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Goanet mourns the passing of Jorge de Abreu Noronha in Portugal - Nov 27/07
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Government, NGOs, CSOs and CSWs:
Understanding Who is Who and what is happening around you!
Miguel Braganza
In the type of democracy that exists in a state like Goa, the term
"Government" is like a "default" in the "Operating System". If there is no
specific command to any specific person or organisation to do a thing, the
Government is supposed to do it. That is it! If the citizen is smart and a
little "social action" savvy, she or he will check the menu for any NGO like
a computer buff would look for a Desktop "shortcut" to get things done
faster. It is all a familiar system of NGOs being mistaken as a surrogate
for GOs or Government Organisations!
There is, however, a confusion of sorts in that everything that is not
Government run is termed as an NGO. Even the organisers of an impromptu
"rasta rokho" are termed as an NGO. The sub-editors just love the acronym
"NGO" because it fits snugly in the single column headlines on page 5.
Everyone in Goa is familiar with the acronym CSW after Baina demolitions in
2004 about the same time as the multiplex was erected in Panaji. My father
used to say that prostitution, like the famous monkey trio, is of three
types ..thought, word and deed. It was his considered opinion that the
prostitution in deed was the least dangerous. HIV-AIDS was not discovered in
his lifetime. Even today, the Commercial Social Workers [CSWs] in our major
towns are more dangerous than the CSWs, Gharwalis and pimps of Baina put
together. They take the entire constituency for a ride, election after
election. Each transaction is in crores of rupees, a figure that even Mata
Hari could not command at her peak.
Goa has seen a few successful "movements" that have shaken up its very
bowels and purged it of the worms that would destroy it or make it a ghost
of its former self like some addict. One such movement was the "Opinion
Poll" of 16 January, 1967. The issue was sorted out once and for all,
though not to everyone's complete satisfaction. The second purge two decades
later was quite ineffective. Like amoebic dysentery, the "bug" is still
there and threatens a relapse that may be worse than the original disease.
Another two decades later, we were able to purge the Regional Plan but the
bacteria are still alive and kicking in various sections of the society.
Thankfully, UGP, KPA and GBA are each of three alphabets or they would be
termed as NGOs for the purpose of headlines on page 5 and, occasionally, on
the front page.
The Goa Bachao Abhiyan [GBA], like the Konkani Porjecho Avaz [KPA] before
it, is not a registered "Society" or "Trust". It is a "movement" and not an
"organisation". There is absolutely no basis to call it a "Non Government
Organisation" that the acronym NGO stands for! It is correctly called as a
"Civil Society Organisation" or CSO.
The term CSO is much broader and inclusive than the term NGO, which is
commonly and often, wrongly, used in Goa. The term often refers to the
development of a "commercial state" as a way to change the corrupt feudal
order and strengthen the liberty of the individual. In capitalist societies,
CSOs include all non-state aspects of society, expanding out of the economic
rigidity of Communism, into culture, society and politics.
Civil society refers to the arena of unforced collective action around
shared interests or objectives, purposes and values. The GBA focusses on
appropriately planned land use to preserve Goa's identity while the KPA
focussed on the recognition of the language, Konkani. The SVM spearheads the
anti-SEZ movement to achieve the same by restricting inmigration of labour,
while JGF tried the same by its focus on tourism. One thing that is common
among successful CSOs is that their name is of three words and their acronym
has three alphabets. Even successful political parties in Goa are with three
letter acronyms like MGP, UGP, BJP or INC. The BBGP, UGDP and other four
letter combinations have not been as successful.
Civil society commonly includes a diversity of spaces, persons and
institutions, varying in their degree of autonomy and power. CSOs often
include registered charities, community groups, women's organisations,
faith-based organisations, professional associations, self-help groups
[SHGs], business associations, trade unions, social movements, coalitions,
development non-governmental organisations [NGOs] and advocacy groups. The
statutes of these organizations have often been considered
micro-constitutions because they accustom participants to the formalities of
democratic decision making.
It has been stated by social scientists that even non-political
organisations in civil society are vital for democracy. This is because they
build, trust, shared values and social capital, which are transferred into
the political sphere and help to hold society together. Others have noted
that the CSOs have now obtained a remarkable amount of political power,
without anyone directly electing or appointing them.
The term civil society is currently often used by activists as a reference
to the domain of social life which needs to be protected against
globalisation as in the case of SEZ and IT Parks. However, as CSOs can be
funded and directed by those businesses and institutions (especially
Multi-national and European donors) who support globalisation, this usage
can contested.
One may like to think of the SEZ Virodhi Manch [SVM] as an "Advocacy Group"
like the Goa Foundation, but it lacks the structure and the permanence of
the latter. Whether the limited objective of preventing the establishment of
SEZs in Goa will be a short term programme or a self-perpetuating struggle
will depend as much on the Goa Government as on the Civil Society and CSOs.
(ENDS)
Miguel Braganza's column at:
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=482
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The above article appeared in the November 30, 2007 edition of Gomantak
Times, Goa
