2.2. Civil Society in India

♤ Civil society derives its strength from the Gandhian tradition of volunteerism, but today, it expresses itself in many different forms of activism. In independent India, the initial role played by the voluntary organizations started by Gandhi and his disciples was to fill in the gaps left by the government in the development process.

♤ The volunteers organized handloom weavers in villages to form cooperatives through which they could market their product directly and get better price. AMUL is the product of such cooperative movement.

♤ Civil Society plays a crucial role in the good governance. As India is not a participative democracy but a representative democracy, government takes all major decisions by itself. Civil Society act as interface of interaction between the government and the governed.

♤ Civil society’s functional contribution to good governance could be:

o Watchdog — against violation of human rights and governing deficiencies.

o Advocate — of the weaker sections’ point of view.

o Agitator — on behalf of aggrieved citizens.

o Educator — of citizens on their rights, entitlements and responsibilities and the government about the pulse of the people.

o Service provider — to areas and people not reached by official efforts or as

government’s agent.

o Mobiliser — of public opinion for or against a programme or policy.

♤ Civil society acts through ‘social capital’— the capacity of people to act together willingly in their common long-term interest. Social capital is strong in a homogeneous, egalitarian society.