Piening, P., & Baluch, A. M. (2012). The third way reconfigured:
How and why nonprofit organizations are shifting their human resource
management. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 23, 605–635. [Google Scholar]).
Impacting on this situation is a continued decline of participation in volunteer organizations
(Cuskelly, 2004Cuskelly, G. (2004). Volunteer retention in community sport
organizations. European Sport Management Quarterly, 4, 59–
76.10.1080/16184740408737469[Taylor & Francis Online], , [Google Scholar]) and a
growing need for many of the goods and services provided by these organizations such as
social welfare, counseling, environmental protection, advocacy and support for the delivery
of community events. This special issue adopts an international perspective on examining
the use, implementation and effectiveness of HRM and associated issues and challenges in
NGO, volunteer and not-for-profit organizations (NPOs). Our central argument in this paper
is that HRM is becoming increasingly relevant for the effective management of third sector
organizations and the delivery of their goods and services to their clients and communities.
Moreover, as demonstrated by the papers in this special issue HRM research in NGO,
volunteer and NPOs represents a vibrant and fruitful area of research that has practical and
tangible benefits for vulnerable people and communities in need.

International research on NGO, volunteer and NPOs reports on growing evidence that
HRM can make a difference to performance outcomes, although its effective use is patchy
(Ridder, Baluch, & Piening, 2012Ridder, H., Baluch, A. M., & Piening, E. P. (2012). The
whole is more than the sum of its parts? How HRM is configured in nonprofit organizations
and why it matters. Human Resource Management Review, 22(1), 1–
14.10.1016/j.hrmr.2011.11.001[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], , [Google Scholar]). The
relevance of mainstream HRM practices to volunteer labour remains unclear. Cnaan and
Cascio (1999Cnaan, R. A., & Cascio, T. A. (1999). Performance and commitment: Issues in
management of volunteers in human service organizations. Journal of Social Service
Research, 24(3/4), 1–37.[Web of Science ®], , [Google Scholar]) argue volunteer and paid
work are fundamentally different, and consequently, one cannot assume that practices that
are effective in the private sector context will effectively translate to managing volunteers. In
contrast, Farmer and Fedor (1999 Farmer, S. M., & Fedor, D. B. (1999). Volunteer
participation and withdrawal: A psychological contract perspective on the role of
expectations and organizational support. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 9, 349–
368.10.1002/(ISSN)1542-7854[Crossref], , [Google Scholar]) note that many volunteer
organizations perform common HR functions, such as recruitment, training, performance
management and compliance with current laws. Indeed, much of the research on HRM in
non-profit organizations centers on exploring the types of practices undertaken, with a
major focus on the recruitment and retention of volunteer labour
(Akingbola, 2013Akingbola, K. (2013). A mode of strategic nonprofit human resource
management. International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24, 214–
240.[Web of Science ®], , [Google Scholar]). Despite these important advances, the use
and implementation of HRM, impact upon volunteer participation rates and organisational
performance remain largely unknown (Ridder et al., 2012Ridder, H., Piening, P.,
& Baluch, A. M. (2012). The third way reconfigured: How and why nonprofit organizations
are shifting their human resource management. Human Resource Development
Quarterly, 23, 605–635. [Google Scholar]). There has also been relatively little research on
HRM within the third sector context from both western and non-western settings, as well as
their operations across borders. Consequently, there is a limited understanding of how the
various components of HRM are used in the NGO, volunteer and not-for-profit sectors
(Akingbola, 2007Akingbola, K. (2007). Strategy and HRM in nonprofit organizations:
Evidence from Canada. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 17, 1707–1725.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], , [Google
Scholar]) and their impact on individual, organizational and community outcomes.

This special issue comprises eight articles that present innovative and contemporary
research on various aspects of HRM in NGO, volunteer and the not-for-profit sectors which
go some way to close the aforementioned research gap. The papers in this special issue
advance the theoretical, conceptual and empirical base regarding the use, implementation
and impact of HRM within the context of the international NGO, volunteer and not-for-profit
sectors. Given the importance of the third sector in economic, social and cultural terms, as
well as the growing regulatory and financial pressures on many of these organizations, their
recruitment, motivation and retention of HRs has become critical not only for their success
but also survival. In this paper we present a brief summary of each paper included in the
special issue followed by discussion and analysis of the key emergent themes of HRM
research in this sector, as well as thoughts for future research.

The first article, presented by Baluch, examines HR practices across eight social service
NPOs in the UK and workers’ perceptions of how HR affects their well-being. This
qualitative study draws on 24 semi-structured interviews, with directors through to workers,
on the process-based approach to HRM, highlighting the process, rather than the substance
of HR practices. The study supports the notion that intended HRM practices frequently falter
and at the same time employees perceive unintended and somewhat negative practices. It
also embodies a subjective view of the employment relationship. For example, it was found
that the replacement of 1–2 year contracts with short-term contacts and intensified job
conditions contributed to job insecurity and reported decline in workers’ well-being. The
findings highlight the increasing precariousness of this employment relationship alongside
relatively weak HR systems characterized by low consistency and consensus, leading to
variation in the interpretation and application of HR practices at the level of line managers
and the front line. Interestingly, the overall support for HRM is negative in the current
findings, suggesting that inconsistencies in HR functions and application are areas for
concern. For NPOs seeking to enhance the experiences and overall well-being of their
workers this read provides valuable insights.
The second article, written by Kellner, Townsend and Wilkinson, examines Mercy
Healthcare, a Catholic not-for profit Australian organization, at a time of crises. There was a
widespread decline in staff satisfaction and engagement, and a growing concern for patient
care. The study was developed on publically available sources (website, hospital,
newsletters and reports) relative to the Mercy Healthcare private and public hospitals
comprising 500 beds and 6000 employees. As well, interview data were collected from 83
participants with a wide array of staff across all levels of the organization. The organization
invested in a change management initiative through the introduction of a high-performance
work system (HWPS); values-based HRM of the recruitment, performance development and
retention of staffs. The study reports careful alignment of organizational values with the
HPWS resulted in a stronger climate, positive employee outcomes and a high performing
HRM system. Results from accreditation assessments show significant improvements to
HRM and clinical performance following unification of private and public hospital HRM
systems. HR managers have the opportunity to adopt the learning from this article about
ways to promote employee understandings of ‘being able to link your job with the purpose of
the organization’. The authors suggest this will result in a strong culture where values are
deeply ingrained.

The third article, by authors Fee and McGrath-Champ, examines the safety and security of
expatriate staff in 10 international high-risk, NGOs in the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland
and Australia. In depth interviews were conducted with 13 participants and 126 internal
policy documents analyzed. Results unearthed four areas where these organizations seek
to build in-house competence, centered on culture building and supported by a suite of HR
practices relating to people services, information services and communication services.
Critical to the effective management of expatriate safety and security is an organizations
philosophy and security strategy underpinned by policy and the recruitment, selection and
training of staff who embrace protection security and engender a positive security culture.
Also important is the monitoring and evaluation of organizational learning relative to safety
and security and effective security communications with internal and external stakeholders,
and in particular across all expatriate staff. The intention is to make staff more aware,
enhance their safety and security, and assist them to deliver the performance demanded by
contemporary organizations. We believe a key message of this study is that high-risk
organizations need to build cultures of ‘personal responsibility and empowerment’ that
support safety and security at the workplace.

The fourth article, by Ang, Cavanagh, Southcombe, Bartram, Marjoribanks and McNeil,
examines HRM practices in 200 not-for-profit Men’s Sheds found in every state and territory
of Australia. Men’s Sheds provide a place where mostly retired men members maintain
social engagement and become involved in individual and community projects that
contribute to their overall wellbeing. Leader–member exchange (LMX) has been used to
describe the relationships between leaders and men member followers. Questionnaire data
matched 419 men member responses to 162 leaders of Men’s Sheds. Findings highlight the
importance of LMX in strengthening the relationship between perceptions of HR and
retention, and the critical nature of systematic HR practices and effective leadership within
Men’s Sheds. Findings suggest HRM practices and the quality of the leader and follower
relationship may create the conditions that support the men to feel connected and self-
efficacious. HRM practices such as training and development may also be important to build
up the men’s sense of self-efficacy and autonomy which may in turn enable the men to
further contribute to the Shed and the lives of others. Evidence suggests HRM is particularly
important in supporting membership, social connectedness and the health and well-being of
men and the community.

The fifth article, by Cunningham, explores the role of HR across eight Scottish voluntary
organizations, delivering public services, at a time when government made demands for
tighter cost control and enhanced customer service. It employs customer oriented
bureaucracy (COB) and contributes to better understandings of how personalization and
austerity impact on employment policies, the tensions that arise from such a contradictory
environment and the implications for the role of HR. Semi-structured interviews were
conducted with 81 participants including senior/line managers, employees and their
representatives. Findings revealed, in each of the organizations, that the external driven
factors made it difficult for HR to resolve the pressures between service and cost control.
Employees expressed concerns over the commercialization aspects and the lack of skills
enhancement related to service quality. We are sure the authors would agree that an
interesting finding of this study, and one that HR managers should take note, is evidence of
the stagnation in skills development in voluntary organizations, which clearly has
implications for recruitment and retention of staff. The COB construct helps explain why
HRM may fail to build and sustain worker commitment in the face of contradictory
management programs of rationalization and customer sovereignty.

The sixth article by Fee, Heizmann and Gray examines the experiences of Australian
expatriates from the health, business, management and engineering sectors working on
capacity development (CD) projects in Vietnam. The authors aim was to identify factors of
effective cross-cultural CD relationships. Moreover, the study set out to propose a model for
HR managers and researchers to systematically consider CD relationships. The findings
highlight that shared trust central to the effectiveness of cross-cultural CD relationships.
Other conditions incorporate a perception of equality, two-way expert and protégé learning,
interdependent cooperation, socialization and supportive organizational environments. The
main theoretical contribution of the study is a model focusing on CD. Through this study the
authors encourage dialogue around developing a theory of cross-cultural CD.
In the seventh article, Saksida, Alfes and Shantz, explore role mastery and levels of
volunteer commitment within a religious humanitarian non-profit organization in the United
Kingdom. The study proposes role mastery, through role clarity and self-efficacy, and the
training and supportive relationships with paid staff have a positive impact on volunteers. A
dual-mediation analysis of survey data from the organization (n = 647) supports the
theoretical model. The analyses identified that training and supportive relationships with
paid staff play an important role in volunteers’ successful fulfillment of their role. The authors
argue volunteer organizations should invest more in training and induction programs to
facilitate volunteers’ adjustment to their roles. It is also critical that organizations examine
the nature and quality of volunteers’ experiences. This study makes an important
contribution to the literature by showing that training and supportive relationships with paid
staff promote role mastery through increased role clarity and self-efficacy perceptions
among volunteers. We believe this paper will stimulate much discussion among HR
managers about increasing the confidence among volunteers and developing strategies for
reducing role ambiguity. This should lead to strategies that will maximize role mastery and
commitment of volunteers.

The final article, by Townsend, McDonald and Cathcart, contributes to a current dearth of
empirical research on flexible work arrangements in the not-for-profit sector. Specifically, the
study explores the provision and utilization of flexible work arrangements in five small NPOs
in Australia. The five organizations are predominately funded by government and receive
some charitable donations. Each organization had one manager, responsible for HR,
including recruitment performance management and policy development, and less than 20
employees. The researchers conducted 39 semi-structured interviews. The study reveals
that existing tensions around flexible work arrangements are managed in three ways:
discretion is used in responding to requests for flexibility, leadership style has an influence
over the values of employees and market-driven values and distancing by managers due to
financial constraints. It was interesting to read the very casual approaches in expressed
employee statements such as ‘It’s just verbal …’ and ‘I don’t necessarily have to ask
permission …’ when employees seek flexible work arrangements. It appears the success of
flexible work arrangements relies on the capacity and willingness of employees and
managers to control them on an informal and flexible basis. In general, the study contributes
to theory about the role of HRM in small organisations and flexible work provisions within
the not-for-profit sector.

Key emergent themes and thoughts for future research

There are a number of emergent themes in both the literature and the articles contained in
this special issue. We have selected four that we think are important and suggest avenues
for future research. First, the papers by Kellner, Townsend and Wilkinson and Cunningham
lend further support for the efficacy of strategic HRM on both individual and organisational
outcomes. Studies of high performing organizations demonstrate a positive relationship
between strategic HRM (SHRM) practices and individual and organizational performance
(Bartram, Karimi, Stanton, & Leggat, 2014Bartram, T., Karimi, L., Stanton, P.,
& Leggat, S. (2014). Social identification: Linking high performance work systems,
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Linking HRM and performance in third sector organizations, although potentially of
significant benefit is not without its challenges and as discussed in some of the special issue
papers is often faced with managerial and employee resistance (Kellner, Townsend and
Wilkinson paper in this special issue). A major hurdle has been that HRM has traditionally
assumed a formalized employment relationship – that is a contractual relationship between
an employer and employee. In many third sector organizations workers may be volunteers
or members. We among others (Ridder et al., 2012Ridder, H., Piening, P., & Baluch, A.
M. (2012). The third way reconfigured: How and why nonprofit organizations are shifting
their human resource management. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 23, 605–
635. [Google Scholar]; Saunders, 2004Saunders, R. (2004, January). Passion and
commitment under stress: Human resource issues in Canada’s non-profit sector – A
synthesis report (Canadian Policy Research Networks Series on Human Resources in the
Non-Profit Sector, No. 5). Ottowa: Canadian Policy Research Network. [Google Scholar])
argue that HRM is relevant to volunteers and members of third sector organizations
because purposeful work is being undertaken in an organized and collective way requiring
management coordination. Introducing and implementing strategic HRM may create
tensions between balancing formal aspects of managing people, particularly paid workers
with informal management practices often used for volunteers. Moreover, formalizing HRM
and utilizing it to develop higher levels of individual and organizational performance may
also be analogous to the traditional values and approaches used by NGO’s, not-for-profit
and volunteer organizations. These tensions were demonstrated in a number of the special
issue papers. For example, Kellner, Townsend and Wilkinson, examines Mercy Healthcare,
a Catholic not-for profit Australian organization, at a time of financial crises. The
organization introduced HPWS with the aim of improving performance and achieved this
through integrating HRM with traditional and religious values that guided the organization.
Moreover, in the case of volunteer and grassroots community organizations, the
formalization of management practices and process may be detrimental to the attraction
and retention of volunteers (Cavanagh, Southcombe, &
Bartram, 2014Cavanagh, J., Southcombe, A., & Bartram, T. (2014). The role of
collaborative learning on training and development practices within the Australian Men’s
Shed movement: A study of five Men’s Sheds. Journal of Vocational Education and
Training, 66, 365–385.10.1080/13636820.2014.922119[Taylor & Francis Online], , [Google
Scholar]; Cavanagh et al., 2013Cavanagh, J., McNeil, N., & Bartram, T. (2013). The
Australian Men’s Sheds Movement: Human resource management in a voluntary
organisation. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 51, 292–
306.10.1111/aphr.2013.51.issue-3[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], , [Google Scholar]).
Volunteers may hold negative views of formalization of their volunteering experience in that
formalization may be perceived as bureaucratic and similar to paid work.
Despite the established evidence that HRM can make a difference to individual well-being
and organizational effectiveness, there is an absence of research on the impact of HRM
within volunteer and grassroots community organizations, such as the Men’s Sheds. Most
research on HRM in non-profit organizations tends to centre on exploring the types of
practices undertaken, with a major focus on the recruitment and retention of volunteer
labour (Akingbola, 2013Akingbola, K. (2013). A mode of strategic nonprofit human resource
management. International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24, 214–
240.[Web of Science ®], , [Google Scholar]). Farmer and Fedor (1999Farmer, S. M.,
& Fedor, D. B. (1999). Volunteer participation and withdrawal: A psychological contract
perspective on the role of expectations and organizational support. Nonprofit Management
and Leadership, 9, 349–368.10.1002/(ISSN)1542-7854[Crossref], , [Google Scholar]) have
already established that volunteer organizations execute the basic HR functions of
recruitment, training and performance management. Contemporary research in Men’s
Sheds highlights the importance of leadership and HR practices, such as human resource
planning and occupational health and safety, to facilitate effective participation in the Sheds
(Cavanagh, Southcombe, & Bartram, 2014Cavanagh, J., Southcombe, A.,
& Bartram, T. (2014). The role of collaborative learning on training and development
practices within the Australian Men’s Shed movement: A study of five Men’s Sheds. Journal
of Vocational Education and Training, 66, 365–385.10.1080/13636820.2014.922119[Taylor
& Francis Online], , [Google Scholar]).The Sheds also provide a place for education,
training, development and recreation (Arney & Westby, 2012Arney, F., & Westby, M.
(2012). Men’s places literature review. Darwin. NT: Child Protection Research Program,
Menzies School of Health Research. [Google Scholar]; Cavanagh, Southcombe, &
Bartram, 2014Cavanagh, J., Southcombe, A., & Bartram, T. (2014). The role of
collaborative learning on training and development practices within the Australian Men’s
Shed movement: A study of five Men’s Sheds. Journal of Vocational Education and
Training, 66, 365–385.10.1080/13636820.2014.922119[Taylor & Francis Online], , [Google
Scholar]) where social and informal learning can occur. As the Men’s Shed movement gains
momentum there is a need to better understand the HR factors that impact on the Sheds.
Moreover, it is crucial to build understandings on the efficacy of the implementation of
traditional HRM practices in this context.
The above-mentioned examples of volunteer organizations in action raise a number of
important questions for further research including: how and through what process can third
sector organizations effectively implement SHRM in their operations whilst maintaining their
traditional organizational values? Which HRM or HWPSs practices are most relevant to
NGO’s, not-for-profit and volunteer organizations and how can they be used to not only
enhance employee and organizational performance but also wellbeing of the workforce? Do
these organizations need to go beyond linking SHRM to traditional conceptions of individual
and organizational performance (e.g. employee wellbeing, social inclusion, social capital)? If
so, what are the most important performance outcomes of third sector organizations and
which HRM practices are the most effective in helping achieve these outcomes? How do
managers of volunteers inculcate a performance culture, particularly when there is
commonly no formal contract requiring, describing, rewarding or enforcing any levels of
individual performance?

Second, NGO, volunteer and NPOs are often focused on providing goods and services for
local, national and international communities with a strong focus on the health and wellbeing
of clients and volunteers. HRM in these organizations is going beyond the traditional view of
performance, namely that of profit. This is demonstrated in the paper by Baluch and
colleagues in this special issue. They examine workers’ perceptions of how HR affects their
wellbeing in eight social service NPOs in the UK. Similarly, we argue that to effectively
provide these good and services, as well as support the well-being of the community and
volunteers these organizations need to use their human capital to the best of their ability.
HRM, particularly the functions of recruitment and selection, occupational health and safety,
training and development, reward management, as well as effective leadership and ethical
practice are critical to the motivation and retention of volunteers
(Akingbola, 2007Akingbola, K. (2007). Strategy and HRM in nonprofit organizations:
Evidence from Canada. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 17, 1707–1725.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], , [Google
Scholar]). Integrating a sustainable business model, with a congruent business and HRM
strategy are crucial to the effective operation of the organization that can positively impact
the health and wellbeing and build the social capital of targeted communities. For example,
Ang, Cavanagh, Bartram, Southcombe, Marjoribanks and McNeil, examine HRM practices
in 200 not-for-profit Men’s Sheds in Australia and reported that Men’s Sheds provide a place
where retired men members maintain social engagement and become involved in individual
and community projects that contribute to their overall well-being. HRM, as well as effective
leadership plays a crucial role in supporting the wellbeing of volunteer members. This raises
some important questions for further research including: how does the process of HRM lead
to enhanced levels of health and well-being of workers in third sector organizations,
particularly volunteers where there is often no formalized employment relationship? Third
sector organizations may focus on enhancing the well-being of the community or even
volunteers but do they have same philosophy or approach when it comes to their paid staff?
Is there any evidence to suggest that these institutions may be categorized as ‘greedy’ in
relation to the time and personal resources of their workforce?

Third, the papers in this special issue clearly highlight the relevance of HRM beyond
traditional organizational forms in which HRM researchers focus namely on manufacturing
and financial service industries. The management of the workforce whether paid or
volunteer in NGO, volunteer and NPOs can benefit from a systematic, formalized and
strategic approach (Allen & Bartle, 2014Allen, J. B., & Bartle, M. (2014). Sport event
volunteers’ engagement: Management matters. Managing Leisure, 19, 36–
50.10.1080/13606719.2013.849502[Taylor & Francis Online], , [Google Scholar]; Cuskelly,
Taylor, Hoye, & Darcy, 2006Cuskelly, G., Taylor, T., Hoye, R., & Darcy, S. (2006). The
relationship between volunteer management practices and volunteer retention in community
sport organisations. Sport Management Review, 9, 141–163.10.1016/S1441-
3523(06)70023-7[Crossref], , [Google Scholar]; Hoye, Cuskelly, Taylor, &
Darcy, 2008Hoye, R., Cuskelly, G., Taylor, T., & Darcy, S. (2008). Volunteer motives and
retention in community sport: A study of Australian rugby clubs. Australian Journal of
Volunteering,13, 40–48. [Google Scholar]; Volunteer Australia, 2001Volunteering Australia.
(2001). National standards for involving volunteers in not for profit
organizations. Melbourne: Author. [Google Scholar]). HRM can play an important role in the
effective management of workers, whether that be a paid or volunteer workforce. As in the
case of private sector organizations, strategies aimed at the attraction, motivation and
retention of workers is critical to the functioning, survival and growth of third sector
organizations. Cuskelly, Hoye, and Auld (2006)Cuskelly, G., Hoye, R.,
& Auld, C.(2006). Working with volunteers in sport: Theory and
practice. London: Routledge.[Crossref], , [Google Scholar] highlight that volunteers in sport
play important roles that are fundamental to the successful delivery of sporting participation
and spectator experiences, and are essential to teaching, managing and delivering sport.
However, more recently, Kappelides and Hoye (2014Kappelides, P.,
& Hoye, R. (2014). Volunteering and sport.
In M.Oppenheimer & J. Warburton (Eds.), Volunteering in Australia (pp. 168–
179). Sydney: Federation Press. [Google Scholar]) identified five significant trends
regarding volunteering in sport; namely a declining rate of volunteering; increasingly
regulated volunteer experiences; increasing costs to sport volunteers; increasing pressure
on volunteer leaders; and an increased demand for more highly skilled and professional
volunteers – all of which can be arguably addressed, at least in part, by the adoption of
strategic HRM approaches by managers of volunteers within not-for-profit sport
organizations. The authors argue that the key issues and challenges involved with
sustaining an adequate volunteer workforce to support Australia’s sport system are similar
to other voluntary sectors – retention, management and professionalization of volunteers, as
well as recruitment, training, recognition and volunteer welfare (Kappelides &
Hoye, 2014Kappelides, P., & Hoye, R. (2014). Volunteering and sport.
In M.Oppenheimer & J. Warburton (Eds.), Volunteering in Australia (pp. 168–
179). Sydney: Federation Press. [Google Scholar]). This leads us to consider further
questions for future research such as are there specific HRM approaches, frameworks or
models for NGO, volunteer and NPOs? Are best practice HRM models applicable to these
organizations? How can HR enhance the volunteer experience in these organizations?
Fourth, based on the papers from the special issue it is clear that increasingly NGO,
volunteer and NPOs are internationalizing and having far more complex multi-site and multi-
national operations (Evans, Pucik, & Björkman, 2010Evans, P., Pucik, V.,
& Björkman, I.(2010). The global challenge: International human resource
management (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. [Google Scholar]). This creates a host
of people management challenges for third sector organizations including the effective
training and development, management and support of expatriate workers, host and third
country workers and volunteers, the transmission of organizational values across national,
institutional and cultural divides, as well as staff safety and security. For example, Fee and
Mcgrath-Champ, examine the complexities of safety and security of expatriate staff in 10
international high-risk, NGO’s in the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Australia. We
advocate the need for further studies that examine the strategic behavior and management
practices (Armstrong, 2010Armstrong, M. (2010). Armstrong’s essential human resource
management practice: A guide to people management. London: Kogan Page
Publishers. [Google Scholar]) and their effects of third sector organizations in emerging
country contexts. Understanding national effects on third sector behavior and associated
HR and management practices is critical for these organizations to attract, motivate and
retain their workforce so as to carry out their mission and work for their clients and
communities. Underlying many of these developments is the growth in technology and
communications, global supply chains and new ways of producing goods and services. How
do NGO, volunteer and NPOs take advantage of these development to enhance the
delivery of their goods and services? Moreover, can extending and developing deep
partnerships with industry, governments and other organizations, locally and internationally,
also facilitate the enhancement of the delivery or goods services through the provision of
greater resources, workplace and HR innovations? We would encourage greater research
on the management of employees and volunteers in third sector organizations operating
particularly in developing countries.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

The importance of HR management in an NGO environment

The importance of Human Resources (HR) in an NGO as a means of ensuring sustainable
growth for an organization cannot be overemphasized, as it is the fundamental strength
upon which people; strategies, processes and operations are based.
Effective employee management should be on top of the list of priorities for progressive
improvement of an organization. An NGO must strive to attract, develop and retain qualified
and enthusiastic employees as they are the key to the success of one's business. HR in an
NGO is no different to HR in any other sector, but the problems that HR professionals face
within the NGO industry are quite unique.
Problems
There are two main problems concerning HR in the NGO environment today:

1. The first is the high unemployment rate which causes an exceptionally high number of
under qualified job seekers to stream into the childcare environment, the reason for this
can also be attributed to an industry that does not have the competitive advantage
when it comes to salary benchmarking. This leads to shortages of qualified skilled
childcare workers in the industry.
2. The second is retaining highly skilled and qualified people and keeping them
motivated. Learning and development are central to both the performance and
development of employees. It can be beneficial for an organization to offer employees
equal and full access to learning and development opportunities that are aligned to
their career development, as well as the skills and competencies required to meet
business performance and growth objectives.
Abraham Kriel Childcare, for example, is continuously developing and training their
childcare workers to deliver high standard childcare services. Interventions such as this help
employees to feel valued. NGOs has an ever increasing need to attract the right people in
the right positions in a constantly evolving environment.

Heads of NGOs and those long associated with the development sector will confirm that the
supply of well qualified people, prepared to make the necessary sacrifices in respect of
remuneration, for the sake of the cause, has diminished rapidly in the last 18 years or so.
Job opportunities for today's educated youth are more widespread. This has made a career
in development less attractive to people in the age group from which the sector drew its
strengths from in the 1970s and 1980s. The days when NGOs were driven by social
activists are no longer. NGOs now have a high demand for skilled employees to help the
organization function at its best.
Screening of new employees
In the case of an NGO that works with children or vulnerable people, it is of utmost
importance to implement a vetting system that screens all new appointees. Applicable
screenings would be:

 the child protection register

 qualifications
 criminal record
 identity and professional registration
Almost all the HR practices are being adapted by larger NGOs and the roles and
responsibilities are equally challenging.Clear selection criteria must be created.

An NGO should take advantage of the benefits of tools like psychometric testing in the
selection process. Psychometric testing and other similar tools can contribute significant
value by helping HR practitioners in placing the right types of individuals in the right
positions. This also helps to ensure that new employees receive the correct training to
enhance their own skills, specifically in critical positions such as childcare and management
roles.

Providing employees with support and understanding is especially important in

organizations that work with children and trauma cases. An example is that of a wellness
initiative that focuses on the wellbeing of staff, including, health, trauma and employee
stress. Such initiatives are aimed at retaining qualified, enthusiastic employees and
developing a positive organizational culture. It is critical for HR Practitioners to partner with
businesses in understanding the needs of an organization. As well as what challenges the
industry is facing, skills shortages, salary disparities, best practice HR procedures and
government policies that stands as a hindrance to the success of an NPO.

The personnel function in the NPO industry has evolved to the HR business partnering
concept and is well embraced by many NPOs within recent years. Any NPO using the
business partnering model with strategic intent in aligning people to business is bound to
achieve organizational success. The NPO world is continuously evolving and is becoming
an industry to be recognized as the change frontier in economic and social development in
the country and with the right people, it's bound to achieve success.

METHODOLOGY AND REFERENCES

• Huselitd Mark A,(1995), “The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on

Turnover, Productivity and Corporate Financial Performance” Rutgers University,
Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, No.3

• Gupta Geetanjali Pandit, “Effective HR practices in the services industry”, Effective

HR practices in the services industry, WWW.HRDguide .com

• Anonymous,(2008) “HR Best Practices at FedEx, A Best Company to Work For”

Business Management Article.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND REFERENCES

Research problem mainly refers to any complexity or intricacy that occurs during the
research work in either theoretical context or practical situation faced by researcher. The
components of Research Problem are here under: 1 There must be a group or an individual
that has some intricacy or the problem. 2 Some objective(s) must be there to attain. 3 Some
substitute way or the course of action must be there for attaining the purpose(s) one wish to
attain. 4 Researcher must keep some doubt in his mind regarding the selection of
alternatives. 5 It is required to have some sort of environment to which complexity pertains.
Non Government Organization has played an important role throughout the world. This
sector has emerged as one of the highest budding sector in India. This sector influence
people to work in NGO as well as serve the society. Human Resource Practices are the
basic need of public, private and government sector and the way non government
organization came into existence, the same needs of HR practices has been felt in this
sector. Though NGO works on time bound projects to serve needy people in the society but
ultimately human resources are the basic resources that is required by any sector, no
matters whether it is private, government or non government sector. 72 HR functions are
required as basic set-up from requirement to retain the employees. The existence of HR
department and its related functions were found important to work on. The core purpose of
research on Non Government Organization is to unearth the need of basic set up of the HR
department and its functions in NGO as NGO came into existence in recent years. An
analysis of the review of literature indicates that work of the studies undertook were mainly
on HR Practices in service sector, manufacturing industry, IT industry and banking sector
but no comprehensive study seems to have been undertaken so far that laid focus on HR
Practices in NGO of regions like Bharatpur, Udaipur, Ajmer an Jaipur. Human Resource
Practices are such vast subject to conduct the research. All the practices cannot be
included for research purpose.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

A large number of research work has been done that focus on various HR Practices to
achieve higher standards of performance in the organization. some are related to acquire
human resources, designing and developing human resources and some are related to
maintaining and integrating human resources. There are many research gaps found after
reviewing the available articles. Generally researches were on role of HR Practices in public
and private organization and their importance and effects on different sectors but no
empirical research were found on the HR Practices in Non Government Organization. All
these gaps have encouraged the researcher to undertake the thorough research study on
HR Practices in NGOs. This research study will prove very helpful to - Non Government
Organization – This detailed research work will help NGOs to take corrective measures to
acquire and retain employees and for improving the performance of employees and firm
itself. 81 Research Scholar – The study will be helpful for students and research scholar to
understand the various HR Practices and their impact on performance of NGOs and it will
become a secondary data for those who are keen to know about working culture of NGOs.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1 To identify the affect of HR practices on the performance of NGO.

2 To study the factors which effect employee performance.

3 To study the factors which effect firm performance.

SAMPLE DESIGN

It is a precise plan for obtaining a sample from the sampling structure. It refers to the
method which the researcher adopts in selecting a few sampling units from which
inferences about the population is drawn, sampling design is determined before any data
collected.

 Respondents: Respondents of this proposed research study are the existing employees of
selected NGOs in Rajasthan.

 Universe: The universe of the study is the Non Government Organization of Rajasthan
which consists of selected 4 leading NGOs of Rajasthan.

 Sample Size: - It refers the number of items to be selected from the universe constitute a
sample. Here the sample size is 300.

 Method of Sampling: - Method is a tool or an instrument employed to gather empirical

evidence and to analyze data.

Here the researcher is using structured questionnaire for both employee and employer.
Face to face interview, telephonic conversation, e-mails are also being used to gather
information.

SOURCE OF DATA

The source of data are two types of data viz.- Primary data – are the data that is collected
first time. It is original in nature. Here, the respondents who are employees in NGO are the
source of primary data. It is collected with the help of questionnaires, discussions and
observation. Also, a face to face talk with many friends and relatives while filling up of the
questionnaire helped out for the purpose of study. The role of “FACEBOOK” and
“Whatsapp” cannot be denied which helped a lot elicit response from lot many people
regarding the study. Secondary data is the data that is already published in journals, annual
reports, broachers and already gone through with some sort of statistical procedure. There
are various other similar studies that have undertaken. A study of related literature in
journals and newspapers also helped for the purpose. The role of internet is of immense
help for the study conducted. Various sites on the internet are visited and goggle search,
ask me done to collect the relevant data. 84 Here, in research process, brochure, annual
reports and periodicals or NGOs have been used as secondary data. The present study is
mainly based on primary data i.e. all the data required for conducting this study have been
obtained from the primary sources.

PARAMETERS

There are certain parameters of Human Resource Practices that are included by the
researcher to collect primary data. Parameters are here under:-

Recruitment

Selection

Motivation

Job Satisfaction

Job Description

Induction

Training

Employees Performance

Absenteeism

Employee Health and Safety

Wages and Salary

Career Advancement

Employee Welfare

Job Security

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
1. Distance was the biggest constraint while conducting research.

2. Casual approach of some of the respondents towards filling the questionnaire.

3. Absence of detailed HR manuals in NGOs was one of the biggest constraints.

4. Unavailability of project heads due to distant projects was the constraint.

5. Respondents are biased sometimes.

6. The area of the study was confined to a few cities of Rajasthan only, so it was a
constraint.

7. Workers / employees are not literate this much to understand the terms of management.

REFERENCES

1. Tilly Chacko M (2010), “Best Practices of HR in Service Sector”, HRM Review

(The ICFAI University Press), Page no. 38-40.
2. 2 SVVS Prasad Varab (2007), “ HR Practices and Business Performance”,
HRM Review (The ICFACI university press), Page No. 49-53.
3. 3 Prof. Philip J. (2006). “ HR Practices for Building Performance Excellence”,
Journal of Management & entrepreneurship, Volume-1, Issue-1, Page No. 53-
66.
4. Deshopande Satish P., Golhar Damodar Y.(1994). HRM Practices in Large
and Small Manufacturing Firms: A Comparative Study, Journal of Small
Business Management, Vol. 32.
5. Swamy Renuka D., Venkateshwara, Balaji A. (2006), “A comparative study of
Human Resource Management practices and advanced technology adoption
of SMEs with and without ISO certification.(Small and Medium Enterprises)”
Singapore Management Review.
6. Gurav A M and Mudalkar Pralhad Krishna (2011), “A Critical Study of Human
Resource Practices in Selected Sugar Factories”, The IUP Journal of
Management Research, Vol. X, No.-1, Page No.- 46-61.
7. Naga Pawan C, Prabhi G.(2009). “HR Practices in a Recessionary
Economy”, HRM Review, The ICFAI University Press, Page No. 39-43.
8. Mark Huselitd A(1995). Rutgers University, Academy of Management
Journal, Vol. 38, No.3. 90
9. Gupta Geetanjali Pandit, “Effective HR practices in the services industry”,
Effective HR practices in the services industry.
10. Anonymous (2008). “HR Best Practices at FedEx, A Best Company to Work
For” Business Management Article.
11. Tripathi Laxman Kumar (2008). “Human Resource Maangement Practices in
IT Industry: A Complex Adaptive System Perspective”, Journal of
Management, volume 2, number-1, January 2008, Page No. -1-15, has
focused on the Complex Adaptive System.
12. Kennedy Vijilav(2007). “Do HRD Practices Differ Among the Categories of On
Indian Commercial Banks”, The ICFAI Journal of Management Research,
Vol.VI, No-12, Page No.- 33-41.
13. Armstrong Michael – “Hand Book on Human Resource Management
Practices” .
14. Kothari C.R. (2002). Research Methodology: Methods and techniques, pp.
277, Vishwa Prakashan, New Delhi.
15. Kothari C.R. (2002). Research Methodology: Methods and techniques, pp.
282-283, Vishwa Prakashan, New Delhi.

ROLE OF NGOs IN ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The development of mankind was the major concern of economic thinkers and
policy makers of all the time all over the world. It was natural for them to have a
hard look at the achievements and failures in the pursuit of development. The
efforts of the mankind in this direction succeed and the development is
materialized only when various socio-economic problems like poverty,
unemployment, gender inequality, illiteracy etc. are completely eradicated. The
conventional agent of development in most of the countries was the state.
Formulation of policies and implementation of various programmes for achieving
the economic development of the country was considered to be the prime
responsibility of the state. There was a widespread belief over the past four
decades that development was a primary task of the government. The people
have been expected to put their faith and resources in to the government in
return for which the government promised to bestow up on the people the gift of
development. This belief arose out of the false assessment of the capacity of the
government in materializing development and also due to the lack of awareness
about the varied nature of the term development. Even in the last decades of the
20th century, in many of the world countries, the government at different levels (
national level, state level and at the local level ) had assumed almost the total
control over the commanding heights of the economy but miserably failed to
alleviate poverty and unemployment. It was very well recognized by the different
2 writers on development that the state action alone can not be successful in
alleviating poverty and unemployment and also in improving the status of the
disadvantaged groups in the society. Like many other developing countries, India
also has organized various rural development programmes since independence
but they have only partially succeeded. Various rural development and
employment programmes like the Integrated Rural Development Programme (
IRDP ), the National Rural Employment Programme ( NREP ) and the Rural
Landless Employment Guarantee Programme ( RLEGP ) were launched in India
since early 1980’s. They were formulated with the various objectives of providing
employment, creating productive and durable assets and improving the overall
quality of life in the rural areas. They had other objectives as well like
improvement of wages in the slack season, stabilization of wages at the
stipulated minimum wage level and raising the agricultural output as well as
demand for labour in the long run.1 The success of the above programmes
depends on the extent to which assets in agriculture and other related sectors
are actually created. The nature and incidence of unemployment and poverty are
decided by the functioning of the labour market and also some other factors in
the rural economy. It was generally noted that in the agriculturally developed
regions of the country there was the high wage rates but it coincided with higher
levels of unemployment and lower levels of work participation. In the
agriculturally backward regions of the country, there was the low wage rates and
also high unemployment.2 Therefore it is suggested that there should be diverse
orientations for the rural development programmes in the backward regions and
in the developed 3 regions of the country. Intervention through the rural
development programmes should ensure adequate employment to the workers at
the minimum wage rate. For this the benefit from rural development programmes
should reach those who participated in the process of creation of assets in the
relevant area. This, to a large extent, depends on the nature of agencies who are
assigned the responsibility of executing the work and also on factors like the
allocation of adequate funds – commensurate with the dimension of the problem
of poverty and unemployment specific to the region – and proper institutional
arrangements to ensure effective planning, implementation and monitoring at
different levels. However, the various development and employment programmes
in India, initiated by the government since independence, have not reduced
poverty and unemployment substantially. The problems of hunger, malnutrition,
unemployment, ill health gender inequality, illiteracy etc. continue to persist in the
different parts of the country, even though the intensity of such problems has
been reduced in the recent years. The development experts felt that the various
rural development programmes failed to produce satisfactory results due to the
lack of adequate involvement of the people for whom the programmes were
meant. There was the need for micro level institutional arrangements to involve
the people in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of such
programmes. In the 1980s the development role of the civil society was very well
recognized. Firstly, the private business and the market forces were
rediscovered. Equally important but more recent came an acknowledgement that
NGOs have an important development role in their own right. Gradually, there
came the primary understanding 4 that government, business and NGOs have
essential roles in development along with the organizations which may be
referred to as the ‘fourth sector’ – the people’s organizations. Any organization
that is non-governmental and non profit is generally considered to be an NGO or
VO. Today, many writers on development and various agencies working in the
field of development consider Non-governmental Organizations ( NGOs ) to be
more successful in reaching out to the poor and in alleviating poverty. NGOs can
play key the role in motivating the people and supervising the distribution of
resources with a view to ensure its proper utilization. They organized projects
matching to the local conditions and supplied local know how on the various
factors affecting productivity and marketing. Development practitioners,
government officials and foreign donors consider that Non Governmental
Organizations ( NGOs ), by virtue of being small, flexible, innovative and
participatory, more successful in reaching the poor and in poverty alleviation.3
This led to the expansion and diversification of the activities of NGOs and
government and external donors have come up to fund them extensively. The
term Non-governmental Organizations or NGOs has been used to refer to any
organization that is not at all a direct division of any national or state government
and which is voluntary 5 sufficient fertile land to the village people, providing
adequate irrigation water, better education, health care and eliminating social or
caste discriminations. NGOs in most countries carry out a variety of programmes
aiming to provide the basic needs of the people in the country, even though they
do not have a clear idea of the term ‘development’. The role and relevance of
NGOs in a developing country like India, have increased substantially in the
recent years on account of several reasons. Firstly, a major shift took place in
India in the approach to development since 1991 with the launching of the ‘New
Economic Policy’ – a policy with which there occurred a change to the market
derived growth and development. It is very important that state, the conventional
agent of development, is being overtaken by the emerging international
institutions and the market forces. Moreover, the modernization or catching up
with the advanced countries, which was the classic aim of development earlier, is
in question because, modernization is no longer an obvious ambition of many
societies at present. Modernization seems to be unattractive in view of ecological
problems, severe consequences of technological advancement and many other
similar issues. Along with the decisive shift in the approach to development, there
arose a lot of problems like the ecological and social imbalances, lack of
purchasing power, lack of opportunities to acquire the purchasing power, lack of
requisite skills to utilize the opportunities and the lack of proper educational
facilities to acquire changing skills. The above problems can be successfully
tackled if there has been proper and effective organization of the people
especially that of the weaker sections in the society. The NGOs have been
successful in organizing the poor properly and effectively and in enabling them to
receive the benefit 6 of economic development. NGOs are cost effective and
efficient service providers as compared to public agencies and the government.
They have been successful in reaching those poor people who were not yet
reached by the market process or by the state. Secondly, the popularity of NGOs
with the government and other official aid agencies increased in the recent years
as a response to the recent development in economic and political thinking.
There have been some fovourable signals from the international financial
institutions for increasing the participation of the NGOs in the development
programmes in the developing countries and the UDCs. The NGO initiative was
seriously studied and applauded for their timely and constructive interventions in
the development projects in the Third World. They were being conceived as
social and cultural catalysts for initiating change in the attitudes and perceptions
of the people, for bringing people in to the modern stream and socially
empowering them to redesign their own life ways and practices to confront the
social and economic backwardness.5 The development policy of aid agencies
like World Bank and aid transfers from them came to be dominated by the ‘New
Policy Agenda’ which gave a prominent role the NGOs in poverty alleviation,
social welfare and the development of the civil society. Thirdly, various
international donor agencies and consortia discovered NGOs as the most
effective instrument for promoting their interest in penetrating the Third World
economies and particularly their rural interiors. NGOs are somewhat stable
groups with defined activities and programmes and have, barring some
exceptions, an urge and also an exposure to horizontal and sometimes vertical
linkages within and across their chosen sectors of activity.6 They have 7 an
image different and less threatening than that of the private industries or
government bureaucracies. Under the above circumstances, it can be
understood that when the various rural development and employment
programmes or projects are undertaken, the full benefits of wage to the workers,
the quality of assets and non escalation in the cost of the work could be ensured
if NGOs are involved extensively in executing the works. The advance payment
on the work / project could be made to them and they can take the responsibility
of executing the work and paying the minimum wages ( partly in kind and partly in
cash ) in accordance with the specifications. Besides they could motivate the
beneficiaries of individual assets and involve them fully in the creation of these
assets. All the materials possible and required could be manufactured with the
full participation of beneficiaries. It leads to more gains in employment and
income to the beneficiaries. If NGOs are involved in executing the rural
development programmes, there can be more scope for increasing wages in the
agricultural off season as they employed local labour and since they are non
profit organizations. Moreover, the identification of beneficiaries could be done
with people’s knowledge and participation and therefore, the leakages due to the
selection of non poor beneficiaries could be plugged. This will eliminate the other
implementation problems like ensuring the quality of assets and organizing the
individual beneficiaries in getting the sanctioned assets completed as NGOs are
a body of people devoted to the welfare of the poor and not subject to the
external control of any donor agency or governmental agency. NGOs are mostly
internal organizations with the active involvement of volunteering people in a
particular area or locality. Their small size, independence and the focused value
commitments give them a capacity for social and 8 institutional innovation.
Moreover, they serve as the forums for defining, testing and propagating ideas
and values.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

NGOs have gained recognition in the modern economic societies as new

channels of education, empowerment and economic dynamism. Voluntary action
was both historically and philosophically conceived as intrinsic to that of a
mediation role on safeguarding the local resources and protecting the local
interest and rights. The role and relevance of the voluntary sector was clear from
the fact that the people and the societies conscious about development have
recognized and accepted the voluntary organizations as much more efficient and
less expensive in promoting development. The voluntary organizations specialize
in the integrative people’s power and they have a value commitment to the
society which is its distinctive strength. A healthy voluntary sector is
characterized by a substantial number and variety of independent voluntary
organizations representing an array of distinctive and often conflicting
commitments. The voluntary sector is considered as an independent,
autonomous and vibrant sector which can work on social and development
problems of the country with the freedom that the government institutions do not
have and a sense of commitment and concern for the people that the business
sector do not care for. Development needs a capacity in wealth creation and
entrepreneurship and substantial inputs of creativity, innovation, self direction
and the voluntary action. The voluntary sector has the advantage in mobilizing
voluntary social energy and in stimulating the social innovation. The realm of the
individual voluntary organizations are small and therefore they are able to define
positions more clearly, to press for innovative solutions and experiment in ways
that government finds difficult. Moreover the strength of the voluntary sector is
found in the diversity of its constituent organizations and their capacity for
independent action. Voluntary agencies can reach out and form alliances more
easily than the other types of organizations even though the alliances often
become unstable. There was a wave of voluntarism throughout the world in the
20th century with a quite distinctive role in promoting development. NGOs
provided an opportunity for different classes of people, especially the weaker
sections, to organize systematically for collective action in order to secure their
minimum basic needs. They provide a strong public opinion in this regard through
advocacy for common good. Moreover government and the funding agencies
now insist on people’s participation in the planning and the implementation of
development projects. There has been a large number of NGOs or voluntary
organizations in the different parts of Kerala working to promote economic and
community development in a sustainable manner through people’s participation
and voluntary action. Initially, the development perspective of NGOs in Kerala
was of charity and welfare. It was the most traditional approach under which they
provided the materials and assistance to the needy people. Though this
approach was influential and popular, it did not have the in built power to solve
the problems in the society which were chronic, vast, socio economic and
political in nature. Consequently, in the recent years there occurred a major shift
in the development perspective of NGOs in Kerala. The current role of NGOs is
to provide a set up or institutional arrangement for promoting people’s initiative
and active participation in the development process and in the efforts towards
national integration. With a view to realize the above objectives, the NGOs today
work to educate the people to make them to understand the root causes of
poverty, to assist them to overcome the problem of poverty by organizing
themselves through a participatory and democratic process and to motivate the
people for their own survival and well being. The number of NGOs has increased
substantially in Kerala in the recent years due to their popularity with the
government and the official aid agencies. Again the development policy of
international aid agencies like the World Bank has come to be dominated by a
‘New Policy Agenda’ which gave a prominent role to the NGOs in poverty
alleviation, social welfare and the development of the civil society. Moreover, the
‘New Economic Policy’ implemented in the country since 1991 identified markets
and the private sector as more efficient in providing various goods and services
and in achieving rapid economic development. This was equally applied to the
community and social services provided especially to weaker sections in the
society with NGOs gradually taking over this role from the state. Therefore, it is
significant to study the role of NGOs in the economic and community
development of Kerala.

BACKGROUND REVIEW
At present, three categories of agencies have been working in Kerala in the field
of community development, viz, Panchayat Raj Institutions, Kudumbasree and
the NGOs. PRIs consisted of District Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Grama
Panchayat. The majority of development funds from the government has been
flowing through the PRIs. They have been entrusted with the duty of bringing
about the development of the poorest and the marginalized sections of the
society. Among the PRIs at different levels, only the Grama Panchayats have
been in direct touch with the local people and they have been able to carry out
community development interventions at the local level intending to bring about
the up lift of the poor and weaker sections of the population. However, the
community development interventions of Grama Panchayats have been subject
to several limitations like the lack of sufficient sanctioned funds, lack of timely
availability of funds and the shortage of technical experts for the preparation of
project reports and for the implementation of the projects. Because of these
limitations, the community development interventions of Grama Panchayats have
not been successful to the desired level.

Kudumbasree has been a massive movement in the state sponsored by the

government in to bring about the up lift of the poor and weaker sections of the
population by promoting the thrift based micro finance. It has the three tier federal
structure with the Neighbourhood Groups at the grass root level, Area
Development Societies at the ward level and the Community Development
Societies at the Panchayat level. In March 2005, there were 1.5 lakh NHGs,
13915 Area Development Societies and 1050 Community Development Societies
(CDS) under Kudumbasree in Kerala.10 CDS intended to bring about community
development by providing employment to women of high risk families through the
women managed micro enterprises, medical care and through the activities of the
thrift and credit societies. Kudumbasree has been organized as the women
centered programme in Kerala for the eradication of poverty.

Kudumbasree mission has been identified as one among 15 best practices in

governance in India by the Planning Commission and UNDP.11 Still there has
been several limitations for the Kudumbasree interventions in the community
development of Kerala. The movement has not been deeply rooted in the
backward districts of Idukki and Wynad in Kerala where the community
development interventions are highly required. Again, Kudumbasree has been a
 women centered programme for poverty eradication and therefore, could not
provide a comprehensive package for the up lift of all the poor and weaker
sections of the population. Further, as a government sponsored movement, it has
been subject to many of the limitations of government activities at the
organizational and implementation levels. Moreover, Kudumbasree has been a
thrift and micro credit based community development programme and for the
success of the programme, the effective bank linkage has been required.
However, the NHG - bank linkage rate has been very low especially in the Idukki
district and it was only 29.92% in 2004-05.

The third category of agencies working for community development in the state of
Kerala has been NGOs. They have been referred to as the non profit voluntary
organizations which have come up with community development interventions intending to
bring about changes in individuals and in the society. NGOs have certain advantages in
making the community development interventions in the society compared to PRIs and the
Kudumbasree movement. NGOs have great organizational flexibility, an informal work style,
close engagement with the grass root communities and also they can deliver services to the
people at lower costs. There have been four strategic orientations of NGO intervention in
community development. NGOs provided relief and welfare services to the poorest and the
weakest sections of the population to alleviate immediate suffering which has been known
as the first generation strategy. The community development interventions made by the
NGOs to build entrepreneurial capacity for generating self employment and income
generation activities have been known as the second generation strategy. NGOs working to
bring about changes in the existing institutional set up and policy framework through
generating knowledge, awareness and competence among the weaker sections of the
population, has been known as the third generation strategy. The NGOs working to facilitate
people’s movement by which people achieve development by themselves has been known
as the fourth generation strategy of NGOs. Thus, the NGOs can make the development
interventions in the society from a more advantageous position compared to the other
institutions engaged in community development. The development interventions of NGOs
have been based on the alternative approach to development in which it has been held that
development should be society led and the development transformation should be
equitable, sustainable and participatory in nature. PDS has been a major NGO making the
development interventions in the Idukki district based on the principle of alternative
approach to development. Since its establishment in 1980, PDS has been working in the
field of social transformation and the community development of the tribal people, and the
poor and weaker sections of the population in the Peermade Taluk. PDS has been highly
successful in organizing and implementing development programmes and projects with the
participation of the people at the grass root level. The presence of PDS has been strongly
felt in a large number of areas like community development, women development, micro
enterprises development human resources development, organic farming and watershed
development.

The Peermade Development Society has been actively engaged in various programmes
and activities intending to bring about the uplift of the rural poor and the weaker sections of
the population in the Idukki district, especially that in the Peermade Taluk. Most of the
institutions promoted by and working under PDS have been located in the Peermade Taluk
of the district of Idukki. The efforts undertaken by the Peermade Development Society
towards the tribal people have been of special significance. PDS has undertaken a lot of
programmes for the organization, development and empowerment of the tribal people, other
poor and weaker sections of the society and that of women in order to bring about the
economic and community development of the locality. It has been strongly felt by the
researcher that while examining the role of NGOs in the economic and community
development of Kerala, the case study approach would be the best approach and the best
NGO unit that may be selected for the case study would be PDS. It is because the
programmes and activities of PDS have been so varied and manifold to include a lot of
activities. Thus, the study has been accomplished rather as a case study of the economic
and community development activities of Peermade Development Society.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In 1990s, there occurred a strong tendency towards innovation and change in values,
institutions and technologies. It is the result of new and sophisticated idea that, if
transformation and the economic development of the society is to take place, it must come
as a consequence of voluntary action, an act of human commitment to collective survival,
driven by a vision that transcends the behaviors conditioned by the existing institutions and
cultures. The voluntary organizations or the NGOs are the instruments through which the
citizen volunteers establish an identity and legal recognition for the collective endeavors.
NGOs provide their organizational support system and their means of aggregating
resources for endeavors that require more than individual action.
The NGOs have a variety of strategic orientations. Some of them provide relief and welfare
services to alleviate the immediate suffering of the people who are subject to a multitude of
economic and social backwardness. Some other NGOs engage in community development
interventions in order to build capacity for self help action. Another category of NGOs seek
to change specific institutions and policies in support more just, sustainable and inclusive
developmental outcomes. Yet another category of NGOs interact in order to facilitate
broadly based people’s movements driven by social action based on the principles of
sustainability and environment protection. Thus the greatest change and innovation took
place in the realm of the civil society and most particularly in the realm of voluntary sector –
of the citizen volunteer and organizations that are formed and led by citizen volunteers.

The NGOs have the advantages of organizational flexibility, informal work style, close
engagement with grass roots communities and delivery of services to people at lower costs.
They work to bring about a peculiar type of transformation in the individuals and the society
and it is the society led equitable development transformation based on the fundamental
principles of sustainability and people’s participation. NGOs are cost effective in providing
community assets, they are efficient service providers and they are successful in reaching
out to those weaker and downtrodden sections of the population who could not be reached
by the market mechanism or by the state in the process of economic development. Again
NGOs have come to be an integral part of the thriving civil society by opening up channels
of communication and participation and by providing training grounds for activists. NGOs
could do development better and they could also influence the perceptions of the individuals
towards what constituted better and sustainable development.

NGOs occupied a major role in achieving economic and community development of Kerala
on account of several reasons. Firstly, there was a shift in the development perspective of
NGOs in Kerala from charity and welfare to sustainable development and later to
empowerment. The charity and welfare approach can never tackle the root causes of
various socio-economic problems. The current requirement is the involvement of NGOs in
promoting individual initiatives and active participation in development process and in the
national integration. Secondly, there was a shift in the role of NGOs from direct
implementation to that of supporting grass roots organizations. The NGOs, working to
materialize the objective of sustainable development and the empowerment, could do it
better by facilitating the formation of agencies known as Grass Roots Organizations ( GRO )
at different levels and they are called target groups. Such a formation of GROs does not
mean that NGOs are withdrawing from the field of their prime activities. Thirdly, even though
the NGOs have improved their credibility and legitimacy, they needed to adopt a dual
strategy of collaborating with the government and simultaneously opposing its wrong
policies. The NGOs could collaborate with the government in different ways and it can be
visualized in their activities undertaken in the common interest of all the members in the
society. The scope of the study has been due to the fact that,

* NGOs can enable the people to access the government programmes.

* NGOs can directly access the government programmes for the benefit of the poor and the
marginalized in the society.

* NGOs can advocate and lobby the government and the individuals to change their
perceptions as to what is sustainable and better development. The present study has been
designed as the case study of the Peermade Development Society ( PDS ), a major NGO
working in the Peermade Taluk of Idukki district in the field of economic and community
development. The area selected for the study has been Peermade Taluk in the backward
district of Idukki, where the community development interventions of PDS mainly take place.
The study has covered the PDS community development interventions over the years from
1997-98 to 2004-05. Even though, PDS was established in the year 1980, its community
development interventions through the formation of Self Help Groups began only in the year
1997-98 and therefore, the study has been carried out for a period of eight years from 1997-
98 to 2004-05.

RESEARCH ISSUES

The modern development thinking has identified three types of third party organizations
working in the process of development of any society. They are, the government, the
business sector and the voluntary sector. All these three types of third party organizations
have distinctive competencies essential to a dynamic self sustaining development process.
The development of any society depends on mobilizing competencies of all the three in a
complementary manner. Government has been always the instrument of the society or
people for maintaining stability and for reallocating resources from one group to another for
the development purposes. Business sector is its instrument for mobilizing the private
entrepreneurship to produce and distribute goods and services in response to market
forces. Again, voluntary sector is its instrument for ensuring a constant process of self
assessment, experimentation and change in accordance with the evolving values of people
in the society.
The NGOs or the voluntary sector organizations have a distinctive role as catalysts of
systems change. They are the instruments through which citizen volunteers or people’s
organizations establish an identity and the legal recognition for collective endeavors. The
people’s organizations are of special importance to the people centered development vision.
NGOs have been basically constituted to accomplish the various social services and
responsibilities like providing the social services to the poor, mobilizing resources for the
community development through the various channels and positively contributing to
sustainable community development by promoting awareness among the people, providing
skill development and capacity building, providing empowerment and encouraging
sustainable utilization of available resources. The following research issues have been
raised in the present study with reference to the functioning of Peermade Development
Society ( PDS ) in the field of economic and community development services in the
Peermade Taluk of the backward district of Idukki.

* How much PDS has been efficient in providing the economic and community development
services to the poor and needy compared to the other agencies providing the similar
services.

* Has PDS been able to realize the objectives for which it has been basically constituted.

* How far PDS has been successful in carrying out its community development programmes
and activities.

* How much PDS has contributed to the economic and community development by creating
awareness, providing training and capacity building, promoting the women empowerment
and achieving a sustainable and equitable development.

* How far PDS has been successful in organizing the poor and weaker sections of the
society in obtaining resources for development from the government and also from other
channels.

* How far the contributions of PDS in the process of economic and community development
comparable to that of the contributions of the Grama Panchayats and the Kudumbasree.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The NGOs are generally considered to be more efficient in providing social social services
to the poor and in promoting community development. The present study has found it
crucial to examine the various aspects of NGO activity and to study how these interactions
with the civil society at different levels ultimately pave the way for the achievement of the
economic and community development of the state. The present study has set the following
objectives with reference to the functioning of PDS in the Peermade Taluk of Idukki district
in the field of economic and community development.

* To examine how much PDS, the local NGO, has been efficient in providing social and
community development services to the poor and needy.

* To examine whether PDS has been able to achieve the objectives for which it has been
basically constituted. * To study how far PDS has been successful in carrying out its
community development programmes and activities.

* To study how much PDS has contributed to the economic and community development by
creating awareness, providing training and capacity building, promoting women
empowerment and achieving a sustainable and equitable development.

* To examine how far PDS has been successful in organizing the poor and weaker sections
of the society in obtaining the resources for development from the government and also
from other channels.

* To compare the contributions made by PDS in the process of economic and community
development with that of the contributions of the Grama Panchayats and the Kudumbasree.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The present study has set three hypotheses, relating to the functioning of PDS in the field of
economic and community development, which may be empirically tested with the help of
supporting data. The research hypotheses of the study have been the following :-

* PDS has been more efficient in providing the economic and community development
services to the poor and the weaker sections of the population.

* PDS has been playing a crucial role in achieving economic and community development
by creating awareness among the poor people, promoting employment, self employment
and income generating activities through micro finance, micro enterprises development,
human resources development and by promoting women development and empowerment.
* PDS has been able to better the quality of life and living standards of the poor and the
marginalized people by popularizing and promoting eco friendly organic farming practices in
agriculture.

METHODOLOGY

Large number of NGOs have been working in Kerala in the field of economic and
community development. There has been no uniformity in the state with respect to either the
pattern of organization of NGOs or the development interventions they make. The
development interventions of the various agencies are highly required in those places and
localities which remained socially and economically most backward. Therefore, the
geographical area selected for the study of the relevance of development interventions of
NGOs, was Peermade Taluk which has been the most backward Taluk in the backward
district of Idukki. The largest NGO engaged in promoting economic and community
development in the Peermade Taluk has been PDS. Again, the development interventions
of PDS have been mostly confined to the Peermade Taluk where majority of the population
comprised of tribal people and socially and economically marginalized sections. Therefore,
the present study has been designed as a casections. Therefore, the present study has
been designed as a case study of the economic and community development interventions
of PDS in the Peermade Taluk. PDS has begun its economic and community development
interventions in the Peermade Taluk in an extensive and highly organized manner from the
year 1997-98 onwards and secondary data have been available on the economic and
community development interventions of PDS from the year 1997-98 onwards. Therefore, in
the present study, the economic and community development interventions of PDS have
been examined for a period of eight years from 1997-98 to 2004-05.

DATA REQUIREMENT AND DATA SOURCE

Since the study has been designed as a ‘case study’, both primary data and secondary data
have been required for the study. PDS intended to bring about the uplift of the poor and
weaker sections of the society and therefore had development interventions in such
societies. While conducting the survey, the people in such societies would be not able to
provide the complete information required for the study. Therefore, the published secondary
data from PDS have been used in the study. However, secondary data alone would be
insufficient to disclose the necessary information and make the study complete. Therefore,
primary data on the economic and community development interventions of PDS have also
been collected through a field survey. The secondary data have been collected from both
the published and also the unpublished data records of the Peermade Development
Society. For comparing the economic and community development interventions of PDS
with that of the various governmental and the non-governmental agencies which have been
working in the field of economic and community development, the secondary data have
been collected on the development interventions of Grama Panchayats, Kudumbasree and
co-operative banks in the Peermade Taluk. The secondary data on the economic and
community development interventions of the Grama Panchayats in the Peermade Taluk,
have been collected from their annual development and project reports. The secondary data
on the disbursement of micro credit by the co-operative banks and the rates of repayment
on such small loans in the Peermade Taluk have been collected from the annual reports of
the co-operative banks. Further, the secondary data on the micro finance operations of
Kudumbasree units in the Peermade Taluk have been collected from the district
Kudumbasree office, Idukki. Again, a field survey was conducted and primary data have
been collected on the advantages of organic farming from a sample size of hundred family
units engaged in organic farming practices. The non-probability sampling design has been
used in the selection of a sample size of 100 family units. A total of 705 families have
adopted the organic farming practices in the Peermade Taluk and they have been spread
over a wide geographical area and therefore, the criterion of selection sample family units
has been accessibility. From among the population consisting of 705 families which have
adopted organic farming in the Peermade Taluk, 100 easily accessible and most convenient
family units have been selected to constitute the sample size and information and data have
been collected on the advantages of organic farming from the 100 sample family units. The
primary data have been collected by conducting personal interviews with the members of
the selected sample family units using interview schedule. The questions in the interview
schedule have been carefully designed in order to bring out the required information on the
different aspects and the advantages of organic farming. The questionnaire used for
conducting the survey has been given in the appendix.

COVERAGE OF THE STUDY

In Kerala, the NGOs are largely involved in activities in the various fields like poverty
alleviation, organizing the poor and weaker sections in the society to access the resources
and development, agricultural development, women empowerment, crafts development,
technology transfer, integrated watershed development, employment and income
generation etc. The present study pertains to the NGOs working in the fields of economic
and community development in Kerala. Generally, the NGOs undertake the activities in a lot
of fields like charity and relief, poverty alleviation programmes, women development and
empowerment, awareness creation, provision of social services like education, health care,
housing and sanitation, the sustainable agricultural development, watershed development,
human resources management, entrepreneurship development, and community
development activities like micro financing and rural credit. In Kerala, the number of NGOs
involved in these activities is very large and they are spread throughout the state. It is
relatively difficult to cover the economic and community development activities of various
NGOs spread throughout the state and the activities of NGOs are manifold. Therefore the
present study is designed in the form a case study of the activities of a major NGO and the
study is confined to a single district. The case study is made on the activities of a major
NGO, Peermade Development Society ( PDS ) in the Idikki district and it is undertaken
because of the fact that Idikki district is one of the most backward districts in Kerala and that
the NGO presence and activity is so prominent in the district. Peermade Development
Society is one of the major NGOs in Kerala and its activities cover the entire district of Idikki
and also spread over to the other parts of the state and the country. Since Idikki is one of
the most backward districts in Kerala requiring community development interventions in a
big way and Peermade Development Society is a major NGO involved in the economic and
community development in the Idukki district, particularly in the Peermade Taluk, the
interventions of PDS in the economic and community development has been examined as a
case study. PDS has been undertaking activities in a lot of fields like training cum human
resource development, agriculture and animal husbandry, eco-restoration, organic farming
and the bio-technology, the integrated watershed development, research, innovation, health
development, women development, rural credit and income generation activities, Ayurvedic
and the traditional medicines, the housing and social welfare, tribal development, micro
enterprises development, organic pests and disease management, and the natural
resources management. The present study has been confined to the interventions of PDS
relating to the Community Development, Women Development and Sustainable Natural
Resources Management. The researcher has felt that these three activities have been very
important to the sustainable economic and community development of the state. In the
Community Development, four areas of interventions by PDS have been examined in the
study and they are :-

* Micro finance

* Micro enterprises development

* Human resources development and Training

* Housing and social welfare Under Women Development, the interventions made by PDS
for the socio economic and the structural development and the empowerment of women,
have been described in the study. Under Sustainable Natural Resources Management, two
major interventions of PDS have been examined and they are :-

* Organic farming

* Integrated watershed development.

The study has been confined to a period of eight years from 1997-98 to 2004-05 because,
the well organized secondary data on the development interventions of PDS have been
available only from 1997-98 onwards. In order to compare the development interventions
made by PDS in the Peermade Taluk relating to the various fields with the similar
interventions made by the various governmental and non-governmental agencies like the
Grama Panchayats, Kudumbasree and co-operative banks in the Peermade Taluk,
secondary data have been collected on the activities of these agencies. Secondary data on
the activities of Grama Panchayats in the Peermade Taluk in the field of Housing and Social
Welfare have been available for a period of five years from 2000-01 to 2004-05 and
therefore, secondary data for five years from 2000-01 to 2004-05 have been taken for
comparison. The Kudumbasree movement was started in the Idukki district only towards the
end of 1990’s and data on Kudumbasree have been available only from 2000-01 to 2004-
05. Therefore, the secondary data in the field of micro credit and finance by the
Kudumbasree NHGs in the Peermade Taluk have been taken for a period of five years from
2000-01 to 2004-05 for comparison. Again, as co-operative banks have been largely
engaged in the disbursement of micro credit among the poor and weaker sections of the
society, the secondary data on the disbursement of micro credit by co-operative banks in
the Peermade Taluk have been taken for a period of five years from 2000-01 to 2004-05 for
comparison.

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

The primary and secondary data collected have been refined and presented in the form of
statistical tables for easy observation, comparison and analysis. Further, for the better
understanding and easy analysis of the variables in the data, various methods of
diagrammatic presentation of the data in statistics like time series graph, simple bar chart,
multiple bar chart and the Lorenz curve have been used. The presentation of data in the
form of graphs and charts has enabled easy understanding of the trend growth in the
variables and other relationships among the variables. In order to make the analysis of the
both primary and secondary data and to establish the trend growth rate and other features
of the variables observed in the data, various statistical models such as simple linear
regression model and simple correlation model have been used. To test the statistical
significance of regression coefficients, the one tailed and two tailed ‘t’ Test have been used.
The ANOVA test has been used for the analysis of variance of the samples and for
comparing them for variance. The statistical significance of the equalities and inequalities in
the values of the variables have been tested using the technique of Testing of Hypothesis.
Again, for testing the correlation and also the independence between the values of the
variables, the chi square test has been used. To make the analysis of the inequality in the
distribution in the values of variables and explain it, the Lorenz Curve has been used.
Further, in the study, certain other types of data have been subject to the analysis using the
Index Wise Description method.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The various concepts and their definitions used in the present study, their meaning as
understood in the general situations and their implications as applied in the context of the
present study, have been given in the conceptual framework.

Development

Development may be defined as the organized intervention in collective affairs according to

a standard of improvement. What constitutes improvement and what is the appropriate
intervention may vary according to the culture, class, historical context and relations of
power. Development is an approximation of modernization and the modernization is the
rational transformation of the social, economic and political order of the society. The
classical economists regarded development as the appropriate relationship between
agriculture and the industry. According to Cowen and Shenton, the term development
referred to remedies for the shortcomings and maladies of progress. The modern economic
thinkers regarded development as approximately equal to that of economic growth with
mechanization and industrialization as parts of it. In the present study development is
understood as a process by which attention is being given to the different sectors of the
economy including that of institutional framework, provision of infrastructure such as power,
transport and communications and solution of problems in population and agriculture. The
lineages of development are quite mixed. It includes the application of science and
technology to collective organization and also managing the changes that arise from the
application of science and technology. Development virtually included an element of
reflexivity and it ranges from infrastructure works ( roads, railways, canals, dams, ports ) to
the industrial policy, the welfare state, the new economic policy, the colonial economics and
the Keynesian demand management. Development serves as a mirror of changing
economic and social capacities, priorities and choices. Thus in any economic society,
development means more than the economic growth and includes a transformation of the
society towards the solution of the problems of rural/urban disparities, the regional
inequality, ethnic mobilization, unequal distribution of income and wealth and the population
growth.

Community Development

Community development, which was a subsidiary theme in colonial times and

modernization, received a new emphasis with the alternative development. Community
development is a process of change from traditional way of living of rural communities to a
progressive way of living ; a method by which people can be assisted to develop
themselves on their own capacity and resources; a programme for accomplishing certain
activities for the welfare of the rural people; a movement for progress with a certain
ideological context. Community development programme was the first intervention strategy
of directed change at the national level to enable the rural society to experience
transformation in its social and economic life. The essential element of community
development is the participation by the people themselves in the efforts to improve their
level of living and the provision of the technical and other services so as to encourage
initiative, self help and mutual help. The movement combines a faith in democracy and
social justice on the one hand and in service and technology on the other.In the present
study the term community development is used to mean a process which is based on the
faith that the rural people have the capacity to improve, if helped. The state should create
favorable conditions and give direction through self exerted leadership and group effort. It is
based on the villagers’ needs and the community has to be the basic unit. The community
development program me laid emphasis on building of infrastructure in the rural areas with
the participation of the rural communities and promote rural development in a planned
manner.
Sustainable Development

In the development scenario, there is a conflict arising out of the recognition that growth in
material well being has its implications on the environment. As a result, there emerged the
concept of sustainable development. The sustainable development can be characterized by
the presence of :-

* conflict between human well being and the protection of the nature.

* conflict between the poor and the rich.

* conflict between the interests of the present generation and the interests of the future
generation.

* conflict between a local and a global focus.

As result of these there emerged a conflict between those called ‘technicists’ ( both social
and natural scientists ) who are looking for the technical solutions to the environment
problems and those called ‘humanists’ who look towards the realm of politics for the
solution. Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present
generation without compromising on the ability of the future generation to meet their own
needs. Sustainable development is development which is environmentally sustainable,
economically sustainable and socially/culturally sustainable.In the present study, the term
sustainable development is used to mean a development that takes place without damaging
the environment and that the present generation does not compromise on the needs of the
future generation. It is the real economic development with increased productivity and
efficiency, making the economy self sufficient, self reliant an improving the quality of life
without affecting the balance of the nature. The need for sustainable development emerges
from the concern for environment. The economic growth of the countries in the future is
likely to be endangered if the limited resources are exhausted by way of reckless
exploitation.

Non Governmental Organizations

The diversity in the nature of NGOs stand in the way of presenting any simple definition of
them. The term NGO is really a catchword for an enormous variety of structures pursuing
diverse strategies, of widely different sizes, aims, missions and defies definition because of
this diversity. NGOs include many groups and institutions that are entirely or largely
independent of government and that have primarily humanitarian or cooperative rather than
commercial objectives. An NGO is a non profit making service oriented/development
oriented organization, either for the benefit of members ( a grass root organization ) or of
the other members of the population ( an agency ). It is an organization of private individuals
who believe in certain principles and structure their activities to bring about development to
communities they are servicing.NGO is an organization or group of people working
independent of any external control with the specific objectives and aims to fulfill tasks that
oriented to bring about desirable change in a community or area or situation. NGO was
considered as an organization committed to the root causes of problems of trying to better
the quality of life, especially for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized in the urban
and the rural areas. Any organization which is not established by intergovernmental
agreement shall be considered as a Non Governmental Organization. NGOs could be
understood as a team of people with the similar interest, freely joining hands to bring about
improvement or changes in the society through the organized and collective efforts. NGOs
refer to non- governmental organizations that attempt to address the concerns of the
unprivileged and the underserved in the Third World through the development activities
such as agricultural assistance, primary health care, provision of basic services and
education. The nongovernmental organizations are any of those organizations which are not
a part of any government agency and which have not been established as result of an
agreement between governments. NGOs can be the research institutions, professional
associations , trade unions, chamber of commerce, the youth organizations, religious
institutions, senior citizens associations, tourist bodies, private foundations, political parties,
Zionist organizations, funding or development international and indigenous agencies and
any other organization of a non- governmental mature. NGO is an organization not affiliated
to political parties and generally engaged in the working for aid, development and welfare of
the community. NGOs are organizations established by and for the community without or
little intervention from the government; they are not only a charity organization, but work on
the socio economic and cultural activities. NGO is an organization that is flexible and
democratic in its organization and attempts to serve the people without profit for itself. An
NGO is a social development organization assisting empowerment of people. An NGO is an
independent, democratic, non sectarian people’s organization working for the empowerment
of economically and or socially marginalized groups. An NGO can be any organization that
is not a direct division of a national government and which can act as a highly significant
vehicle for development. An NGO is an organized collection of persons formed to serve
some common interest; it is independent of the state and membership is voluntary. Thus
NGOs can be understood as indigenous groups organized regionally or nationally and
included charitable, religious nonprofit organizations that mobilize private funds and others
for development and promote the economic and community development. In the present
study, the term NGO is used to mean any voluntary, flexible, independent, nonprofit
organization of the people working for economic and community development and assisting
in empowerment of economically and socially marginalized groups in the society.

In Kerala, there have been a large number of NGOs working in the various parts of the state
intending to bring about social, cultural, economic and the community development and
empowerment of the weaker and marginalized sections of the society. Kerala Sasthra
Sahithya Parishad ( KSSP ), Environmental Resources Research Centre ( ERRC )
Trivandrum, The KJP Research Foundation, Trivandrum, The Mithranikethan, Trivandrum,
Programme For Community Action ( P C O ), Trivandrum, The Peermade Development
Society, Peermade, The Malanad Development Society, Kanjirappilly, Dale View,
Trivandrum, The Solidarity, Manathavady, Santhigram, Trivandrum, Arshabharat, Wynadu,
Kottayam Social Service Society, Kottayam, Sandhya Development Society, Pala, and
Loyola Extension Services, Trivandrum are some of the major NGOs making the
development interventions in the different parts of the state. However, there has been no
uniformity among these NGOs in the pattern of organization or functioning. These NGOs
have largely organized the programmes and made the development interventions according
to the goals envisaged in their constitution and also on the basis of the needs of the people
in the locality where they have been working. The development interventions of NGOs are
highly required in those places and localities which remained economically and socially
backward. The Peermade Development Society, Peermade, Malankara Development
Society, Kumily, Voluntary Organization for Social Activities and Rural Development (
VOSARD ), Kumily, Vikas Yojana Social Services Society, Ayyappancoil, Anakkara
Vikasana Sangham, Anakkara, The Vandanmedu Development Society, Kattappana, The
Vijayapuram Social Services Society, Munnar, The High Range Plantation Worker’s
Development Society, Rajakkad and Habitat Technology Group, Munnar are some of the
leading NGOs working in the Idukki district. Of these, Peermade Development Society has
been the largest NGO working in the district of Idukki.

Self Help Groups

Self Help Group is a homogeneous group of poor, women, users etc. This group is
voluntary one formed on the areas of common interest so that they can think. organize and
operate for their development. SHGs organize very poor people who do not have access to
the financial system in the organized sector. An SHG is an informal association of 10 – 15
people who voluntarily come together for the business of saving and credit and to enhance
member’s financial security as primary focus and on the other the common interests of
members such as the area development, awareness, motivation leadership, training and
associating in other social intermediation programmes for the benefit of the entire
community. An SHG is a group of people that meets regularly to discuss the issues of
interest to them and to look at solutions of commonly experienced problems. In the present
study, the term Self Help Group is used to understand the same meaning as above. An
SHG is understood as an informal association of a small group of people who have
voluntarily come together to think, organize and operate for their development and the
enhancement of their financial security by promoting savings, credit and the access to the
financial system in the organized sector.

Micro Finance

Micro finance refers to the small savings, credit and insurance services extended to the
socially and economically disadvantaged segments of the society. Micro finance refers to
the entire range the financial and non financial services including the skill up gradation and
the entrepreneurship development rendered to the poor for enabling them to overcome the
poverty. Micro finance is the provision of financial services to the low income households. In
the present study, the term micro finance has been used to understand the provision of
savings, credit and the other financial services of very small quantity to the socially and
economically disadvantaged and low income households for enabling them to overcome
their poverty.

Organic Farming

The term organic farming may be understood as a method of farming which excludes
completely the application of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides etc. and has been
primarily based on the principles of using natural organic inputs and biological plant
protection methods. The proper practice of organic farming methods will eliminate or reduce
the water pollution and will help conserve water and soil on the farm thereby enhancing
sustainability and agro bio diversity.

Watershed Development
The term watershed development has been used in the study to represent a holistic
approach including programmes for soil and moisture conservation, rain water harvesting, a
forestation, horticulture, pasture development and the up gradation of the community land
resources. The immediate effect of watershed development programme is an increase in
the ground water and the bio mass. It leads to socio economic changes in the specified
area, especially in agriculture and animal husbandry. The term watershed management is
getting wide popularity in India and it is used to mean the storage and the reharvesting of
the rain run off by appropriate management of natural and man made watersheds.

Rain Water Harvesting

Rain water harvesting is a technique of increasing the recharge of ground water by

capturing and storing rain water in structures such as dug wells, the percolation pits and
check dams. Rain water is stored in ground water reservoirs by adopting artificial recharge
techniques to meet the household needs through storage in tanks.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Earlier, development represented modernization or catching up with the advanced

countries. But it is not an obvious ambition at present. Modernity no longer seems so
attractive in view of the ecological problems, the consequences of technological changes,
the over utilization of the available natural resources etc. Westernization is no longer
attractive in a time of revaluation of local culture and cultural diversity. At present,
everything that development used to represent appears to be in question or in crisis.
Development may be defined as the organized intervention in the collective affairs
according to a standard of improvement. What constitutes improvement and what is
appropriate intervention may vary according to culture, class, the historical context and
relations of power. These issues are actually negotiated in the development theory.

In the 19th century, in England, development referred to the remedies for the shortcomings
and maladies of progress. It involves questions such as the growth of population, job loss,
social questions and the urban squalor. Accordingly progress and development contrasted
and the development differed from and complemented progress. Later, in the colonial
period, the term development referred mainly to colonial resource management to make the
colonies cost effective and later to build up economic resources with a view to attain the
national independence. In the modern development thinking and economics and as worked
out in many of the developed countries of today, the core meaning of development has
been economic growth. In the course of time, mechanization and industrialization became
part of it. Later, when development thinking was broadened to encompass the
modernization, as well, economic growth was combined with the political modernization, i. e.
the nation building and social modernization such as the fostering of entrepreneurship and
building up of achievement orientation. However, with the onset of the alternative
development thinking, a new understanding of development came to the fore which has
been focused on social and community development. With the human development in the
1980’s there came the new understanding of development as the capacity building. In this
view point of human development, the term development meant enabling. The core
meaning and definition of development in the Human Development Reports of the U N D P
is the ‘enlargement of people’s choices’. Two radically different perspectives on
development came to the fore in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The Neo liberalism, in returning to
the Neo classical economics, really eliminates the foundations of development economics;
the notion that development economics represent a special case. What matters is to ‘get the
prices right’ and let the market forces do their work. Development in the sense of
governmental intervention is anathema, for it means that market distortion. The central
objectives of economic growth is to be achieved through structural reforms, deregulation,
liberalization, privatization etc. In effect, the conventional meaning of development ( i.e,
economic growth ) is retained but the agency of development switched from state to market
under neo liberalism. Thus, neo liberalism is an anti development perspective, not in terms
of goals but in terms of means. Post development thinking also puts forth an anti
development perspective. It is more radical as it applies not merely to means and
technology but also managing the changes that arise from the application of technology.
Development virtually included an element of reflexivity and it ranges from infrastructure
works ( roads, railways, canals, dams, ports ) to industrial policy, the welfare state, the new
economic policy, the colonial economics and the Keynesian demand management.

In all the previous development thinking, the conventional unit of development was nation.
The economy development statistics and the measures used by international institutions are
still the country statistics. However, while the nation remains the central domain of
development, gradually the development is becoming a multilevel, multi scalar series of
efforts simultaneously taking place at the levels lower than the nation, at the national level
and at levels beyond the nation. Below the national level, there are community
development, local economic development and micro regional development. Community
development received a new emphasis with alternative development thinking. Local
development in its various forms connects with the questions of rural/urban disparities, the
urban development, regional inequality, the new regionalism, ethnic mobilization and the
new localism with a view to endogenous development and in reaction to globalization.
Beyond the nation, there are questions of macro regional cooperation and the global macro
economic policies. Macro regional cooperation concerns the conventional issues of
economies of scale, increase of market size, regional standardization and inter firm
cooperation as well as the horizons of regional development banks. A third scale of
development action is the world : the local, national and macro regional decision making
interface with macro policies on the part of international institutions and the U N system.
After development thinking has been more or less successively state led, ( as explained by
the classical, modernization and dependency theories ), market led ( as explained by neo
liberalism ) and society led ( as explained by alternative development thinking ), it is
increasingly understood that the development action needs all of these in a new
combination. Inter sectoral cooperation and partnerships are highly necessary for human
development. The international development cooperation has been changing in several
ways that emphasis has been shifted from projects to programmes and from bilateral to
multilateral cooperation. The trend prevailing at present is towards, on the one hand, the
formal channels of development and on the other, informal channels. Development effort in
the informal channels are gaining momentum with the emergence of the alternative thinking
and with the spread of Non Governmental Organizations ( NGOs ). The emergence of
alternative development thinking and the proliferation of NGOs have been associated with
the long term trends in the development theory. The long term trend in the development
theory has been towards a shift from the classical and modern structuralist perspectives that
emphasize the role of macro structures to a more agency oriented perspective. The
classical and the modern development thinking were fundamentally structuralist and their
emphasis was on the large scale patterning of social realities by structural changes in the
economy, state and the social system. Towards the end of the 20th century, there occurred
a shift from structuralism to constructivism, i.e, from an account of social realities as
determined and patterned by macro structures to an account of social realities as being
socially constructed. Constructivism, has well been emphasized by Shultz, Berger,
Luckmann and Max Weber as a post structuralist and post modernist theory.41 Shift to
constructivism has its implications like emphasis on agency42by which the development
thinking has become more regional or local oriented and also the concern for differentiation
and diversity by which new qualifications of development have proliferated like sustainable
development, people friendly development and pro poor development. There has occurred
the agency orientation in development thinking and the emphasis has been shifted on to
strategic groups and actors oriented participatory approach to development. Thus, the
NGOs have emerged more relevant presently in the sphere of economic and community
development as they have established links with the people at the grass roots level.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

It has been felt that the study has got certain limitations. First of all, the period of study has
been limited to eight years from 1997-98 to 2004-05 due to the non availability of data for
the years prior to 1997-98. Secondly, the study has been limited mainly to the Peermade
Taluk of Idukki district due to the inability to cover the almost vast geographical area of
Idukki district. Thirdly, there has been certain limitations with respect to the availability of
secondary of data because of the lack of expertise on the part of the people involved in the
collection, compilation and the storing of the data on the various programmes and projects
organized and implemented by PDS. Fourthly, as far as primary data was concerned, the
people have been half reluctant to disclose the complete information in the process of
primary data collection. Fifthly, the people in the Peermade Taluk, who have been covered
in the survey, have not been so familiar with keeping of proper accounts regarding the
output, income expenditure etc and they could convey only the approximate changes in the
values of the variables projected in the study. In spite of all these limitations, all the efforts
have been made to accomplish the stated objectives of the study and to make the study
genuine.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1.S Galab, 1993, Rural Employment Programmes – Case for Involving Voluntary
Organizations, EPW, March 6, 1993,

2. S Galab, Ibid.

3. D Rajasekhar, 1998, Rural Development Strategies of NGOs, Journal of Social and

Economic Development, Vol 1, No. 2, 1998,

4. S P Punalekhar, Tree and the Bark : On Dialectics of Voluntary Organizations and social
Change, ( et. al ), NGOs and Development : The Indian Scenario ( Ed. ) Rawat Publications,
New Delhi, 2004.

S P Punalekhar, Ibid,
6. S P Punalekhar, Ibid,

7. Rajni Kothari, in T N Stephen’s Guidelines for Voluntary Organizations, PDC Network,

Bhuvaneswar, 1997,

8.Rajesh Tandon, in T N Stephen’s Guidelines for Voluntary Organizations, PDC Network,

Bhuvaneswar, 1997,

9. Vasanth Desai, Rural Development : Programmes and Strategies, Vol II, Himalaya
Publishing House, Bombay, 1988,

10. S C Jain, Community Development and Panchayat Raj in India, Allied Publishers, New
Delhi, 1967,