7400 NGOs registered in J&K till 2010.NGOs becomes money minting machines.

By; Muneeb Raja

A recent news column grabbed my attention. On the occasion of a launch of an NGO a veteran social activist Mr.Tak who has closely worked with orphans and widows was quoted as saying 'decades-old conflict has made thousands of children orphans and women widows, while a huge number of women are living a life of half-widows in Kashmir.'He said the point of concern is that most of the orphanages and NGOs have become money minting machines. Castigating the government for the lack of proper orphanage policy, Tak claimed that widows go to army camps to earn livelihood. This statement raised a few questions in my mind. The main question is about callous attitude of government towards implementing a strong policy towards orphans and widows and the role of NGO'S in shaping up the future of the sufferers and the less fortunate children and women.  As true to any other conflict zone the sudden increase in the number of orphans and widows with the on-going conflict adds chaos in the society and its always the civil society and humanitarian agencies who take a lead role in the rehabilitation of these less fortunate people. The onset of conflict in Kashmir also saw a mushroom growth of NGO'S and other humanitarian agency initiatives. Building orphanages and schools, creating self-help groups for women and launching micro finance schemes for widows were among the few initial initiatives taken up by the civil society to rehabilitate the conflict sufferers. Major national and international agencies were roped in to provide the financial assistance for rehabilitation and the betterment of these people. Despite all these initiatives, the repute and the credibility of NGOs has been increasingly questioned not only by the people but also by their fellow counterparts. Mr Tak has made a very serious allegation on the orphanages and NGOs minting money and the means by which widows earn livelihood. His allegation raises a serious thought of self-introspection for all the civil society.  Up to 7400 NGOs have been registered in J&K till 2010. Most of these NGOs claim to work with orphans and widows. The official data on orphans stands at 40,000 whereas agencies like UN puts the same number to be around 100,000. The sudden rise in the number of orphans and widows was seen between 1990 to 1998 when the armed rebellion was at its peak. Since then there has been a considerable decline in the number of orphans and widows but at the same time the number of NGOs kept increasing steadily. While on one hand the lack of a proper policy on establishing and working of NGOs was never implemented by the government to check their working and source of funding on the other hand. The civil society failed in its initiative to create a common platform to work together and monitor the progress collectively.  No initiative was also taken by these NGOs to create a common minimum platform and to check and report the menace of misusing the NGOs banner for making money by unethical means. Though the developmental sector is at a very young stage in Jammu and Kashmir but the failure of seeding strong roots and creating role models for this sector have contributed to the suspicious roles and working of NGOs. On the other hand turning blind eye towards the repeated demand of creating strong policies to the government has encouraged wrong elements to make the most of the situation. A conscious and sustained effort from NGOs to press the government for such policies has also been missing. Even after running these institutions for about 20 years the vision and the role have been missing from their agendas. In the absence of strong exit policies of most of NGOs for orphans, a need based institutional care cannot alone pave the way for a secure tomorrow of these less fortunate people as the psychosocial impact is huge on these children and widows.  Role of community is imperative in giving a successful and a secure future to these less fortunate people. There should be an active mechanism between the institutions and the respective communities to accommodate and rehabilitate these children of conflict and create role models for effective monitoring and implementation of projects. It is a moral duty of every individual to take care and help these less fortunate people so that they do not have to go through exploitation in order to survive. It is also a high time that government comes out with strong policies to make their future secure and establish stringent laws to monitor the working of NGOs. They should also take immediate steps and tighten the noose around unethical practises so that a strong message is sent to the rest that exploiting these less fortunate people will not be tolerated. Instead of playing the blame game, NGOs should also work jointly and keep a lookout for such unethical people so that this noble sector is not marred by corrupt practices and should help in restoring faith among themselves and the people.  Feedback at raja.muneeb@gmail.com