Development, in the simplest language may be defined as the qualitative and quantitative upliftment of the individual/ community/ society on a sustained basis. This sustained upliftment may be aimed at rural as well as undeveloped pockets of the urban areas. In our country, development has always been a priority for the government. Five-year plans have also emphasised development through different ways and means. But the government and government departments cannot manage the uphill task of development single-handedly. To reach every nook and corner of the country and to cover such a gigantic and diversified population like ours under development net , is practically not feasible. One of the solution for this problem is using the services of the voluntary organisations.

Voluntary organisations, also known as non government organisations (NGOs) have been doing a commendable job in the sphere of development. They have been quite successful in implementing various projects with their micro approach. That is why, the government recognises them as an important stakeholder of development.

There is a misconception about the image of the voluntary organisations. But these organisations are always   legal bodies as they are compulsorily registered either under Societies Registration Act, 1860 or Indian Trust Act, 1882 or The Cooperative Societies Act 1904. Apart from this legal compulsion, such organisations have always been recognised by government and corporates as an important stakeholders of development.  Technically, there are various types of voluntary organisations; there may be cultural organisations, literary organisations, charity organisations etc. The voluntary organisations concerned mainly with development (rural or urban) are known as Non Government Development Organisations or NGDOs.
 
Origin of NGDOs:  NGDOs have come a long way to make their presence felt in the development scenario of our country. They were present even before the independence to work for the welfare of certain downtrodden communities. The roots of the voluntary organisation can be found in the voluntary efforts of the philanthropists before independence. Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Spencer Hutch, Jugatram Dave, Jyotiba Phule were some of those philanthropists who took up the task of bringing about awareness on the social issues. The voluntary efforts gradually took a concrete institutional shape and thus there emerged voluntary organisations on the development scenario. In due course of time, their importance was also recognised in this sphere. With the declaration of 60s as the ‘development decade’; the importance of voluntary organisation grew manifold. Not only this, the voluntary organisations came to be known as Non Government Organisations or NGOs during this decade and later on as NGDOs. The Eighth Five year Plan of our country emphasised for the first time on the integration of NGDOs in the planning and execution of development programmes of the government. The eighth plan also spoke for the formation of a national network of NGDOs for better co-ordination of development programmes. The role of NGDOs in development became more important in the year 1992 when the 73rd Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution reorganised and empowered the Panchayati Raj institutions. The need of NGDOs became all-pervasive for the capacity building of Panchayati Raj institutions. Even today, they find place in the five-year plans in the context of execution of development programmes. Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Family Welfare and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment are the major government bodies seeking voluntary support for carrying out different development programmes.
 
What’s so special about NGDOs:  The importance of the NGDOs is increasing day by day just because of the ‘difference’ they have. First and foremost, they are away from bureaucratic shackles. They have a distinct modus operandi, which is quite flexible and appropriate for the local needs and situation. They have the risk taking ability to come up with new experimentation. The NGDOs adopt a very systematic and ‘humane’ approach. ‘Respecting the Local’ is one of the secrets of their success. Local language, local customs, local leaders, local problems, local resources, everything that is local is of utmost importance for them. This very understanding and respect for the local issues leads them to the inner side of the community and helps them to get involved at the grass-roots level in the social milieu. Promotion of local leadership has been used as a major strategy by NGDOs. They often employ field workers from the vicinity in order to reach the community and to make them listen. Preparing a cadre of empowered local   leaders i.e. the strengthened groups has been another strategy of such organisations. Small group approach is today’s most vital approach for the rural development. Another distinct feature of the modus operandi of the NGDOs is that they try to bring about attitudinal betterment in the social climate. They aim at making people active doers instead of passive observers. They act as catalysts and facilitators instead of becoming preachers and ‘providers’. They create awareness among people, create livelihood and opportunities for people with their cooperation, preserve what is needful to the environment, cultural base and appropriate technology and destroy the evils like alcoholism and superstitions.

The path shown by NGDOs has been recognized as a powerful development strategy of the present time.

The hierarchy of NGDOs:  There is a multi-layered hierarchy of NGDOs that take care of the different levels of development. Following is an illustration of the hierarchy of NGDOs:
The lowest rung of this structure is grass-roots level project implementing agencies/  organisations that perform the function of carrying out development projects in the chosen area   for the chosen community on behalf of the Fund Channelising organisation /sponsoring agency.   The fund-channelising agencies are situated on the second tier of the structure. These are the agencies that collect fund from government, corporate or donor agencies and channelise it to different project implementing agencies and also to the resource support organisations (RSOs).
 
The RSOs are also supported by fund channelising agencies for providing resource support to the project implementing oraganisations. The resource support includes capacity building through training, project formulation, project monitoring and evaluation etc.  The top most strata of this hierarchy is that of the government agencies/national or international funding agencies/corporates/philanthropes who provide funds to the different development project holders via fund channelising agencies. These three tiers of the NGDOs together carry on the task of development. In our country. There are innumerable grass roots or project implementing organisations that are active in even in remote and inaccessible areas. They are quite successful because they have got an access to the people. Among the project sponsors, may be mentioned CARE, CASA, AFPRO etc. that obtain fund from funding agencies and channelise it to the different project holders. PRIA- Delhi, Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra (SSK) Lucknow, XIDAS- Jabalpur are some of the RSOs that provide necessary resource support to the different grass-roots and project implementing agencies. Among funding agencies may be mentioned UNICEF, Action Aid, and OXFAM etc.

The Employment Scenario: There is an abundance as well as diversity of employment opportunities in the field as per the hierarchy of these organisations. One can find out the following types of employments in this sector as per qualification and experience:
• Animator/ Field Worker
• Project Co-coordinator/ Project Director
• Consultants
• Trainer
• Project Monitor and Assessor
• Research Officer
 
Future in NGDOs:
Identification of development as the most vital issue of the country and NGDOs as the most important stakeholders of development has made it clear that there is a bright future of the professionals and other functionaries of this field. The budgetary allocations for the development works through NGDOs are being augmented every year in the five-year plans.  The institutional support provided to these though different ministries and other government / corporate bodies   ensures a secure future of NGDOs as well as its functionaries.    Salary Package and other employment benefits depend upon the layer of the hierarchy the person is working.  By achieving results one can easily move towards the upper rungs of the growth ladder. Designation like Project Co-ordinator/ Director or Trainer is highly prestigious and equally responsible
 
Education and training related to NGDOs:  Presently, there is no separate education curriculum on NGDOs. But their different aspects are covered under the syllabus of rural development programmes.  Apart from theoretical inputs, the students of rural development are also given practical exposure of NGDOs in through dissertation. They are placed in different NGDOs for an organisational training and also for doing their brief research in the operational area of those organisations. This training provides the students with an understanding of the concept, methodology and other aspects of NGDOs. Following educational institutions of our country cover the theoretical and practical dimensions of NGDOs as a part their rural development programmes:

• Institute of Rural Management, P.B. 60, Anand-388001
• Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi, Delhi
• Xavier Institute of Social Service, P.B.7, Purulia Road, Ranchi
• Xavier Institute of Manangement, Bhubaneshwar-751013
• Institute of Rural Management, IIRM campus, Mansarovar, Jaipur
• Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram, Dindigul
• XIDAS, 4TH mile #8, Mandla Rd, Village Tilhari, P.O.Goraiyaghat, via-RFRC, Jabalpur-482001