Working through civil society
123. DFID works through civil society in India through
two formal mechanisms: the Poorest Areas Civil Society programme
(PACS) and the Orissa Civil Society Poverty programme (OCSP).
[178] The £27
m. PACS programme, which began in 2001, funds NGOs working in
states other than DFID's focus states, to help poor people to
obtain access to government services. The £1.5 m. OCSP was
initiated in March 2004, to experiment with the possibility of
a state-specific funding stream, to increase the capacity of civil
society organisations in Orissa. In addition to these formal mechanisms
for delivering funds to civil society organisations, DFID staff
maintain informal links with individuals and organisations in
Indian civil society, who provide an important source of information
and feedback on DFID's programmes and policies.
124. Historically the GoI has been uncomfortable
about foreign agencies funding and engaging with individual civil
society organisations. Its concerns have been linked to concerns
about Pakistani/foreign influences within India. We heard from
DFID staff that the Department for Economic Affairs' process for
approving DFID funding of civil society organisations is slow
and bureaucratic. The DEA has approved only five civil society
organisations' proposals for funding to date.[179]
The head of DFID's state programme in Orissa told us that the
GoI had been more nervous about the OCSP mechanism than DFID had
anticipated; the central government had demanded detailed information
on all the organisations which DFID proposed to fund, before granting
approval. This has significantly raised DFID's transactions costs.
A group of NGO representatives told us that the process of approval
is also extremely time and resource intensive for civil society
organisations; numerous police checks and visits by officials
are required before the government can be satisfied that DFID
can fund the organisation. This was a significant disincentive
to their seeking funds from DFID programmes. We were pleased to
hear however, that the new UPA government is currently reviewing
the procedures for donor funding of civil society organisations
in India, with a view to simplifying these.[180]
Despite the difficulties which have been encountered, DFID should
continue to persevere with funding civil society organisations
through the PACS and OCSP programmes. Indeed, we encourage DFID
to explore the possibility of replicating its OCSP programme in
other states. As well as funding individual organisations, DFID
should develop mechanisms to encourage civil society networking
within India, in order to promote lesson learning and the transferral
of best practice between organisations.
Technical assistance
125. DFID delivers technical assistance (TA) to governmental
and non-governmental partner organisations in India as part of
its National Programme. Most projects undertaken under the National
Programme entail an element of TA, while some are composed entirely
of TA. Some examples include: the TA which DFID has provided directly
to SACS in six Indian states as part of the Department's engagement
with India's NACP; the £20 m. Technical Assistance Cooperation
Fund for India, established with the ADB in June 2001; the Sexual
Health Resource Centre established in New Delhi in 2003; and,
the £5.9 m. programme to establish a Centre for Good Governance
in AP from September 2001.
126. In December 2004, the NGO 'War on Want' criticised
DFID for contracting Western consultancy firms to provide TA in
India, thereby creating "aid-funded business".[181]
We would be concerned if the provision of these contracts affected
India's ability to gather its own evidence and to make its own
analysis of the likely costs and benefits of policies such as
privatisation. We were reassured to some extent by Hilary Benn's
recognition that "Technical assistance only really works
if the partner wants to receive it, if together an issue has been
identified where it is felt that technical assistance would help,
and that technical assistance will enable the Government or the
state in the end to be able to do it for itself."[182]
Wherever possible, DFID should make use of the considerable expertise
of Indian consultants. DFID needs to ensure that all its technical
assistance is provided in such a way as to enable recipients to
come to their own conclusions about the value of the policies
advocated.
127. During the course of our inquiry, the quality
of DFID's TA was widely praised. We were repeatedly told that
the value of DFID's contribution to India lay in its innovative
ideas and practices rather than its money, a view which the Secretary
of State acknowledged in his evidence to us.[183]
DFID should build on the existing strengths of its India programme
by devoting a greater proportion of its resources towards technical
assistance, research and the development and dissemination of
good practice.
128. If TA is the most important aspect of DFID's
programme in India, then perhaps the Department should begin to
consider how it might continue providing this to India, if (or
more likely when) its aid programme to India is scaled back. One
option might be to move to a consultancy-based framework, although
we were told that Indian national pride would be likely to preclude
the purchase of development advice from a foreign agency. Another
option might be to develop the links between UK institutions (such
as the ODI and IDS), and Indian development institutions. DFID
has already been active in this area; during the 1990s for example,
it funded the IDS to train the main Indian civil service training
institute (the Lal Shastri National Academy of Administration,
in Mussoorie) on Gender Planning. We encourage DFID to continue
developing links with Indian development institutions, through
international secondments, collaborative programmes and joint
research initiatives. In many areas India is now at the cutting
edge of international development policy and practice,[184]
and so the promotion of such links would be mutually beneficial
for development practitioners in the UK and India. The encouragement
of such global networking could be seen as DFID's legacy in the
sub-continent.
154 IDC, Eighth Report of Session 2003-04, DFID:
Departmental Report 2004, HC 749, paragraph 53. Back
155
Ev 64 [DFID supplementary memo]. Back
156
Email communication from DFID India to the Clerk of the Committee,
not printed, placed in the Library. Back
157
CSSs constitute one of the three main ways in which funds from
central government are transferred to the states, the others being
transfers under the provision of the Finance Commission and direct
support to States' five year Plans. Back
158
Q 159 [Dr Charlotte Seymour-Smith, DFID India] Back
159
Ev 94 [ActionAid India memo]. Back
160
Q 156 [Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development] Back
161
S. Jha "DFID to help Bihar, UP combat AIDS", Times
News Network (9 January 2004). Back
162
Ev 65 [DFID supplementary memo]. Back
163
See http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/pressreleases/pr-indiaeducationfunding12oct04.asp. Back
164
This may possibly be because of the synergies between the advocacy
of civil society organisations and donors working in the sector. Back
165
Radhika Nayak, N.C. Saxena and John Farrington, Reaching the
Poor: The Influence of Policy and Administrative Processes on
the Implementation of Government Poverty Schemes in India, ODI
Working Paper, No. 175 (2002) p.12. Available online at http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp175.pdf. Back
166
DFID, India Country Plan, (February 2004). Available at
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/capindia.pdf. Back
167
Ev 63 [DFID supplementary memo]. Back
168
DFID visit briefing papers, not printed, placed in the Library.
Back
169
Hilary Benn also commented on this in his evidence to the Committee
(Q 145 [Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development]). Back
170
"Cyclone-hit in Orissa still await relief", The Hindu,
(28 October 2002); "Disaster mismanagement",
The Telegraph (Calcutta) (29 October 2002); Christian Aid,
The Orissa Supercyclone: lessons from a calamity, Chapter 4 of
"Facing up to the storm" (July 2003). Back
171
"Supercyclone rehabilitation efforts in Orissa make hardly
any progress", India Today, (27 May 2002). Back
172
DFID visit briefing papers, not printed, placed in the Library. Back
173
Priya Deshingkar and Craig Johnson, Poverty reduction in Andhra
Pradesh: the real concerns, ODI (2002). Available at http://www.odi.org.uk/Livelihoodoptions/papers/Guardian%2011.doc. Back
174
A self help group can be defined as a group of about 20 people
from a homogenous class, who come together to address their common
problems. Back
175
DFID visit briefing papers, not printed, placed in the Library. Back
176
Q 166 [Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development]. Back
177
Q 166 [Dr Charlotte Seymour-Smith, DFID India]. Back
178
UK based civil society organisations can apply for funding to
work in India through DFID's Civil Society Challenge Fund. Back
179
Email communication from DFID India to the Clerk of the Committee,
not printed, placed in the Library. Back
180
DFID visit briefing papers, not printed, placed in the Library.
There are rumours that the GoO is planning introducing legislation
to regulate the NGO sector, although nothing has been announced
officially as yet. Back
181
War on Want, Profiting from Poverty: Privatisation consultants,
DFID and public services, (2004). Available at http://www.waronwant.org/profiting. Back
182
Q 168 [Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development]. Back
183
Q 145 [Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development]. Back
184
For example, Dr Samuel Paul is one of the leading experts in the
world on 'accountability' and how to enhance the 'voice' of users
in service delivery. Dr Paul, who is normally based in Bangalore,
has assisted the World Bank in developing its policy in this area.
Back