Civil Society Organizations at the edge

Truly said, CSOs are often acknowledged as the ‘Jagrit Nagrik (awakened citizen)’, depicting the eyes and ears of people is on the verge of exclusion from the mainstream efforts. Expectations from CSOs are always on the higher end since they are the informal channel of communication amongst various stakeholders. If our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi highlights that “India’s fight against corona is truly people-driven”, why should CSOs be at the edge? In the light of Atmanirbharta, it is necessary to ‘strengthen’ not ‘shrink’ their structure and advisory role because CSOs are building blocks of a strong democratic society.

There has been plethora of initiatives and budget allocation announced for various sectors. For instance, the Government’s soft stimulus of mammoth Rs 20 lakh crore package to COVID battered MSME sector without any collateral is encouraging. But, where are CSOs mentioned in the recent World Bank’s praise for the $1 billion ‘Atmanirbhar (self-reliance) social protection mission?  A state of apathy still lurks around CSOs role and scope as the unrecognized pillar of the Government. While media is outrageously providing information to public on real time basis and accredited media is sound with privileges; protection and social security benefits like medical, travel, insurance benefits while CSOs, the fifth pillar of governance stands out of the basket of economic support, financial mechanisms, man and money power, motivation, alternate livelihoods.

But how can we do this, given the urgency of the situation and the restrictions that have come with it? CSOs can act as a forefront force for instance, to bridge the communicating gap between Government’s efforts and small scale enterprise that shall help ease migrant crisis, shape their rehabilitation through entrepreneurship, skill development, etc. There are similar issues of exclusion in other services as well, such as livelihoods, water and sanitation, healthcare, public awareness, etc. This is where civil society step-in and act as a catalyst between the policy maker and the implementing agencies and the stakeholders. During a virtual interacting with CSOs and NGOs on COVID-19 issues at an event organised by NITI Aayog on 30th April, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said ‘such organisations have been working tirelessly to ensure essential resources reach the last mile’ and sought their assistance to battle the menace of stigmatisation in the society. Further, he also acknowledged that ‘calibrated lockdowns and public health measures have delayed the peaking of the curve in India and prevented the dramatically high numbers predicted by several modeling studies, but warned that how the pandemic progresses now will depend on how closely people follow mobility restrictions, social isolation and personal hygiene norms’.

With the ‘new normal’ reigning, a binding force is the right call towards utilization of CSO’s appropriate strength, expertise and capacity building expertise. A network of umbrella CSOs have been given an opportunity in designing Europe's COVID-19 recovery plan. On the same wavelength, CSOs in India can chart the pivotal services required today such as safe delivery of essential services alongside care-giving and compassion and show to the government how people can be employed in these significant roles. Recently, Patna High Court rightly acknowledged the fact that civil society can't be ignored in a democratic society it also urged state to reconsider policy of not engaging NGOs for COVID-19 relief. Moreover, civil society’s network cuts beyond the country across local, regional and international levels and hence, the pace of engagement must be strengthened through consolidated voice and concerted efforts of civil society organizations, self help groups, resident welfare organizations, international organizations and regional cooperation and so on.

Pandemic has become the new disaster, hitting every sector, actor across globe. Must say, CSOs are not immune to the perils of the corona virus. On a compelling view, have India’s more than 3 million CSO’s  lost their charm to act as frontline workers towards essential service delivery and execute the extravagant stimulus packages announced by the Government of India? On a striking contrast, CSOs in Bangladesh have shown the way to has come together with its own set of strategies to support the government. Well, the answer we ought to know finds lurking in patchwork.

In the past, it is witnessed that some mistakes have tarnished the image of ‘concerned & awakened’ CSOs. But today, a makeover is necessary that even CSO understands. Amidst COVID-19, it is slightly heartening to hear Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s written call to over 92,000 NGOs registered in NGO Darpan appealing them to assist the government in identifying Covid-19 hotspots and delivering services to vulnerable groups. Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Dr. Jitendra Singh has all praise for CSOs on Corona Management highlighting that ‘all civil society organizations across NER actively helped to enforce lockdown and social distancing’.

This COVID-19 is a right opportunity to bring them as ‘frontier professional warrior’ like the front line workers towards strengthening India’s dedicated efforts in fight against the pandemic on one hand but also executing national priorities like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 and realization of Last Decade for SDGs. The readiness of their activism must be corroborated with holistic security, privileges and protection measures.

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