Hard for CSOs to partner with govt during pandemic IIMA survey

    Ahmedabad, Jun 2 (PTI) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
civil society organisations (CSOs) have not been able to
partner with government productively to help people overcome
the difficult times, as per a survey conducted by the Indian
Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
    Experts say this is "disturbing" as usually in times
of crisis, there is a convergence of forces to put things
together.
    "Almost half the CSO leaders (surveyed) did not find
relevant government functionaries they need to work with on
the ground, to be accessible. More than two-thirds felt those
making policies were not very receptive to their inputs," as
per the survey, titled, 'Civil Society leaders perceptions and
experience during COVID-19'.
    "Accessibility to government officials was even lower
for those working in only rural areas and for smaller
organisations, said the survey, conducted on 65 NGOs and CSOs
between May 3 and 10 by an IIMA team led by Prof Ankur Sarin.
    The survey report said "CSOs have not been able to
partner with the government productively".
    "Responses of only around 10 per cent of organisations
indicate theyre involved in efforts directly with the
government, and more than 40 per cent said coordinating with
the government for their work was one of the biggest
challenges they were facing, the survey said.
    Mobilising financial resources was found to be one the
biggest challenges that almost 60 per cent of organisations
reported to be facing, it said.
    "A significant share of these finances required might
be for independent relief efforts (without any help from
government) that half the organisations reported as taking up
most of their time, it said.
    Civil Society leaders worry about donors (including
government) deprioritising other ongoing long-term efforts,
such as malnutrition, education, domestic violence, child
abuse, and womens rights issues, it said.
    This, many felt, would undermine years of collective
efforts and progress, it said, adding over a quarter reported
that re-planning their activities, and coordination and
communication with funders was taking up most of their time.
    Some experts who studied the survey said it was a
matter of concern that instead of convergence of forces, CSOs
were not being utilised to fight the pandemic.
    "This is bit of a disturbing report. Usually in times
of crisis, we see the convergence of forces to put things
together and also a great sense of partnership and
consultation," said IIM Bangalore Prof M S Sriram, who is
considered an expert on CSOs.
    "This reports indicates a significant breakdown into
three silos donor agencies and their shifting priorities
(possibly under pressure to contribute to PM CARES than
anything else), the government and its machinery and
standalone CSOs, he said.
    Prof Madhukar Shukla from the XLRI-Xavier School of
Management, Jamsehdpur, said, It is important to recognise
that what we are facing is an unprecedented situation with no
earlier benchmarks to rely on."
    Unlike other disasters which were largely localised
and didnt impact the other support systems (government,
economy funding organisations, demographic), this pandemic has
impacted all systems, not only in India but all over the
world, he said. PTI PD
GK GK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)