The changing role of civil society in a Middle-Income Country: a case study from India

In 2008, India met the $1005 level of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, the World Bank’s threshold to qualify as middle-income country. Other major countries - China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan -have followed a similar trajectory, the consequence being that most poor now live in middle-income countries. This evolution, and the economic situation in many donor countries, has prompted a debate about how best to focus efforts of poverty alleviation.

This study seeks to present views from India on some of the questions raised by this evolution. in order to answer the following questions:

• how have social and economic issues evolved, and what are the main challenges?
• does the role of civil society change in this context, and what are the challenges for civil society?
• how are interactions between major stakeholders such as civil society, the government and the corporate sector changing?
• with donors phasing out, how will civil society be affected?

India’s rise to middle-income questions civil society’s involvement in direct delivery of aid, while emphasising its role in advocacy, evidence building, and grassroots mobilisation. This shift in focus requires NGOs to adapt their structure to better root themselves in India’s population. 

Furthermore, these NGOs are at risk of competing with people’s movements and activists that are already mobilising citizens and engaging in advocacy. One further challenge for those organisations will be to find a substantial role without displacing existing movements. The shift towards domestic fund raising will certainly add to this challenge in the medium term at least, by increasing competition for funding and raising tough questions of independence.

Finally, changes in civil society come at a time when India’s international influence is growing. International matters have so far remained in the shadow of domestic issues. But India’s growing influence calls upon civil society to take these matters up, by finding ways to link them with the concerns of Indian people. Given India’s size and dynamism, successfully involving its vivid civil society could yield consequences far beyond India. It might make a difference for civil society mobilisation worldwide.