The first ever exercise by the CBI to map registered NGOs in 2015 disclosed that India has at least 31 lakh NGOs – more than double the number of schools in the country.
Despite this major social and economic force, we are only able to provide services to limited areas of the country. NGOs involved in social service provision are unevenly distributed across the country, with many areas not covered. Most of the extensive rural areas lack both public and nongovernmental services.
Most NGOs work for conventional sectors like health and education while the lowest share is contributed by the organizations working in the field of environment, agriculture, sex work and child labour.
There are many people who are keen to give donations and volunteer for nearby NGOs but are unable to do so because of the unavailability of information.
There is a need to channelize the existing NGOs to provide equal services to all the sections of the society across India and guide new NGOs while selecting their sphere of work (work area as well as social service sector). There is also a need of providing information on nearby NGOs to donors and volunteers.
Setup:
1. A web portal and an app should be created by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to guide existing and new NGOs on providing services to all the sections of the society across the country and help donors and volunteers search NGOs nearby them.
2. The web portal and NGO guide app should be created by using the information available on the NGO-Partnership System (NGO-PS) Portal (NGO-DARPAN) maintained by the NITI Aayog. The NGO-DARPAN portal helps to get details of existing VOs/NGOs across India. It also helps to get details of the schemes of the participating ministries/departments/government bodies offering grants.
3. A set of parameters can be framed based on:
(a) Population density,
(b) People’s needs
(c) Density of NGOs
(d) Size and reach of NGOs and
(e) Objectives of (issues addressed by) NGOs.
4. State and sector wise information of NGOs available on the NGO-DARPAN portal should be compiled, analyzed and checked against the set of parameters and a database be created.
5. India can be divided into five zones on the basis of the density of NGOs with respect to the human population:
(a) Green zone – Very high density of NGOs
(b) Blue zone – high density of NGOs
(c) Yellow zone – moderate density of NGOs
(d) Orange zone – low density of NGOs
(e) Red zone – very low density of NGOs
6. The same division will also be done based on:
(a) Sector-wise (education and literacy, health and family welfare, tribal affairs, etc.) density of NGOs
(b) People’s needs and
(c) Size and reach of NGOs
7. A mobile application software (NGO guide app), linked with the web portal, will be designed with the help of the database created.
How will the NGO guide app work?
1. If the NGO has existed for a while:
When the name of the NGO is entered into the app, the information generated automatically will be –
(a) The zone the NGO comes under (based on the density of NGOs).
(b) Names of the nearby communities/regions the NGO should serve for [based on the objectives of (issues addressed by) the NGO and people’s needs].
(c) Grants (offered by the participating ministries/departments/government bodies) that can be applied for [based on the objectives of (issues addressed by) the NGO].
2. Starting new NGOs:
(a) When one enters the proposed work area into the app, the information generated automatically will be – The possible objectives of the NGO (based on the people’s needs of the proposed work area)
(b) When one enters the proposed objectives and name of the state into the app, the information generated automatically will be- Names of the communities/regions of the state his NGO should serve for
3. For donors and volunteers:
When a donor/volunteer enters the name of the place into the app, the information generated automatically will be – Names of the NGOs nearby. They can then filter the search results by objectives of (issues addressed by) the NGOs.
Other features of the app:
- During natural disasters and other emergencies, automatic alerts will be sent to the nearby NGOs. Alerts will also be sent to the nearby registered volunteers in the hour of need.
- Guidance will also be provided through the app regarding the registration and certification process for new NGOs, the schemes of the participating ministries/departments/government bodies offering grants to VOs/NGOs, fundraising, etc.
Benefits to the NGOs, donors and volunteers:
1. It is not mandatory for the NGOs to follow the suggestions given by NGO Guide app but this simple app will certainly help them to define their sphere of work (work area as well as social service sector) and increase efficiency as it will give the best suggestions based on the database created.
2. This simple app will be helpful for the donors and volunteers to search and reach the NGOs nearby them.
3. This app will be helpful to direct the major social and economic force (NGOs) of the country.