by Pallavi Rekhi, Programme Officer at Voluntary Action Network India (VANI) 

Indian civil society, since its beginning, has never experienced such extent of ambiguity and anxiety, as it has been experiencing lately. This context for national civil society is a consequence of the recent development in the regulatory framework in India, governing civil society organisations. More restrictions, increased compliances and new directions are  being introduced to watch over and control the sector. Those  who  have  been  a  part  of the  seventy-five  years  of  the  civil  society  sector  in  India  are evidence  to  the  mistrust  between  the  state  and  civil  society,  which  has  led  to  an inevitable gradual shrinking of civic space in the country.  

Civil  society institutions are  known  for  their  path-breaking  work  in  serving  the underprivileged, and facilitating policy changes that are in favour of the most marginalized. The sector is recognized for its support to the remotest parts of the country, where the government has failed to reach and serve vulnerable communities and being responsive to their needs. However, the changes with respect to civil society, brought about in recent times, these have severely impacted their work, making it nearly impossible for most organizations to sustain and continue serving society. In addition, there is a significant dearth of funds and other resources; this trend is likely to drop down further. 

In this context, as a national platform of voluntary organizations, VANI aimed at changing the narrative of the sector and creating an enabling environment for it to function. With support from Forus in collaboration with the French Development Agency, we collected case  studies  and  data  from  voluntary  organizations,  all  over  India,  focusing on their journey in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a result of this research, we developed a compendium report of successful stories of the role of CSOs during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Story of Impact

Before  talking  about  the  impact  of  the  project,  let  us  first  highlight  the  challenges  that  VANI faced  in  developing  this  compendium  and  how  we  converted  them  into  opportunities. The project questionnaire was developed and circulated amongst member organizations and others, in April, 2022. The goal was to collect at least 30  success stories from across India. The project aimed  at  documenting  good  practices  and  solutions  to  common  problems  that  organizations were facing during the pandemic. However, the first and foremost challenge was the lack of motivation to share one’s own success story!  Even  after  sending  constant  reminders through  email  and  calls to  potential participants,  by September we had  received  only  twenty  responses.  

Another  significant challenge  that  emerged  was  technological  inefficiency.  Many  of  our  members, belonging  to grassroots communities, were not equipped to respond to an online questionnaire. Nevertheless,  we  developed  strategies  to  overcome  these  obstacles  and  emerged  stronger. To receive  more  responses,  we  made  it  mandatory  for  participants  to  fill  in  the  questionnaires,  if they wished to attend our subsequent webinars on “Social Media-A Double Edged Sword”, “The Art of Effective Storytelling for NGOs” and “Gender Mainstreaming within your organization”.  

With reference to the second challenge, we made phone calls to participants, to record their responses and in a few cases sent a printed questionnaire through post. These strategies helped us reach our desired number of responses. Participants were able to document and record their impact, which they were unable to do before. They got a platform to narrate their story and reach out to a wider audience, apart from their donor agencies and beneficiaries. It gave them a sense of validation and motivated them to continue their struggle and services. The compendium will also archive the success stories of the voluntary  organizations  in  India in  supporting  migrants,  providing  medical  equipment  and hygiene  material,  raising  awareness,  arranging  medicines  and  safety  gear,  providing  shelter  to the needy, counselling women and children, livelihood development, and much more. They faced multiple challenges  and  were  themselves  burdened  with  depleting  resources,  restrictions  in movement, delayed project deliverables, loss of human resources, risk to their own lives, among others. Despite these overwhelming obstacles, civil society came forward as a saviour.

Learning is a never-ending journey

Even though there were hindrances, civil society organisations in India did not let their focus dwindle and made efforts to serve communities and reduce their suffering. Similarly, despite the speed breakers VANI experienced while carrying out this initiative, it never gave up and looked out for opportunities  even  in  difficult  times. This  compendium  provides  a  ready  reckoner  of  the  good practices, innovations and successes of civil society in trying times. Other partners can learn from their experiences, become more resilient and ensure a sustainable future! 

The Way Forward

In the coming months, the compendium will  be  disseminated to more than  6000  beneficiaries including members, non-members, academicians, community members, media, with an aim to change the narrative of the sector in the eyes of the other stakeholders.