A dependent civil society

In India the government and market are the major players; the role of voluntary groups, experts and even Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in setting priorities and values of development is very little. Social movements are visible only in media. There is a large presence of civil society actors on papers. In practice, they are working as contractors of corporate groups and government. Constitutional amendments have transferred financial, administrative and judicial powers to PRIs. However, they are all working in the frameworks created by government. Many social movements including neo-social movements, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), resettlement and rehabilitation movements, and other civil society movements, which raised hopes in 1980s have declined or they are acting in close cooperation with government programmes and schemes. Many movements which once drew the attention of the entire world to global issues raised by local mobilizations are virtually dead. Sociologists need to study birth, growth and death of such movements and the effects it produced on the local community. The failures of NGOs and social movements would have the impact that the people would depend more on party politics and neo-social groups.