India is said to be having around 2 million NGOs (Non-government organization) as per a 2009 estimate. These not for profit organizations work with their own set goals and objectives. Some work typically like charitable trusts contributing funds and resources. Some work as service organizations volunteering to take up tasks half-done or undone by public or the government. There are also some who work in close participation with people of the local communities, engaging and empowering them to care for themselves, their communities or the environment. The size and scale of operation of all these NGOs may vary with respect to the number of people, quantum of funding and resources involved. The altruistic endeavor of men and women who have been genuine in addressing issues that have been neglected by the society and even by the government is laudable.
Now that's just the bright side of the story. What segregates the other side is the motive behind activism. There are also a number of NGOs acting as social frontal entities for industries, political parties, and even religious groups. The activism they put up may have other objectives behind. They may use registered charities to manage taxes, to receive funds for political lobbying or as a tool to convert black money into white, and also to attract and amass wealth. Some even create the banner of an NGO to channelize foreign funds to promote extremism within the country. One simple way to identify them is to find out their parental body or the connections of people spearheading the organizations, whether or not they are using the organization and its activities as a propaganda tool for some vested interests that may benefit them industrially, politically or religiously.
Pure activism with only altruistic intentions is different from anything else besides that. Even volunteering and giving away charity for earning fame and accolades from the society doesn't fit within selfless unconditional service. There are many who like photo-op. So they create a setting to enact their activism and philanthropy to flash them across social networks. Maybe we should just enjoy what they feature as a play of entertainment.
Now, the question is with whom should we engage ourselves with? By putting all different NGOs together in one basket merely because they carry the tag NGO, we may end up misleading ourselves and also end up promoting the vested interests of the double-faced fraudulent ones. By doing so, we may be even doing a disservice to those genuine individuals and NGOs engaging themselves for a social change without any desire to grab the limelight or any ulterior motive. At the end of the day, as we accredit the role of volunteers and service organizations, what we must understand is real change can only come when individuals become self-reliant and self-responsible. In the name of activism, we can go and pick up garbage thrown by someone on the street. But how long can we keep doing that? Should such people not know that they are making others clean their filth? While we need people to come together to address social issues, it should also result in reforming, engaging and empowering people to become responsible and self-reliant. The process of activism shouldn't replace the responsibility of all stakeholders including individuals, private institutions, and government bodies. We shouldn't be making them lazy. And why should they be encouraged to find fulfillment from deeds neglected by them, and taken up by other concerned individuals?
We need laws to penalize and prosecute even government bodies when they fail to perform their duties. Say when a local administrative body fails to provide proper sanitation, as a result of which there is an epidemic outbreak, we should have laws to penalize it and hold it responsible. There should be accountability and time-bound delivery of administrative services. It equally applies to individuals and enterprises failing to perform their duties or creating a condition which others have to sort it out. We may as empathetic and proactive citizens try to address anomalies arising from negligence and indifference of the social, administrative and political system, but that's not going to remove negligence and indifference from the equation. While we try to uplift oppressed people we should know that it is equally important to empower the oppressed and prosecute the oppressors. Otherwise, we may end up creating a third entity, which may remain loyal and sympathetic to both, promoting romanticized solutions that may never end oppression.
So let's stop searching for a solution in solace. Let's be prudent enough to judge organizations by their motives and deeds and not by their propaganda. Support genuine causes. Banish the fraudulent ones. At the end of the day, any real transformation of the society can come only from the transformation of its people. Everything else can only be a stopgap solution en route.