EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SECTOR IN INDIA

SOME GLIMPSES FROM TAMIL NADU

Prepared by PRIA & Anjaneya Associates in Collaboration with the

Center for Civil Society Studies, Johns Hopkins University. USA

October 2002 Working Paper Number 4

Societyfor Participatory Research in Asia (PRfA ) -12. Tughlakabad Institutional A.rea

Nell' Delhi - 110062 Plume: (9/-0/ l) 608 /908. 60S 8508, 606 093//32/33

Fax : (9 / -0/ 1) 60S 0/83 Email: i/~fo @pria.org

Website: www.pria.org

CONTENTS

Preface

An Executive Summary

I. The Context

II. Socio-Economic and Pol itical Scenario of Tamil Nadu

II I. Histori cal Evolution

TV T he Lega l Fra mework

V. The Survey Instruments

VI. The Key Findi ngs

VTl. Some Suggest ions for F uture Surveys

Annex I

•vnnex II

References

Members ofThe Advisory Committee

PRIA Research Team

HOPKINS Core Team

II - III

IV

1 - 2

3 - 5

6 - 11

12 - 15

16 - 24

25 - 41

42

43 - 44

45

46

47

48

48

PREFACE

The Society fo r Partici pa tory Research in As ia (PR IA ) has been en gaged. for so me time no w. in a rather

volum inous exercise on mapping the nonprofit sector in India. T he exercise aims to generate systematica lly as

mu ch of the information as feasible about the sector includ ing the size. scope, areas o f interest. sources of

revenue. expenditure patterns. etc. The study, being carried o ut at the behest o f the Centerfor C ivil Society

Studi es (CCSS) at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in the United States. wou ld help in de velopinp " Il e lter

understand ing of the role these organisations play in social and economic development process of the country.

A series o f working papers arc being prepared. under the overall gu idance o f an Ad visory Com mittee. for

wider d issem ination of the project output. T he present paper is the fo urth the series .

During the firs t year of the project. the PR IA research team hud undertaken an exh aust ive rev iew of the

secondary sources of data. which included an ex amination of the employment da ta generated by the Na tio nal

Sample Survey Organ isation (NSSO), the national accou nts statistics. and the Eco no mic Census : the la tte r

t\VObrought out by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). It was found that the offic ial statistics system

had. de - facto. not reco gnized. at least till 1998 . the non -pro fit sector as a se parately identifiable entity. Spo­

radic attempts to coll ect information on the sector were utterly inadequate, since the term 'non - prof t ' had not

bee n even defi ned in so me cases . Indirect esti mates of the nu mber of such inst itutions and employme nt the re ­

in could perhaps be made. but their authent icit y wou ld be any bod y 's guess , since the est ima tes wi ll have to be

based on several assu mptions. More importantly. ev en suc h an exerc ise could not give d ue on a laq;c number

of parameters o f se rious interest to the sector's plann ing needs such as the s ize o f the in formal sector and

activit ies o f groups engaged in sub-sectors e.g. co mmunity serv ices and environment. In th is backg rou nd. the

q uestion of co llecting primary data through samp le su rveys co uld not be eschewed.

The org anisationa l surveys of non - profit institutions have never bee n attempted before in India. T herefore. the

work is truly pioneering. As it ha ppens with all the pioneering efforts, there is bound to be scope for improve­

ments in the app roa ch and the methodologies used for implementin g the adopted approach. It is com mon

knowledge that the NGO leaders as well as the government planners ma ke statemen ts on var ious dimensions

of the sec tor and the sec tor 's capabilities ba sed on the ir perce ptions . The reaso n for this is not diffi cult to

comprehend : there is utter lac k of scientifica lly developed literature on the subject. It is hoped that the presen t

report is co nsid ered as prov iding more authe nt ic informatio n tha n available hithe rto , wh ich ca n honestl y be

treated as bench mark es tim ates in var ious debates.

We are grateful to the Insti tute for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins Un ivers ity in Balt imore, fo r inviting PR IA to

undertake the Study in India. We gratefully acknowledge co ntinuous guidance o f the core proj ect team at the

.I 1-1U and that o f the Indian Ad visory Commi ttee.

I I

AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

To sum up, the overall pic ture o f the NPO sector in Tamil Nadu which emerges from the survey, is one of

voluntary efforts encom pass ing

• App roxima tely 88,689 organisations;

• Manpower engaged of the order of J5 lakh ( 1.5 million ) /1 ('/" .'1011.1', out of which J0.73 lakh s were work­

ing as volunteers. Thefinding that the sector is dependent on such high number of volunte ers is one of

the more imp ortan t fin dings of the SlI/"1'£'Y :

• The total manpow er engaged in the sector is equivalent tofull tim e emp loy men t of6.40 lakh s, which is

about 4.3 °!r of total non -agricultural employm ent in the Stat e:

• Annual receipts of the order ofRs.2056 crores (R.I'. 20. 56 billions};

• Annual receip ts f rom foreign sources (~r the order (~f Rs.270 crores (Rs.2.70 billions);

The main areas ofactivi ties of the soc ieties are Comniunitv Services, health, and education and

'others '. They accounted fo r over 80% of the societies in 1999 - 2000. A large number of socie­

ties registered during the las t two decades were local associations of residents. traders, coolie

workers and the like se rv ing the interests ofsmall groups ofpersons.

The cha nces ofa society ceasing tofunction in the firstfive years are 20 1}'0, which indicates that

the infant mortality rate is rather high.

The sector is sizeable by any reckoning. It wou ld be even bigger if accoun t is taken of governme nt-sponsored

non- profit inst itutions, wh ich arc excl uded from purview oft he defi nition of an NPO ado pted in this report.

The sector is wide. com plex and heterogeneous. The act ivit ies of NPOs cover a wide range, from educa tion to

sports. A special feature of the survey was tha t it attempted to capture the non-formal segment of the sec tor,

which turned out to be very large and mos tly de pendent on the vo lunteer force . The Survey throws out the

concept that structurally the NPO sector may be conceived of consisting of three segments ­

A ' large ' segment of non-formal units,

Another ' large' segme nt of formal (reg istered) units and

A ' small' seg ment o f very large units. bo th reg istered and non -registered .

lL is this last segm ent, which contrib ute s almost the entire paid employmen t, receipts and expenditure of the

sector. Although the major contribu tion to the economy wi11 come from the large we ll es tablished units, the

other two seg ments are import ant in that they help to inculcate the spir it of voluntarism among small gro ups of

persons at the grass root level all over the State.

IV

The overall leadership to the stud y has bee n ably provide d by Dr. S. S. Sr ivas tava, Principal Researcher.

T he pilot survey and the fie ldwork for the mai n survey (s) were organised by the Anjaneya Associates, a

Chcnnai based org anisation. who also undertook data en try. tabulat ions & ana lyses wi th the assi stance of M /

S Shreyas Systems based in Chennai. The first draft of this Working Paper was prepared by Dr. M. Padmanahhan

and Mr. N. M. Swamy, which was extensively gone into by Dr. Srivas tava.

The JHU, the Ford Foundation (New Del hi), the Aga Khan Foundation and the Acti on Aid have supported the

Study. Sir Ratan Tara Trust has supp or ted this pu blication.

Dr. Rajesh Tandon

President, PRIA

October 2002

III

EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SECTOR IN INDIA Some Glimpses from Tamil Nadu

I . THE CONTEXT

Social organizations operating outside the confines of the market and the State play a significant role in social and econ omic development. T hese institutions are known variously as Voluntary Organizations, Community Haxed organizations, Voluntary Development Organizations, Non-Govern ment Organizations. Self-help Groups, etc ., depending on the area of activiti es they are involved in. The number or such organizations has grown steeply in the post independen ce era and the range of act ivities they cover encompasses almost all aspl' cls of economic and social concerns of the communities at large. Despite their growing num bers and impo rtance. these institu tions remain dim ly unders tood. making it dilfi cult to determine what thei r capabilities actually are and how exac tly can they share the output of major players in the economy. A sim ilar phenom enon is being witnessed almost across the globe.

In response to the above co ncerns. the Jo hns Hopkins University launched (JH U). hack

111 1990. a Comparative Non - Profit Sector project (CNPS) desi gned to del ineate the definitional

bound ari es of the sector and to develop systematically as much of the informa tion bast.' about

the sec tor as wa s feas ible . T he project was aimed at providingi ufo rrnation. whic h wo uld help

gain understanding into the role that these organizations play in socia l and economic development

processes of various coun tries . lnitia lly, the project wa s underta ken in eight co unt ries viz .

France. Germany. Hungary. Italy. Japan. the LJ K and the USA . T he geographica l coverage of

the proje ct WJ S being ever enlarged hy progressively hringing withi n its fold as many coun tries

as possibl e. By the year 1995. some 22 cou nties had been brought within the ambit of the

project. Indi a jo ined the project in late 1 99 ~ .

Broadly. the pro ject had two parts. an empi rical pan en visaging buil d ing up stati stica l

base for ga uging the key d ime nsions of the sector and a non - emp iricnl part e nvisag ing an

understanding of the interplay between d iffere nt sta keh olders. d isc uss ions on how to evo lve

po lic ies for the sec to r and rel ated ques tions . For the em pirical part of the study. seco nda ry

sources of data we re examined at length in the first ins tance . Importa nt macro - eco nomic data

series. ge nerated by the O ffici al S ta tist ics sy ste m of the co untry. co mprise annual surveys o f

employmen t and unemployment conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)

and Economic Census undertaken period ically by the Central S tatistical O rganisation (C SO).

Both these data seri es conta in i nformarion on nun-a gr icult ura l employ me nt and its break up

by major economic activities. The lat ter datn also give the corresponding number of enterprises

and establishments. What ca n be learnt fro m the analyses o f the se data ha ve bee n summar ized

in the paper 'De fining the Sec tor in India" (PRIA. 2( 00).

Essentially. secon dary so urces d id no t Sl'CI11 10 co nta in inlo rmation of re levance to a

study of non-profit sector in Ind ia. In fact. the official stati stics have never attempted to collec t

informati on on the sector. Even re-ana lyses uf the ex isting data could no t throw any light what

so ever on sev eral import ant pa ra meters o f con cern to policy planning issues . For example.

quantum or ex tent or vo lu nicc rism in the soc ie- I)', sL'ope ,1 11l1L' o ve ra~L' 0 1" tile non- fo rma l institutions.

type & kind of mov ements unde rtnkc n by t hc sec tor Irorn ti me In time. c tc .. are a rea" where

the offic ial statist ics is unable to throw an y liuht. Ho wever. the ~o ve rn l11 e n t machine rv has, o f . " '- ...... ..I

la ic . st ar ted ad d ressing the iSS U L', III thi s bac kg rou nd. it was co nside red necessary to co llec t

pr imary data th roug h stalistica lly des ig ned xa mplc surv eys . T he objec ti ve o f the JI-lU CNPS

was to build up all -I nd ia est imate'> fur which 11K coun try cou ld have bee n co nside red as a

s ing le la rge ell tit) from whic h a random sample 0 1" pri mary units co uld be drawn and ,I survey

conducted. However. ill the Indian contex t. Stares arc important admin isrr.uivc units 1'0 1' governance

of the co untry. Mo reo ve r. the re a rc wid e inte r-state d isp arities ill soc io-eco no mic and cu ltura l

backg ro unds . T here fore. a ny s tud y. which can no t document inter- state va rintions. ca n not he

o f much usc to the Indian ucudcm ic ians. c ivi! soc ic tv activists ,md go ve rn me nt policy ma kers.

O n the ot her hand . it was s imply impossib !c 1'\,11' an f)rgani/ a lio n like PRIA to co nd uct sample

surveys in al l the States o r Indi a . On bal. mce (1 1" cnnxidcr.u ion s. it was dec ided to choose On e

Suuc each fro m a ll the Fo ur Corners of Ihe coururv an d al so a SI: \tC' . which had pec uliar

pop ulation charac teristics. Accord ing ly. IhL su rve ys were organ ized in five St ates \) 1" Ind ia V i i ,

Wes t Be ngal. Mahuras ht rn. Del hi. Tam il Nad u and Mc gh alav a. T he first Iou r S ta tes ar e

rcp rcsc nt.ui vc ur the Fo ur reg ions n l" the cou ntry an d i'vk gha lay,1 is a rc la tivc ly small Sta te

wit h rnountuin ous terra in and w ith s ig nificant ly di ffe ren t rcl ig io us and e thnic co mposition of

it'-. popul.u ion .

A s tutis tica lly des ign ed snmplc xurvcy o f the magnit ude of the pre se nt exer c ise has

never bee n ancrnptcd be fore out sid« the g()\c rnll1cn la l and the co rpora te secto rs. Furt her more.

no age ncy . go vcrumcn t o r non- gov crm nc ut. h,\s e ver unde rtaken ,I survey cov er ing solel y the

non-pro fit "ector. In th is sense. the e xe rc ise unde rtake n hy PRIA is tru ly pionee ring in nature,

content and con text. A ll survey ins trumc uts were deve loped based o n the gu ide lines issued by

the JH U and J... t't' pillg ill view the met hod o lug ic« .ulopted hy the NSSO for gcnc ratillg primary

inl'o rm.u ion in the soc io-econom ic sector, PiIll l xurvcys I\ l test the concepts , de finitions. and the

sc hedules o f inq ui ry were cond ucted . in the yea r ~ () () () . in Iou r d istricts o f Uttar Pra de sh and

t wo di st rict s o f Tami l Nad u. Based on the cxpcri cucc PI' these pi lot survey s. the approac h to

the ma in survey and its i nst rumc ntx \V Cl'L' g i vc n ,\ fina l sh ap«.

T his Worki ng Paper summarizc« the findi ngs of the su rvey o f no n-pro fit orgunizat io us in

the State of Ta m il Nadu . T he surve v ill the S unv wa s con d uc ted in the yea r 200 I . re fe rence

pe riod bei ng the yea r 1 000 (I L) \) () - ~ O() O fu r so me va ri ubl c s).

o

EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SECTOR IN INDIA Some Glimpses from Tamil Nadu

II . SOCIO - ECONO IC AND POLITICAL SCENARIO n TAMIL NADU

Loc ated in the sou th - eas te rn corner or the co uut rv. Tami l Nadu is co nside red a

rc l.u ivc ly ad vanced Sl ale o r Ind ia from ma ny ang les - d cmo g raphic . eco nom ic . soc ia l and

cu ltura l. De spite be ing no t rich ly endo we d w ith natur a l resources . it has the fif th larges t

economy for any Stale in the couutry. T his is bcc uu-,c its huma n reso urces arc re lat ive ly bet ter

dev e loped.

Accord ing 10 provi s ion a l dal a o r the 200 I Ce nsus or Ind ia. the popul at ion of the St ate

was 61 . 11 millions . account ing for (1'!< ol the couru rvs po pulatio n. o r the m . 3 1.27 mi l l ions

w ere mall' s and J O.X4 m i l l ions Ic rn a lcs. T he rc vulung sex ra t io of l)~6 is no t as ag a inst the

Icmulc popu la tion of the Sture as is the case with the n.u iounl average . Th e population de ns ity

or 4 7X persons pe r sq ua re kilo me ter in rhc Sta te is near ly o ne and a hal f ti mes the natio nal

lk nsi ty. The ra re o r g ro wtl: of popu la tion in Ta m il Nad u has been brough t down steeply tn

about half o f that for Indi a as a w ho le - 11. 19(i{ as com pare d to 2 1.J4 tX ove r the decade 199 I

- 200 I . T his re marka ble co ntro l o r po pu lnt inn gr owt h is uu r ibu t.th lc to till' strenuous efforts

of the gov L'r1l1 m.' nt ad m i n ist rat ion a :-. WL' II as o r no n- uovcrnmc ntul organizu tious in spread ing

kno wledge o n ad vanta ge s 0 1' a sm al l l'am i ly an d i l l getti ng the idea acce pted by the people.

Th e ec o no my or Tamil Nadu is ra ir ly we ll de ve lo ped and div e rxificd . The ave rage

grow th rate ha s been consistently abo ve the nat iona l rail' . T he pn capita state do mes tic produ ct

in 1991)-2 000 has been est im arcd al Rs. 12 , ~ 1"+. which was 2{)f/( h ighe r than the pe r cap ita

natio na l incom e o f R :-.. I (l .~2 1 . T he co mpox i t ion PI' the stale domestic prod uct shows that the

co nui bution of ag ricu lture an d nll icd ac tivirics was 2..+ f;1" ind us try 28'1; ' and se rv ices ..+8 (i!.

Agri cu lrurc is the mai nslay o f the popul at ion pro vid ing em pl oyment to nearly two- thirds of the

work force. Dry Farming co nd itions prev ai l in about ha lf the land holdi ngs. which an: rragmented

in natu re and sub -m arg inal in s i zc . Eve n :-'0 . ag ric ul tura l sec tor has re co rded pro gr ess du e to

incrca scd cxploitation or ground water lo r irrigal ion .md de p ]oyrn ent of seed - IcrtiIiI.eI' technology

for crop prod uc tion . T he mai n ruod n o ps g r\l\ \'n arc r ic e. pulses and o i lsc cd s: sugar cuuc.

co uo n and tea arc among the ca sh LTO p S grown: major Io rcxt products incl ude timb er, sandalwood.

pulpwood and [ue l wood .

In ind ustry. Tam il Nad u occupies an im po rt a n t place amon g the St ates in terms of th e

num be r o r Iac u ui cs and va lue o f o u tput . M ajor ind ustries 0 1' the S tate inc lud e textiles, leat he r.

chemica ls. au to mobi les anu anc illnrics. Th e ind ustr ia l se ctor is witnessing sign ificant cha nges

foll ow ing the pol icy of l ibcral iznt ion and g lobul izurion introduced in Il)9 I . l -orei gu in vesto rs

have shown inte rest to invest in the Stale. part icularl y in info rmation tech nology and automobiles.

CD

Tam il Nadu i~ an import an t exporter (11' tanned skin s. hides. leathe r goods. co tton ya rn, texti les.

engineering goods. tea an d co ffee.

J Udged by ind icato rs or soc ial deve lo pm e nt too. tile St ate s tands in a better posi tio n.

According to the 200 I Po pulatio n Ce nsus. the litc rucy rate was 7'. .5111. a full 8 perc entage

po ints abo ve the natio na l literacy ra re . T he d ilfe reucc is ev en la rge r at 10 perce ntage points

in fem ale li te racy ra te . T he Sla te has the second lowest bir th rate an d the fou rth lo west infan t

mortality rate. Ta m il Nadu is beco ming wcl] KJHl \Vn Ior ils ins titutio ns o f hig he r learning and

multi-spec ia lity hosp ita ls .

Ta mil Nad u is the ab ode o f an anc ie nt c ivilis.u io n. It is csti mutcd that a fu ll-fl ed ged

Meso lith ic type of culture ex isted aro und 4000 H.C. T he main la nguage of the State is Tamil.

which is on e o f the oldest language s of the wo rld wi th a long Iite rarv tra d ition. T he towering

tem ples that dot till' la nd . the Ta rn iI an d Caruatic sys te ms of music and th« Bhar.uhunatyam

style of dance bea r te st imony to the hi gh cuh uru l s ta nda rds of rhc Tamils .

Beg inning the second ha ll' o r the nine tee nth ce ntury. the re has been an organised effort

among the Tami ls to revitulise the Tami l lang uage and cu lture. intro duce soc ia l reform and

att a in political autono my. These activ ities. labe lled the Dravid ian movement. have been directed

ag a inst the Brahminical priesthood and the vurnn hier archy. ln Il)26 . Pcri ynr E.V.Ramaswamy

Naickcr started the Se lf- respec t Mo vement to g ive pride and d ignity to non-brahm in youth. In

1944. the Drav ida Kavhauam (D.K.) came into cxi stcn cc and in J 940 C'.N . An nndurai formed

the Dravida M unncrru Kazhuga m (D.II,,1.K.) . Desp ite a ll c lfo rts at refo rm. the cas te system and

its associ ati ve di scr im ina to ry prac tices arl' xti ll fai r ly stro ng in Tam il Nad u.

An importa nt med ium or the Dru vidian mo ve men t wa s the Tamil c ine ma. In fac t. even

today. c inema and po lit ics ho ld great SW ,I) ' o ve r the IllaSSl'S, one reinforc ing the infl ue nce of

the o the r. Tami l Nadu wa s the first State in Ind ia to co nic und er the rul e of a reg ional party,

w he n the DMK wo n the e lecti ons o f Il)67. S ince then, the St ate pol itics has been dominat ed

by the two d ra vid iun parti es. the DI'v1 K and the A IDM K. T he latter is an offshoo t of the DM K

and was formed by M.G . Ram ac handra n. a m.u ince-ido l. wh o broke away from the OI\'IK. T he

d ifferences between the two pa rti es a rc n lO IT due to the pe rson a l an imosit ies of their leaders

rat her than d ue to an y ideo logy . The se two pa rt ie» ha ve hc cu form ing the gove rnme nt almo st

alt e rnate ly. each pa rty wi nni ng on e elect io n w ith ,I lundsl idc maj ority and losing the next one

cqually disnstrously. The nat ional partics like the Congrcss and the B.J. P. have to ally the msclyes

with one of the tw o part ies to reco rd the ir presence in the leg is lature . T here is no pattern s for

forgi ng a ll ia nces. it be ing a free walk for the nar ionnl a~ wcl l as the nu mer ous Sta te level

pa rties. Spl itt ing o f pol itical part ies du e to pe rsona l am bition s of ind ividu a l leaders is a co mmon

o

fea ture in th e S ta te . as is the case ill ot her pa rts of the cou ntry. A rec e nt tre nd in the political

sce nari o is the format ion of c as te- based parties.

Fo r ad rni nisrrat ive purposes, the Sta te is di v ided into 30 un i ts ca lled the di s tr ic ts . In

J 99 1. there were o nly 2 1 di s tr ic ts and the inc rease in the ir nu m be r s ince the n is d ue to the

di vi si on of la rge r d is tric ts into two o r mo re d urin g the in te rve n ing per iod . C hennai. th e ca p ital

o r the S ta te , is a pure ly u rba n d is tric t. w h ile all the ot he rs ha ve rural and urb an a reas .

A lthough there arc d ifferences amo ng the dis tri c ts in the level soc io-eco no m ic de vel opment,

the gap among th em ca nn o t be co ns ide red as Io n ya w n ing .

o

EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SECTOR IN INDIA Some Glimpses fro m Tamil Nadu

III. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION

Al tho ugh the te rm 'No n Profit Orguni zntion ' (NPO ) is relat ive ly new in the Indian

co ntex t. the secto r is c lose ly inte r- linked with vo lun tary action . roo !'. of which ca n be traced

to ph ilanth rop y and re ligious obligation s e njo ined on ind ividuals to help the need y. T he

anc ien t Ind ian d ictum 'Pnrop nkuran harn ldum Sharee rum (T his bod y is for the se rvice of

others) en ca psulates the bas ic ideo log y of an NPO , An NPO is essen tially a hum an change

agent and is d iffe rent fro m bus ine ss in as much as that it docs no t supp ly goods and services

a nd is also di ffe rent f rom gn vcrn mc nt s ince it docs not contro l. W h.u it docs is to ch ange

human beings . " Its product is a changed human be- ing - ~l cured pat ie nt. a child that learn s,

a young man or woman grown into a se lf-respe cting adult" (Dr ucker. 1l)9:2) . Religious injunctions

and codes of soc ia l co nduct enjoining the c itizens t\l care for the weak and the needy have been

the inspirat ion for the or ig in and g rowth of NPOs in the country ove r mill enn ia. Voluntary

ac tion, charitab le ini tiative and non -gove rnme nta l o rganizat ion (NGO ) arc xo rnc o f the nam es

by which non -p rof it orguniz arions are known.

T he history of nonpro fit organization s in Ind ia is usually considered in four phases - the

pre-co lonial phase ( (500 Be to late e ighteent h century AD ), the co lonial phase (late e ighteenth

century to 1947), the post-independence phase up to the Eme rgency ( J947 - J975) an d the

post-Emergency pha se (PRIA. 200 I) . Such a classificn tio n is app licable to Tami l Nadu too.

Pre-colonial Phase

In anc ient Ind ia, al though the responsi bility Io r wel fare activities and socia l se rv ices

res ted large ly w ith the king and the reli g ious inst itutions. social or ga nizations of the people

a lso played a ro le. T hese organ izations pe rformed a wide range of act ivities. T here is histor ical

eviden ce to show that in the Chu la kingdom of Tami l Nadu. vill age and di str ict co unc ils

functioned with considerable autonomy over local mailers. The system of panchayat. an assembly

of village elders. who arbitered on local disputes and whose ruling was accepted by all co ncerned.

is a social organiza tion, which continues to the presen t day. Soc ia l organ izations we re acti ve

in no rma l-time soc io-economic matte rs and al so in c rixi» si tuations like floods, dro ug ht. fi re

and fore ign inva sion. Th ey played impo rtant ro ll's i ll the prese rva tio n and propagation of

musical. da nce and dram a trad ition s of the land, In literature. the Tamil Sangarn , an asse mbly

of poe ts, acted as a watchdog fo r the ma inte nance of l iterary standa rds . Assoc iations and

guilds of pr ofession als like architec ts, a rti sans and worke rs a lso exis ted in the pr e-co lon ial

phase,

o

Colonial Phase

Even be fo re th e s tart o f tile ne xt phase . Ind ia ca me und er the M us lim rule . which wa s

follow ed by the British rule . Con sequen tly. re lig ious and xoc ia ] va lues or Is la m and C hris tianity

go t intro d uced in inst itutio ns inv olved ill cha rity. ph ila nthrop y and vo lumccris m. T he Christian

miss io ns. w ith the suppo rt u( the co lo nia l ad rni ni stru t ion, sta rted do in,!; soc ia l work in rur al and

tribal are as . Partly in rcspo ns..' to suc h efforts. lnd iun org nniznt io ns su d ' as the Ramakrishn a

Miss ion were formed. which undertook vo luntary work (Vi.i:l)" Mahaj.m. 200m . EVL' n. some Indians

wi th wes tern educat io n. like Raj n R:1Il1 Mohan Roy. were able to apprec iate the shortco mings o f

the then Indi a n so ci ct v. T he v bc ua n to advocate re fo rms ill soc ia l. rc h uious. ed uca t io na l an d ..I ...... ....

pol itica l aren a. which became new are as Io r vul unt.uy work In Tam il Nad u, all impor tant re form

mo ve me nt was the Sumarusa Sanm argu Sanga m csiuh l i shed by Rumali nga Swamigal. an ascet ic.

wh o campaigned aga inst the practi ce o f animal sac rifice and soc ial inequalities. T he Ramakrishna

M issio n es tabl ished institution s in va I' i0 us part s ()f the 5 t.Itc for l'a rry i ng 0 ut a wid e va ric tY 0 f

ac tivit ies rlln[!"i ng f ro m serv ice to the pour lu ed uca tion and hea lth.

T he co loni al per iod also '> a w some sta ndardizat ion in the st yle of funct io ning of the

soci a l o rua nizu tio nx. TIll' pa ssi ng or th e Soci et ies Re g istratio n Act in IS60 pro vided ce rta in

co m mon guide lines fo r the c stnb li shrncn t a11(1 run ni ng o r the re g is te red societ ies . A gu in. uhc

for e ig n missi on'> intro duc ed ma nag e ment sys te ms for runni ng hospita ls . sc hool s and co lleges

and these we re ad op ted by o th er-c .

Anot her maj o r infl ue nce on the NPO sect or dur ing lh e cn lo uial phase \\'as the freedo m

mov eme nt. Ant'!' Mahatma Ga ndhi assumed leadership of the mo ve ment. he initia ted programmes

fo r a llevia tion of suftc ring and soci al and ec onomi c dl' \ c lop mc nt of the de priv ed sec tio ns of

the soc ie ty. T he co nstruct ive program me . which IlL fnrmu Jated fo r the pur pose . co vered a w ide

ra nge of issues like pr omotio n o f khud i and vill ag e ind us trie s. e rad ication o r untouc hab ility.

prohibiti o n. e ruancip.u io n o f wo me n a nd promotion of co rnmunu l ha rmony. To pro mo te th e'

pro gramm e. ma ny G und hiun o rguni z.u io nx were fo rmed in a ll parts o f the count ry . In Ta mil

N udu. the progr am me \V llS imp lc mc utcd w ith g re ill l' nthu sia:-'1l1 u nde r th e leader shi p o r Raj aji

and othe r leade rs. Ga ndhijis es tab lis hed variou s activities a ro und in terested ind ividua ls . some

of who m cvcnrually es tab lished orguniza tion s suc h as tile Harij an Se wak Sangh. the Hindu stani

Ta limi Su ngh and the A ll Indi a Spiuncrs Axso ci ntion. Thcxc o rgu nivutio ns co ns titut ed the

beginning o f ind igenous vo luntary ac tion in Indi a (Viju v Ma haj un. 2(00 ).

Post-independence Phase (up to the emergency)

All imp or tant fe ature orthis ph ase. covering the years Irom 19--1-7 to 1975, WDS launchi ng.

In 1951 . or the ec o no m ic p lanning proces s hy the go vern me nt. whic h resulted in the Sta te

[]

ta king a leadi ng role in al l dcvc lopmc nt m.ntc r«. A num be r or de . c lop rncnt NGO:-. sprung up

du ring th is pe ri od . SOIllL' of the ins titutions insp ire d by G an d h ij i, su ch as Ha rij a n Sc wa k

Sangh. bega n receiving go vern ment grants. wh ile o thers bec ame I"ormal organs of the go vernment

such as tile K had i und Vill age Indu s trie s Com miss io n an d it s S ta te levc l co unter pa rts (Vijay

M a haj a n, 20 ()()). T he de ve lop me nt a lso s pel led (H I! so me ki nd of re lat ionship be tw ee n the

go ve rn me nt a nd th e vol untnry sec to!". A number o r othe r S tate ins t itu t io ns like the Ce ntral

Soc ia l We lfa re Bo a rd and Sangcer Nal a k Ak adc m i we re a lso SC i up du r ing th is period.

Durin g this phase. the o lder organizntions like the Christ ian missions and the Ramakrishna

M iss io n cont in ued and e ven exp anded their activ it ies . A. land mark e ve nt of this phase wa:-. the

estab lish meu t (I I' the M iss ion a ry o r C ha rit ies hy Mo the r Teresa . an ins tit ution which is doing

ye o me n se rv ice to the po or an d the nc g lcc tcd a ll o ver the c o u nt ry. So me G and hians. who

resis ted institutio na liza tion. in iti ated ind ividua l vo luntar y ;Ktion . Achuryu Vinoba S have. who

se t up Bhood a n mo ve ment in I t) ,"i..J . W :1S lead ing: ;lIl1 o ng the m . A no ther such movem ent was

Survod ay a mov e me nt. 1'01' co mmi ss io ning const ruc tive wor k. Sarvodaya orga nizat ions in Ta mil

Nadu arc stil l quite ac tive . T here W ;I S a son o r ups urge ( I I' suc h vo lun tary acti vii ic -, d ur ing thi s

period.

By m id -s e vent ies . the po werfu l system o r po litical and econo mic ad ministration e rec ted

in the co untry after Inde pe nde nce had co me un de r attac k. I ts fa il ure to iac klc in a ny signifi cant

ma unc r the press ing prob lems o r the cou ntry like po vc rt y. une m ploy men t. de priva tion and

co rru p tion led to d isil lus io nment amo ng th e peo p le . part icu larly the you th . T he pub l ic <I nger

manifested in ma ny fo rm s. o ne or wh ich was thL' To tal Rcvolut inn Mo vc rnr nt of b ya Prakash

Narain . Unable tu fac t.' the rUr) o f pu blic d ise nc h.m tmc nt. th e govcrllnw nt im posed a Sta te o r

Emc rg c uc y in 1975 . u nde r whic h the fu nd am e nta l righ ts o r the cirizcn we re sus pe nde d and all

po litica l ac tiv itie s ba nned . Th L' working o r the NGO SL'ctm \\ ;IS nlso a ffe cted . T he rigo urs o f

the Emerge ncy W L'!" l' Ie l: in Ta mi l Nudu. when: a n oppos iti o n part y. the O!'vIK . W;lS in po we r.

Howev e r. IhL' Emerge ncy e nded in 1977 . w he n fresh e lcc tin ns hrou g ht to po w e r a ne w pa rty

co ns isunu of its oppo ne nts .

Post-emergency Phase

Signilicam changes marked the func tioning o r the non- pro fit sector in the post-Emergency

phase . First. a new re la tio nship be twee n the St a lL' a nd till' r-\PO sec tor e me rged. T he Se venth

Five-year Plan rec ognized the potentia l role or the \ o lunta ry sector in the development process

and hcg;ln associnring it in implem e ntat ion o r various rura l de ve lopme nt. poverty a llcvint io n.

adult lite racy. health. housing and o ther program mes. O ver the yca r«. this puttc rn of re lationship

te nded to beco me com ple ment a ry. It pro vided th e gll\'L'I" llllll' llt w ith g rass root le vel age nc ies .

CD

whose services were necessary for implem enti ng the pro grammes a ll ove r a co un try as large

as India . Many new NGOs ca rne up to ta ke advant age of th is rel ati onsh ip and func tion with

f inancial ass istance pro vided by the gov ern ment. In the mid-n ine ties. there were more than 600

NGOs all over the coun try register ed with the Central Socia l Wel fare Board (CS W B), abo ut

900 wi th the Counc il for Advancement o f Peop le' s Action an d Rural Technology (CAPART )

and over 4. 750 institutions with the Khad i and Village Industries Commission. In Tamil Nadu

alone, ther e were 230 NG Os rcg istn ed w it l: CAPA RT. T hus. 'deve lopment ' beca me a new

urea of NPO act ivity as distinct from 'soc ia l se rv ice ' of the ear lier phases.

Secon d, fo rei gn agencies began to show interest in fin an cin g socia l ac tivities in the

co untry. T he fore ign so urces con sisted ma inly of bilatera l and intern ational age nc ies li ke the

Ford Foundution and OxIum an d private iud ividuals. corporations. foundations. religi ou s an d

charity organiza tio ns. With an increas ing num ber of Ind ians wo rking abroad and ea rning

attrac tive incomes, there has bee n a larger inflow o r funds fro m them to welfare ac tiv ities in

Ind ia. They co nside r such co ntr ibutions as an expression of their love an d grDtitude to the ir

paren t co un try. Another im portant so urce is the for e ign re ligious an d cha ri ty org aniza tions.

which are inte res ted in reducing human SUffe ring a llover the world.

T hird , the fright ful e xperience of the country wi th the Emergency led to a need to

protect the dem ocratic ideal. Non-government acti vity spread to many new areas. These include

civil rights, consumer interest. en vironmen tal protection. rem oval of illiteracy, AIDS awareness.

etc. In Tamil Nadu. they took the form of organized protests against police atro cities. empl oym ent

of chi ld labour, parti cul arly in hazardou s indu stries like the mat ch indu stry, fema le foe tic ide.

illegal quurry ing of sto nes and d igg ing of sand in riverbeds , lett ing industria l polluti on in to

rivers , aq uaculture, and simi la r ac tiv ities in imica l to com mon interests .

Fourth. a nu mber of trusts and re ligious institutions beg an to start medical, enginee ring

and oth er ins titutions of higher lea rn ing an d a lso mu lti-xpccia lty hospita ls. Among the se may

be mentioned the Snthyn Sai Trust. the Adi Parasukthi Pccdam and the Mara Amritunandarn ayi

Trust. Ma ny priva te pro fessiona l co lleges a re run by C har itable Trusts.

Fift h, there has bee n a trend in the las t dec ade or tw o fo r sm all groups of person s to

come together and form associations or societies to serve thei r common interests. Such associations

ca n be of residents of a sma ll local iry or of even an apartme nt building : of persons belon gin g

to sa me occupation suc h as auto ricks haw drivers : o f pro fess iounlx such as lawyers; of youth

such as cr icket c lubs; or persons org;ln i/.ing re lig ious [unctions in a sma ll area and the like.

Such associations are ge nera lly formed fo r spec ific purposes like ve ntilating the grievances of

the con cerned groups to the authorit ies and observance o f a rel ig iou s festival. Some of these

associations cease to ex ist an n the spec ific iss ue is h ighligh ted. They arc often small in size ,

o

depending mainl y on the subscr iptions of the members. ;\ vast majority of the soc ieties registered

dur inz the las t two deca des a re of this tYIJl'.

T hese cha nges have had implica tions fo r the NP O sector. T he availabili ty o r funds

fro m both tile gove rnm ent age ncies and fo re ign sources has led to a growth of the sec tor. Some

analysts feel that that the grow th has been mush room -l ike . Th e relationship betw een the NGOs

and the S tate. while he ing mutu ally benefi ci al . has not a lwa ys bee n smooth or problem-free.

W hi le the St ate is anxious to ensure tha t the lund , provi ded hy it are prope rly ut ilized by the

voluntary orgunizutions. there is a fee ling among some NGO s that steps taken by the gove rnment

fo r the purpose are of a "limiti ng. co nt ro lling and depe nden ce-cre at ing ' type . ··It seem s that

increasi ng bureaucratizati on and control of mec hanisms of funding has considerably undermined

thei r autonomou s fun ct ioning and, the re fore. those volun tary organizat ion s in a recipient ­

dono r re lation ship w ith the Sla te find them se lves in an une;lsy s ituat ion " (PRIA. 199 1).

In n -gard to receipt of foreign funds too . there arc d ifferences betw een the State and the

NPO sector. The feel ing that fore ign funds may not ulwny» be used in a manner consistent with

the val ues o f a sovereign de mocra tic re public has bee n there and a Foreign Contributions

Regulation Act (FC RA) was passed in I<)76 to rcgulatc rec e ipt of [orc ign funds by Indian

org anizations. includ ing vo luntary and non-pro fit ones. Under the Act. orga nizat ions receivin g

fore ign funds have to register them se lves wit h the Minis trv of Home Afla irs. Government of

Indi a and also to sub mit regu lar reports 0 11 the funds rece ived by them As on 31 March 2000.

there were 21.244 org anizat ions regis tered under the A d . Nearly j 4.000 or gani zations, whi ch

had filed the ir an nual statements. rep or ted rece ipt of fo re ign cont rib ution s totalin g Rs. 3.925

crores. Am ong the Stall's . Tamil Nadu had the second largest rec eipt of Rs . 572 crores. While

the vo luntary orga nizati on s fed that FCRA is rcstrict i , c and have for med a nati onal campaign

committee for repealing/ amending its restrict ive clauscs. the Government is thinking of mak ing

it mo re s tringent.

Despite the gro wing recognition of the ro le played by the vo luntary secto r. there are no

re liable data abo ut it. Availab le informat ion eve n on a bas ic para meter like the number of

NPOs is incomplete. partial. o vcrlnpp iug and not ba sed on uniform concept s and defin itions.

One reason for th is is that the NPO is a very wide sector encomp assing inn umerabl e ac tivities

from running a loca l spo rts c lub to manag ing ;1 mul ti-s pec ia lty ho spital. Even on the large ­

si zed NPOs, wh ich <Ire v isihle . the da tubasc is wea k. Di rectories of NCiOs brou ght out by

di fferent agencies provide varying figures of the number of NPOs . The Charity Aid Foundation

Ind ia (C Ar- India) is attempting 10 build a NGO directory. A total or2,3) 0 voluntary organizations

are listed ill the Directory. of whic h 22:-1 arc in Tamil Nadu. A classification of these vol untary

organizations in Tami l Nad u, acc ord ing to th e fie ld of op erations shows that nearly two-third

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of them are en gaged in the five ca teg or ies of rural de velo pment (22%) , ge ne ra l dev elo pme nt

( 16%), healt h ( II %) , we lfa re of women and children (Stir ) and welfa re of handi capped (7%) .

Tabl e 3. 1

Volunta r y O rganisations in Tamil Na du

By Field of Ope ra tions

F ield No. %

I. Rural Dev elopment 51 22 2. Gen eral Development :'7 16

3. Health 24 II

4 . Welfare of the Hand icapped 18 8

S. Welfare of Women & C hild ren 16 7

6. Tribal Welfare 8 4

7. Ne tworking, Training & Research 12 5

8. Hu ma n Right s 6 :,

9. Education 6 :,

10. Welfare or Dalits 5 2

II. Others 45 19

Total 228 100

Rased 0/7 C/\ F-Ind ia NCO Dire cto r v

To sum up, Tam il Nadu is a major Sta te for non- profi t acti vities. Organizations engaged

in such activi ties have g rown rapi d ly in the las t t\VO decad es. They are of different sizes and

their activi ties co ver a wid e ran ge. T hey als o diffe r in their or ganizati on al st ruc ture. s tyle of

fun ct ionin g and manage ment systems . This he te rogeneous and amorphou s nature of NPOs ac ts

as a constraint in conce iving the m as be long ing to one sector. " Despite the vas t array of

voluntary in itiatives and associ atio n. India do es not have a sense of a voluntary o r non -profit

sector as yet. T he identity of a sec to r is yet to e merge ." (PR IA. 20 00)

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EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SEC TOR IN IND IA Some Glimpses from Tam il Nadu

IV. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK

At pres ent. non -profit orga nisa tions in TumiI Nadu ca n be reg iste red/ incor porated under

any one o r mo re of the fo llow ing si.uu tcs . J ' ~

i) Ta mil Nadu Socie ties Registration Ac t. 1975 .

ii ) Ind ia n Tru s t Ace IRX2.

iii ) Sec tion 2S of the Ind ian C om pa nies Act. 195 6.

i v) Co-opera tive Soc ieties Ac t. I l )0 4 .

v) Trade Unio n Ac t. 1l)2CJ .

An ove rview o f the funcuoni ng o f these Acts has been bro ug ht out in the fo llowing

paragrap hs.

Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. 1975

A legal bas is fo r the functioning o f NPOs in mod e rn pe riod wa s first laid wi th the

enac tm ent of the Socie ties Reg istrat ion Act in I XhO by th e Government of Ind ia. which was

adapted with suitab le modificat ions by some of the Provincial Governments. Under the Constitution

of India. which ca me into forc e in 1950. ch arities. charitab le institutions. char itable and religious

endo wm ents and rel ig ious ins titutions find a p lace in Lis t II I. wh ich is the co nc ur rent lis t for

bo th the Union o f Ind ia and the St a tes. By v irtue o f Arric k 37 2 of the Constitution. which

provides that a ll laws, in for ce on the date of co min g into for ce o f the Constitution. sh a ll

co ntinue to he in force un til repea led o r alte red by the Centre or the St utes. the Societies

Regi stra tion Act. 1860 con tinues to be in fo rce .

Th e Societ ies Registration Act. I~ ()O was enacted at a time. when the system of regulation

of non-pro fit instit ution s wus non ex is tent. T he work ing of the Soc ieties Reg istration Act.

1860 brough t to light many adequacies suc h as the abse nce o f provi si on s fo r matter s like a

ch an ge in the name of a society. rua intc na nc e of reg i:-. ta s of mem bers and of co mmittee

mem bers. keeping a regi ste red o ffice. a lte ra tion of bye - laws. hol d ing of the Annual Genera l

Meetings . w i ndi ng up of the Soc iet y un der the orders u f the Reg istrar. etc. With a view to

meeting some of the aforesa id short co rning». the lcg i - Jauue of Tamil Nadu enacted the Tamil

Nad u So c ieties Rcg is trntion Ac t in I l)] ) , which ca rne into force on 22 Apr il 1978.

T he Act provides for reg is trati on o f literary. sci enti fic. re lig io us. ch aritab le and o ther

so cie ties in the S tate. More spec ifica lly. the Act mentions the follow ing: purposes for wh ich a

Soc iety may be reg istered under it.

8

( 1) Ed ucation . (2 ) lite rature. (3) sc ie nce . (4 ) re lig iou . (5) ch arity. (6) soc ial reform s. (7) arts

and crafts . (8) co ttag e industry. (<J ) ath le tics. (10 ) spo rts. ( I I) publ ic he alth. (1 2) soc ial

se rv ice. ( 13) cu ltura l ac tiv ities. ( 14 ) d iff usion o f usefu l knowledge. and ( 15) su ch oth er useful

o bjec ts for which the Sta te has powers to mak e law... .

The Rules framed under the Act have enumerated the ot he r use ful objec ts as se rving the

a) inte res ts of co nsume rs in th e sup p ly and d is tri bu tio n o f esse ntia l objec ts .

b) interes ts of passenge rs lI si ng huscs , taxi s. auto rickshaws and simil ar vehi cles of

public co nveyance.

c) welfare or the phy sically han d icapped.

d ) wel fa re of the une mployed.

e) inte res ts o f res ide nts in the runn er o f pro vis ion of c iv ic ame nities .

l) in te rests of pil g rims an d tour ists.

g) wel fa re of a nimals . bi rds and s im ilar liv ing be ings.

h) wel fare of d isplace d pe rso ns.

i ) welfare of the dow ntrodd en. eco norn icu ll y an d soc ia lly backw ard.

Some of the speci al fea tures o f the Act ;11"1::

i ) Provision Ior co mpulsory rL'g istration of socictic-, having no t less than 20 memb er s or

who se annua] inc ome or e xpend iture is not Jess tha n Rs. IO.OOO. If un reg istered , they

ca ll he prosec uted be fore a mag is trat e and a fine o f up to Rs .500 can be imp os ed.

ii ) Evl'1'Ysocie ty must have a reg istered o lfi cc in the name of the Soc iety in a co nspicuous

pla ce. in one or mor e langu age (I f whi ch Tamil must be one.

iii ) Maintenance of a Register of Members with ad dresses and occ up atio ns . whic h mu st \1L'

ope n for inspecti on d uring o ffice hours.

iv) Ho ldi ng o f an An nua l Gener al Me e ti ng wi th 2 1 day s prior noti ce to the members. The

Reg istrar ma y no mina te an off ice r. su bo rdi nat e to hi m. to att end the mee ting.

v) Provision for the calli ng .01' an Extrno rd inarv Ge nera l Body Meeting on a spec ia l

req u isi tion with :1 no t ice of one mon th to the member s.

vi) Filing o r the Memorandum and Bye-laws with the Rcgi -arar fo r the purpose of registration.

W hat the Bye - laws sh ould co ntai n is presc ribed in Rule 6 o f the Tamil Nad u Society

Reg istra tion Rule s .

vi) Req uire ments rc la tin g to acco un ts and aud it and a lso supply of copi es of Bye-laws to

me mbe rs are sp cci ric .

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vii) Ves ting till' Regi strar of Soc ict icx wi th po we r ~ under Sec tion 36 to e nq uire int o the

a ff a irs of a re giste red Soc iety e ithe r suo moto or on app lica tio n by a majorit y of th e

membe rs o f the C o mm ittee or o n a n np p lication by no t less than one-t hird of the

me mbe rs o f the soc iety.

ix) Powe r g iven to the Reg istra r to ca ncel the reg istrat ion o f a Soc iety under certa in

c i rc umsta nccs .

x) Proced ure for wind ing up o f a Soc iety unde r the Ac t with powe rs g iven to the Reg istrar

to s tr ike off a defunc t soci e ty and puh lish the x.un c in th e offi c ial G uzc uc .

Al though the IY75 A CI was passl'd to re mov e 'the de fec ts o f the 1860 Centra l Ac t.

infor med o pinio n is that th is o bject rcmn inx un ful fil led . T he main reason c ited is the absen ce

of adeq ua te administrative machine ry to enfo rce its provisi ons . (G . S iia rn ma n & Co., 2(00)

Indian Trust Act. 1882

Tr usts arc of two ty pc« - private an d publi c. The emp has is of the Ind ian Tr ust Act is on

private trust s. Se veral states have enacted their own indepe ndent Public Tr ust Acts. The B O l11 b ~l Y

Pub lic T rus t Act. 1950 and the Rajast ha n Puh lic Trust Act . I9SY ar e examples of Sta te Acts

covering "public trust s under thei r jurisd iction. Publ ic trus t» arc constituted for the ben efi t o f

eit her the publ ic at lar ge or so me co nsiderable po rt ion or it nnswc ring a parti cular de scri ption .

T hey. thu s. ful fil the de scr ipt ion o f an NPO. For for ming a public trust. ,1 Deed o f T rus t is to

be fram ed and regis tered with the Suh- RegislrLlr o f the Regis tration Dcpurtmcn t. The application

for reg is trati o n o f a pub lic truxt must conta in part iculars abou t the creation of the trust. its

obj ec ts , so urces ol incom e. sche mes to be im pleme nted. propert ies LI nd names o f the trus tees

in possess ion thereof. For making an application for the ap po intmen t o f a trustee details ab out

the na me. address. oc cu pation, inte rest in the trus t. e tc . nrc to he fu rn ished ,

Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act. 1956

T he Ind ian Comp any Act. I C) ) () i ~ an ,11 1 Ind ia Act an d S ta tes have no j urisd iction ov er

it. Section 25 of the Com panies Act pro vides for the gra nt of license hy the Central gov ernmen t

for formation of ' non pro fit' co mp anies . Su c h co rnpani e« can have di rectors who arc also

trustees. Direct ors or trustees mana ge the com pany and can be re imbursed fo r their management

ac tiv ities. but ca nnot acc ept rcrn uncrat ion o r share a pro fit.

Co-operative Societies Act, 1904

Tamil Nadu has a lung history o f the co-opcrative movement sinc e the enactment of the

Act in 1904. The soci eties ar e rc uis tcrc d wi th the S tatl' Direct or of C o-o perariv c Societie s .

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Although the Co-oper ative Soc ieties Act, 1l)()4 re lates to institutions, wh ich function for the

so le be ne fit o f thei r membe rs and no t for the larger pu blic good, they ma y sometimes be

considered as non -profit institutions by virtue of the spirit underlying the ir operations, provided

they arc not engaged mark et tra nsact ions of goo ds and se rvice s generating pr of its fo r the

be ne fit o f the me mbers .

Trade Union Act, 1926

Tamil Nadu has a lso been in the fo refron t of the trade union mov ement in Ind ia even

be fore the en ac tment of the Act in 1926. T he Socie ties Registration Ac t. the Co-operative

Socie ties Act an d the Companies Act are not applicable to reg is te red trade unions .

Foreign Contributions RegUlation Act, 1976

T he FCRA had its orig m in the Eme rgency period and was passed in the wa ke of

all egations that co ntrih utions from ab road we re being used to destabilise the go vern ment. In

1<) 84-85, the provisions o f the Ac t were tighte ned . The Act requires all associ ati on s and

organisations receiving fore ign cont ributio ns to reg is ter themselves with the Ministry of Home

affai rs fo r receivin g any mo ney fro m fore ign sou rces. T he govern men t can al so gran t pr io r

permission to rece ive fore ign co ntributions. Ins titutions and organisations permitted to recei ve

forei gn contr ibutions are requ ired to mai nta in sepa rate bank accounts and acco unt boob in

res pect of all fo re ign mo ney recei ved by the m. Also they are required to submit yea rly

acc ounts du ly ce rti fied by a cha rte red accountan t along with the balance sh ee t and statement

of rece ipt and payment to the Mi nist ry of home Affairs.

G

EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SECTOR IN INDIA Some Glimpses from Tamil Nadu

v. THE SURVEY INSTRUMENTS

T he re are a number preparatory s teps w hich need he taken befo re actuall y launch ing

a la rge sc ale sam ple s urvey in the f ie ld . F irst o f a ll. su rvey o bj ec tives have to be spe lled o ut.

T his wi ll de term ine wha t q ueri es/ qu es tions a nd ite ms o f in fo rma tio n ought to he inc luded in

the surve y sc hed u le s. T he survey des ig n has a lso to he e vo lved . w h ich will det ermi ne as to

w ha t k ind of res po nd e nts will be a ppro ac hed fo r fu rn ish ing the needed in fo r matio n . F inally.

sam ple s iz e ha s 10 be fixe d . keep ing in vi e w the ma rg in of e rro rs wh ic h ca n be tol era ted as

we ll as th e time a nd cost co ns tra in ts . Usuall y. pr imary d ata in suc h surveys a re co llec ted wi th

the assi stan ce o f a large ba nd o f f ie ld investi ga to rs. w ho ac tua lly co ntac t the respo nde nts fo r

so l ic it ing th e req ui re d info rma tio n . The se inves tig a tors hav e [ 0 be g ive n form a l and de ta iled

tra ining (and oft en re- tra ining ) o n co nce pts and de finitio ns o f va rious terms used in the sur vey

sc hed ules . fo r w hic h purpose a T ra ining M anua l has til he pre pa red . T h is cha pter outl ine s the

det a ils o r the surv ey o bjec tive s . the sa mp le des ign proposed and act ua lly used a nd the survey

sc hedu les .

T he survey of non-pro fit o rga nizat ion s. so me time s refe rred to as 'organiza tional survey '

In the lite ra ture. has the following objectives .

(i) To es ti ma te the to ta l nu m be r of for ma lised NPOs to g e the r w ith as soc ia ted es tima tes

of the ir e m plo yme nt, revenue and e xp e nd iture :

(ii ) to es tima te th e di s tr ibut io n or no n- fo rm ali se d ( inc lu d ing tr an s ie nt) NPOs to ge the r

w ith asso c ia ted estim ates of thei r e mp lo yme nt, reve nue a nd ex pend itur e ;

( iii) to es tim ate the d ist ri b utio n o f formal ised and nu n- form alis ed in s titu tio ns in to major

ac t iv it ie s as lis ted in NIC g rou ps/su b-g rou ps :

( iv) to est ima te the morta lit y ra tes of in st i tuti o ns (both formal ised a nd no n-forma lised )

that w ill hel p va lida te the reg istra tio n d a ta e m ana t in g fro m the imple me ntat io n of the

S oc ie ties A ct: and

v) to es timat e the nu m be r of vo lu ntee rs e m ployed in the non -p ro fit sec to r, q uantu m of

time spe nt by the m an d to e s tima te em ploy me nt an d ou tpu t ge nera te d by vo lun tee rs .

Concepts and Definitions

A p pare nt ly. it is necessa ry to ado pt u n iform and eas ily a pp lica b le se t of de finit io ns of

various te rm ino logy. w hic h ca n be com prehe nded by d at a co llec tors at various sa mp le po int s

w ith ease . T he fir st and mos t important te rm used in the s tudy is .Non-p rof it O rg an izatio n ' ,

GJ

a term which is rch u ivc ly new in the Ind ian cou tc xt. a ltho ugh it is in greater USL' in till' western

countries. For the present surve y. the struc tura l-op era tio na l defin it io n of an N PO de ve lo ped by

the Center for Civil Society Studies of the Jo hns Hop kins University has been adopted. According

to th is definition. a Non Profit Orguui vation is an institutipll! orgunizntion (i .c. a non-househo ld

en t ity ). w h ich meets five c rite ria simuhanco usly v iz . it is ( ;1) organize d . (b) private . (c ) no n­

pro fit disu ih uti ng. (d ) se lf-go"crn ing an d (e ) vo l unrarv .

The abo ve definit ion has been opcr ation uliscd in the prese nt sur vey by dcscr iuing the

fi ve qual i fy ing au ribu tc -, as under:

(<I) Organized : An y inst itutio n whic h has its ow n co nsti tut io n/ chart er ror ih fu nct io ning is

conx idercd org.mizcd . irres pec tive o f whe ther it is Iorm al lv registered under a ny o ne o f the

statutory prov isions . La rgL' sc ale people ' s mo ve me nts . suc h as Wom c ns Mo ve me nt. Human

Rights Mo veme nt. Anri -nuclc. tr Movc mcnt , lau nc hed an d spe arhea ded hy g roups. wh ich are

lormnlly we ll-organ ize d hut not reg istered. wo uld he co ver ed under this defi ni tion. So also. the

large number o f unrcg istercd YL' t [o r rn nl ussoc iui io ns at the grass roo ts lev e l. such as tile yo uth

clubs. mah ila m.mduls and res idents we lfare associat ions. would be included unde r the definition

(h) Private: me ans inst inu iu nnlly sc purutc fro m gon : rn me nt. T his clues not mean tha t such

organizatio ns can no t receive go ve rnm ent gra nt or fi nauci ul support in o ther forms or tha t

gove rnment offi c ial s canno t s it 0 11 the ir bo ards . Howe ve r. institutio ns se t up and full y owned

by any depa rt ment o f the Cc utrul or S ta te gove n un entx. likc C ounc il fo r Advancement of

Peoples Act ion and Rura l Tec hno logy (C ;\ PA RT ). Nationnl Da iry de ve lopment Board (N DDB).

e tc. wo uld not Iorrn part of the NPO sect or .

(c) Self-govern ing: T he organisat illll should he eq uipped to con tro l its o wn acti viu es and

shou ld not have its internal procedures for go verIl,lIlce controlled by' any ou tside entity (government

or fo r-p ro fit busi nes s cn tit ics ). which may hav e pro vide d funds to it.

s me ntioned ,Ihove. the Centrul and the St ate go ve rnments have se t up se ve ra l NP O"

under the Socie tie s Act. J86 0 or the Co-o perat ive Soc ieties Act . 1904 . S uch organ isa tio ns

ha ve gm c rn ing boa rd -, const ituted hy the gO\'l.:' rn ment with the go vern me nt nominatin g the ir

offi ce rs on the Board . O n eil. the !!ovl' rn l11cnt al so posts thei r personne l in these orgnniz.u io ns.

So mc urn cs. the gove rn me nts have the r ig ht tt ) sllp l' rsc'tk the gov ern ing boards . Like-w ise.

under the Co-operatives Act. the Reg ist ra r has puwcr s to amalga mate. div ide or re org ani se a

co-ope ra tive in public interest. S uch insu tu tions are not to he treated as se lf-govern ing . unl es s

warranted hy spec if ic c ircumstances. Trade un ion s. by and large. wo uld form part of the sec tor

and a rc incl uded under tilt' su rvey. unless wa rra nted by spcc ifie c ircumst ances .

o

(d) No n-Profit distributing: Income gl:lle ra tillg ac tivit ies. whic h the soc ieti es, cha ritahlc or

other institut ions may be engag ed in. may lead to profits accruing to them . However, registration

of an organization under the five Acts me ntioned earlie r is pllssi hk only if it is engaged in

non -profit making acti vit ies. Therefore. by defin ir iun, such prof its. savings. or reta ined sur plus

arc not to be uvuilablc for di s trib ution amon g the me mber s of the governing board or other

persons engaged in promoting the institution but are reinvested for the activities of the organization.

(e) Voluntary: A simple way of defining the term 'vo luntary ' is "a ny ac tivi ty underta ken on

ones own vol itio n and with no he nc fit III the doer" . In nil c ircumstances can a vo luntary

worker be pa id at his / her mark et rate . Essentially such payment s are made to meet part of

the e xpenditure on transport and the like . O ne o f the uuributc s o f a non -p rofit inst itution is

that at least some part o f huma n res ources it dep loys. e ither at the man agement level or

programme level. is obtained without remu neration or at less than the market rate of remuneration.

Sampling Design & Sample Size

;\ '1 ;do ng: the intention had bee n to choose a sample des ign wh ich cou ld net the NPOs

effecti vely. Since an o rganizatio nal su rvey 01 NPOs had ne ver bee n attempted before. there

was no mode l to go by. T he refore. a genera lised x.uu plc des ig n mode lled on the desig n used

in the NSSO su rveys was de ve loped . A provis ion was to made to usc pop ula tion as weigh ts

fo r se lect ion o f units at differen t s tages under the assu mpt ion that more heav ily populated

areas wi ll have grea ter concentration of NPOs. This design was pre-tested through pi lot surveys

undertake n in six dis tri ct s d rawn fro m two diffe rent sta tes . An an aly sis of res ults of pil ot

enquiry showed that the variable population size was not help ful in locatin g areas of concentratio n

of NPOs.

In the mean time. the res ults of the Four th Ec onomic Census " I l)9R. co mmissioned by

the Cent ral St atistical Org.mis.u ion (CSO L had started becoming ava ilable . It was thought by

the Tec hnical Commi tte e advis ing on sam pling as pects of the survey that it wo uld be mo re

appropria te to deve lop a design where-in sampling units in di ffere nt stages were selected with

probabi lity pro portion al to est imated number of NPOs.

"The Econom ic Census is the offic ial co unt o f a ll e ntre pre ne uria l units inv ol ved in <l ny ec o no m ic ac tivit ies 0 1" eit her

agricu ltur al (ex clu din g n ap produ cti on or p lantatio n) or no n-ag ricul tural secto rs otthe econom y, eng aged in the product ion

or di s tri but ion of good s or se rv ice s not for tilt' so le purpose or ow n co nsum ptio n . Eco no m ic Ce nsus art' cond ucted

pe riod ica lI) hy the C e ntra l Sta tis tica l O rga n isa tio n (C SO ) llf the M i n i ~ t r) \If St ;lt iq il's an d Pr og ra mm e Im ple me nta tion.

B

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Districts of Tamilnadu

KARN.l.TAKA

Ho we ver, the pre sc ribed pro ced ure , as o ut lined a bo ve , co u ld not be o pera tio na lised in

to ta lity. T he frame based on th e Eco no m ic Ce nsus 199 8 turned out to be to o probl e m ati c to

be used. T he o rig ina l desi g n ca lled for lis tin g o f CD bloc ks . as pe r the EC 98 in the fir st ste p.

to ge ther w ith the est im a ted nu mber o f NPOs in eac h o f the m . R ig ht at th is stage . it was

d e tec ted that the n umber o f CD Bloc ks in these lis ts w e re ra the r d iffe ren t fro m the ac tual

numbers (o f CD Blocks ) as ex isting in the reve nue reco rds . In the seco nd stage of th e prese nt

proj ec t ' s env isaged sa m ple des ig n. vi llages in rura l areas were to be lis te d in the se le cte d CD

Bloc ks to geth er wi th th e es tima ted nu m be rs o f NPOs in each o f them . as pe r th e EC 98. T he

re a l im pa sse was faced whe n it was fo u nd tha t th e some v ill age s in the EC 98 ba sed fr ame

were of ten c la ss ified and p lace d in CD Blo c ks o the r than the o nes w he re they we re cl ass ified

in th e re ve nue records . Si m ilar pro b le ms w e re faced in the iden tif ica tio n. in the g roun d . of

UFS blocks. In thi s scena rio, it was co ns ide red prud e nt to g ive lip the envis aged sample des ig n

~

in fa vo ur of a simple random sampling of second and th ird s tage units. keepi ng the n umb ers

of these un its f ixe d at the level s determined earlier.

The specific des ign us ed for se lec t ing the sampli ng units wi thin dis tr ic ts was as foll ows :

i ) T he sam ple size fo r each d is tr ict was pre-fixed a t I % o f to tal num be r of v illages in

the d ist rict fo r the rur al sample and a t I % o f the to ta l of UFS B locks in the di str ict

fo r the urban sample:

ii) In regard to the second sta ge units. 50 % o f the CD blocks in a d is tri c t were select ed

random ly (S RS withou t re placemen t) :

(ii i) T he to tal sam p le size was then allocated pr oportion a te ly 10 the nu m be r o f NPOs in

them:

( iv) Urban samp les we re to be draw n f rom the headquarters of the CD blo c ks.

Th e li st of selected CD Blocks. vill ages an d to w ns in the five distr ic ts is givcn ID

An nex 1. T he ta ble bel ow gives the actual distr ibution o f the sample (villages & UFS Blocks).

TABLE 5.1: DISTRIBUTION OF SAI\IPLE SIZE \ T DIFFERENT STAGES

Districts I Total No. of

CD

RURAL

CD Blocks

in

Total No. of village

Villaze,., in Sample

Chennai

Madura i

Tuticorin

Coirnbatorc

Thanjavoor

2 1

12

2 1

34

~

. )

4 , 12

66X

42~

4JX

1,76tJ

I I

')

')

18

All Districts 88 '1'1- ­ 3.3()3 3lJ

URBAN

Total No. of Total Sample No. of Towns No. of Size Towns in the UFS Block

Sample

1 I 6.232 63

24 I I 2.370 .24

2X 14 1,032 10

40 X 2,S05 28

32 10 1.46 3 IS

125 44 13,902 140

It wou ld be seen f ro m the above table th at. u lti mate ly, ] 9 villages in the rur al sect or an d

140 UFS bl ocks in the ur ban sec to r were surveyed . In the aforesa id. u lt imate s tag e sa mpli ng

units, a to ta l o f 6. 74 3 ho use ho lds in the rur al se cto r a ncl 15,302 hou sehold s in the urb an

sec to r were co ntac ted a nd listed. T his lead to ident ific at io n of 67 and 97 NPOs in rura l and

ur ban sam ple s respective ly.

G

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p Ut; ;1[' 1" .1 0 SJ j GIll ! J ';1 ."1 ql J j1:p l[ t: .\ III pil i: p u u q ,l 11 0 ;l ljl UO /\ .111l11ll ;l J l[ l jo iu , IS!\ S 1I0 ! ]I:.l lS ! ll J .I

J lj l.l 0 ii lllll O ! I.1 1lIl .J J lj l pu ur- .r op un III 11l1: j.I 11.!t 1l 1 SG.\ \ I I ' .I.1 .\ ;1-\\ U H · SI~ J .W .1 ! l[ t !t; .Ijo ,"l0 .l 0 s ,(J .\.I tl S

,l ld l ll l; S q l1lll1.1 1l1 1I0 1l\!Ul.I 0 JlI ! j1• .nnb,u J I ll ,l ]1~.I ;1 l1 ;l j 0) o q PIIH l ,\\ ' 11[;111lll ll se ,\\ 11 ·.lS.l IlO.1 .] S;1q ;11[1.

· S ;1 ll ll~ ·'-1 1I()~ J G .lj ,, !ii' ,1 .1 ;llj j 1I0 p ,l s ll q W .\ \ '\ P lllS .1lj l .J1 p o u o u ,'lj rou P Il IO ,:\ .I0 .] .';:1S unn.rocluu S!1I1 .10

1I(1!11H1U I U0 ;'1 ;:1 11 1 p u u ;1'ii.IG( .\ IJ ! t!./ " t~ , \\ ,;1 je l S lIG Ij111 1 1S0 11l 1I1 .1 0 J,l ,l S [nuuoj u: II!lll.n : ,l (.1 , 'll ll e p ll l1ljP

.1IlIl : ,JJq ]I ·.\ ( I1lIO .J J S · ;1[q r:J ,lt !.I1 - -1I 0 1l '\ ( 11l 111) ;:1 .1 ;:1 ,\\ S.l t ~ .' \ [P .l.1 ,\ ,'1S .1 0.1 " .I,"1 IS I <1 ;1.1 p u u p .'1 .1 .1 IS !'ii ,l .l

;j'1II.X I .l ,11.11: l SI X,l 1.] p ,l '· l ~ ;) .l IIJ1q.\\ ' SlI Oll ll l l jS lI ! 1I0 lInIl l ~ UI.I0I U I Oil ,l .lJ ,\\ ;l.l Jl(1 : p J .l J I':i!z1 ,l .l l~ l ll ;l1 I J I~

s u o u ru usm J O s.r oquruu ;1 11 1 1I \~ 11l x ru .n u. .1 .1.\ \;1 .1 .11;.1 [1I:q ,( 1-1 1:,"1 [:> s .l e.l I' l j;)'~l ,'1LII .IO " J UJ O J l p 1I!

S.I;l IS !ii ,l J J il l : pJS !.IJ lIH.llll ll ,l ,:-p.1l1.1, .l ,l S,1II1 ;1.1 .1.\\ ,l l t?IS PlI 1I ( · , -[ P.l l ~ '1 1 ; q d r: l( .IJ l ll l:.1 p.iu un u nuu SI:/\\

( LlI ;l I I1 .1 0 ;l ll (l io u s e :\\ n p e N l! U I I ~J_ 1 " ,ll t?j ' ts ou : 1I1 Sp .IO.1;1.1 UO !Il:.I IS Il3J.I ,l lil ]l~ l( l <; 1: .\ \ I"JI./ ;'Il(l.

· p ,l ;1.1 ;:1 II1,l ~ lI l1l S l1l-11l () .1 D,\'.!. ·U J 'l CI.I .l l" l ll l S I?,\ l ll,l l p \q l";1l1l l;\ lI !I;(lI SP.l O.l;:1.1 ;I t[ 1 p u c :\ J Ill tl OJ ;llP .l 0

SJ le lS s n OU 1: .\ 1I! 11l;1j SI",;1 SJ I.I,"1 111 1l :l1 ~ ll l u o u un ... I;1;:1 .1 ;:1 Lp .-(p n jS OJ JS I.1.1,1',l li t: · P ll tl O.l;1' !J e q S i li l lI J

·SO d . .In :>ld LlI I:S III l j1l1l:.1 P'> lI l'i !S,lP .\ (p l, ! l"' II ~IS I: iill lSll .\ , .v.i n... P : 1I() ! 1I? !1I11ii.lU u n ;111lll ()( SS!l ll ll IO,l

1I;l l( 1 p u c SO d l .Ill IS I I P ;1l! l: P P I: i'iIlI.l l; l! ;1.1 d .1\1.1 P;:l I !O ld X.1 ;1Lj l'~ lI l ;;:l P ! P lilO lI " S p.l O.l;1 .1 lI () ! .lt~ .l j S ! o ;l .1

l e Ljl lI J J q Ill?l ! .\\ ,l L\ i'illllll IJQ .\U ,l ,\( l III? ' P ,"1 UlIl: ld li'IlI ,l Lj J .I,"1 ,\' S;1!l ! . 1].w j,lJ l'o.ll! ;l l ll sv

the I97{)' s had been remo ved f rom the register". T he registe rs for the subsequent periods

contained a large num ber o f de- re gis tered socie ties. a ltho ugh the remark 'de -regis tered ' was

ente red in red ink against the na mes of suc h soc ie ties: these co ntinued to he counted in the

tota l num bers. Third. in so me of the DROs. specia l subsidia ry reg isters wer t' being mai ntained.

In one office, there was a spec ial register for societ ies rece iving foreign donations and another

for societies runn ing educati onal institutions with aiel iro rn the gove rnment. Fourth. the number

of reg istered societies for the two early groups. namely. 19U1-25 and 1926-50. was very small

with no soc iet y exis ting fo r many ye ars .

A total of 370 registe red soc ieties were sam pled in the five di stri cts fro m the records

of the DROs. However. on ly 23..+ soc ieties provided infor mation. as the rem aining 136 soc ieties

wert' e ither closed or non -ex isten t at the registered add ress or re fused ro furn ish the requ ired

da ta. The e ffecti ve respon se was thu s hY;k T he d istrict - wise distrib utio n of sampled and

respond ing un its is ui ven in the tab le be low.

TABLE 5.2: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE NPOS I THE REGISTRATION FRAME DES H;1\.1

Districts

Chcnnai

Madurai

Tu ticor in

Coimbatorc

T hanjavur

Total

Sam ple

1 ~6

54 32

38

60

370

Canvassed

I U)

54 .3 2

38

60

370

Effective Response

145

15

12

21

4 1

234

Schedules of Enqu iry

T he primary data in organ isationa l surveys of Non Profi t Orguuis.u ions were gat hered

tho ugh the usc of fou r sched ules of enq uiry viz.:

Schedule 0 .1 : Listi ng o f househol ds and N POs

Sc hed ule 0.2: Collection o f Inform ation rela ting to NPOs listed in Sch. 0. 1

Sched ule 0 .3: Lis ting. o f sam ple NPOs se lec ted from the reg iste rs of DROs

Schedule 0 .4 : Collection of lnform.uio n re lating to NPOs listed in Sc h. 0.3

§)

Schedule 0. 1 was can vassed in the ho useho lds of se lecte d sa mp le vi lla ges/ UFS bloc ks.

Ge neral ly. al l househ olds in the primary sampli ng unit s (e .g . vil lages/ UFS block s) we re

covered. However. in case o f very la rge villugcs. the numbe r of househo lds cover ed was

restr ic ted to a round 200 with due ca re taken tll en su re that these were spread ac ross the

village. The Sc hedule had three bloc ks - Block I for recordi ng Ide ntification particul ars of the

sa mpled village / U FS bloc k. Block :2 for record ing the importan t informat io n abo ut member s

o f the househo ld and Bloc k 3 for reco rding the na mes and add resses o f the N POs iden tified

in the primary sam pl ing un it. In Blo ck 2. apart from in forma tion on the ho usehol d s ize and

nu mber o f employed pe rsons in each ho useho ld. par ticulars o f each adult em p loyed in no n­

agricultural activities were collected . These particulars incl uded name. age. sex. activity description

o f the concerned no n-agricultu ra l ente rp rise. its loc atio n ( i .e .. whe the r ins ide or ou ts ide the

sample) and type of ownershi p o f the institut ion where they were employed. Besides. information

on whe ther any mem be r o f the household was engaged d uri ng the las t nne yea r in 'G iving" o r

'Vol unteering ' uc tivitics was a lso col lec ted . T his information wa s intended to be used fo r

prepar ing sampling f rames for Surveys on G iv ing and Voluntee ring. undertaken co ncurrently.

.,chcdule 0 .2 was the main inst rume nt for co llect ing deta iled infor ma tion fro m spec ific

NPOs identified in the sample : a se parate schedul e be ing us ed for each NP O . This schedu le

had 10 blocks. covering idcntification pariiculars of the NPO . ge neral Information on membership

and Govern ing Boar d. ac tivities of the NPO and its ta rge t groups, employmen t part icu la rs.

deta ils of receip ts generated and expendi tures inc urred. fi xed assets owned / acquired, project­

spec if ic det ai ls and pa rt iculars o f other NPOs in the area . The sched ule was the key sched ule

for the survey.

Schedul e 0 .3 was used for listing na mes and ad dr esses o f the instituti ons sele cted fr om

the reg ister s of the Dis tri c t Regi s trat io n O ffices .

Schedu le OA was a replica n f sc hed ule 0 .2 and was used for co llecti ng info rmation

from NPOs in the sa mp le d rawn from the Regi st ration fram es .

Reference Period

T he f ie ldw ork o f coll ec tion of pri mary da ta wa s orga nised d uring the firs t fo ur mon ths

o f 200 I. till about April 200 I : the re fer ence period he ing the yea r :2000.

§

EXPLORING THE NON PROF IT SECTOR IN INDIA Some Glimpses from Tamil Nadu

VI. THE KEY FINDINGS

Attent ion is no w turned to a pre sentation of impor ta nt f ind ings f rom the mai n and

adj unct organisationa l surveys of the non-p ro fit institut ions in the S ta te of Tamil N adu, The

statistical estimates of var ious para meters have been prepared fi rst for eac h of the five dis tricts

in the Sta te, whi ch then hav e bee n we ighted by the d is tr ic t - w ise sha res of the State 's

popul ation as per the 200 I pop u lation ce nsus of Ind ia to a rrive at the S tate - lcve l csri rnares.

T he main pa ra meters for wh ich estimates have been co mpiled and presented in the fo llowi ng

secti ons are the s izc of the sect o r. the employ ment and vol untccr ixrn there-in. inform at ion on

issues of govcrnnncc. activities in which the sector L'n gages itse lf. SO UIT l' S of revenues generated.

patt ern s o r expe ndi ture and a few other re lated param eters . Hopefu lly. the estimates now

summarised in th is sect ion will enable the researchers. pol icy make rs. and the C ivil Soci ety

lea ders to have . a ree l of important di men sion s o f the sec tor in the S tate. ar rived at throu gh

a scicnt if 'icul ly designed s tudy. first ever o r its kind . Since the d istrict estim ates were based on

sma ll sam ple sizes and were liable 10 undue infl uen ce of ex trem e obse rvations. only the Sta te

IeVL'1estimates. which a re re lative ly more sta hlc, have bee n presented in th is rep or t.

The Size of th e Sector

The re arc an est imated numbe r of 88.68<) NPOs in the State. of which 46.070 (or 52(Yr)

arc in rural areas and :1 1.344 (o r 48(;; ) a rc in ur ban ar eas. Th us. the number of rural NPOs

in th e St ate exceeds the number of urban NP Os. It would appear tha t vo lun tary acti on is

pervasive a ll over the State Crable 6.1 ). T he inform al sector is c lcarly larger than the fo rma l

sec tor. Not even SO!J( of the institutions in the State are registere d under any of the legislations.

T her efore, large chunks o f ins titutions. even in sec tor s like education and health. are to ta lly

outs ide the legislati ve Framewo rk. Although distr ic t-wise di stri butions arc not presented here.

da ta show that the re arc areas in the state where NPO activities are largely non - forma l. both

in ru ra l and urb an areas .

TABLE 6.1: ESTIi\'JATED NlI~J BEI~S OF RE(;ISTEI~ED & UNREGISTERED

NPOS In' Rl1RAL-l iRBAN BREAh.·lIP

Registered Un r egistered Total

Rural 13.11 5 ~2.9 5 5 46. 070

Urban 28.194 14.425 4 2.619

Total 4L~09 47. 380 88.689

~

48%

.Rural

D Urban

52% 47%

53%

Registered

o Unreg istered

Legal Status and Issues of Governance

General Particulars

Da ta for the S urve y were coll ected fr o m a large maj ority 01' samp le NPOs (909'0 ) at

the ir hea dq ua rter s. T he per ce ntage was ev en high er at l)W7r in the rural sec to r as compared to

S5(k in the urban sector (Table 6 .2 ). T h is wou ld indic ute that . while N PO~ in both rural an d

urban sec to rs , by and large , have o nly o ne offi ce , mo re urban NP Os te nd to ha ve bran ches .

Si milarly. Xocfr o f the N PO s had the ir fo unders as the C hie f Executives and the percentage of

such NPOs was hig her in rural ar eas. T h is may be ind icari ve of a s lightly bet te r tendency on

the pa n of urhan NPOs to crea te a seco nd line o f co mman d and co ntrols .

Tab le 6 .2 shows that 66(;;, o f NPOs in ur ban areas and 2S% in ru ra l areas were

registe red unde r one Act or the othe r, the overa ll pe rce ntag e o f re gistered NPOs ill the S tate

be ing 47(1r. In other words. a maj or ity o f the NP O s ill rur a l areas (72 ll ) and a s ig nificant

proportion in urb an areas (l 4 1!c,) arc of the non -formn l tvpc. T he un registered organisations are

non -formal in nature and arc asxoci at ion s o f sm all gro ups o f person s ha ving som e co mmon

in terests and ope ra ting within a lim ited ge ograph ica l area . Assoc ia tio ns o f residents o f a

locali ty or even of an apar tment building. o f auto-ricksh aw drivers operating fro m a co m mo n

stand . o f tra ders in a market. of youths [o r playing games and o f mem bers of a loca lity formed

for o bserv ing sp ecifi c re ligi ous or cultur a l fun c tion s arc examp les of su ch N POs . T here is

trend for them to get themse lves registered an d a maj or ity of the soc ieties regis tered unde r the

Societies Ac t in recent decade s be lo ng s to th is category.

~

TABLE 6.2: REGISTRATION AND RELATED PARTICULARS OF NPOS

Rural Urban Total

I ) Contacted at Hqrs. (0/1) 9X Wi 92

2) Founder as Chief Executive ((k) XL) 71 XU

3) Registered 13.115 (.28) 28, /94 (66) ~/,30C) (~7)

a) Societies Act ILXS5 (27) 26,20H (61) 39.063 (44)

b) Trust Act 260 (I) 1.472 (3) 1,732 (2)

c) Trade Union Act 257 ( I ) 257 (0.5)

e1) Other Acts 257 ( I ) 257 (0.5)

4) Unregistered 32. c)C)5 (72) /4,425 (34) ~7.380 (53)

Total 46.l170 42.619 HH.6H9

Figures in bracket» indicat« pe ncntugcs to totul nmnber of" NPOs in tli« resp ective sectors.

A m o ng the va rio us Ac ts . th e Soc iet ie s Re g is tra tio n Ac t was the most preferred one .

Almost 95% of the forma l insti tu tio ns were reg is te red under the Socie ties Reg is tra tio n Ac t.

186 0 . O nly 1.732 NPOs o ut a total of 41 . 309 we n: roun d to be reg is tered under the Trus t

A ct and most of th e T rus ts were locat ed in ur ba n areas. T he in s titu tiuns reg is te red under the

T rade Uni o n Act (257 i.e . abou t 0.5% ) were ne g l ig ib le in num ber.

Me mbership

T he NPO s in Tamil Nad u , whethe r registe red o r unregi ste re d . ar e overwhelmingly

me mbership-ba sed . S uc h o rga nisa tions acco unted for 99 % in the ru ra l sec to r and 93% in the

urban sector. T he re a rc di ffe ren t forms of mem be rshi p. s uch as pat ro n. l ife . donor and an nua l.

T he form ' o th e rs ' cons is ts mai n ly of mem be rs w ho pay th e ir subscrip tions ha lf -yearly or

qu a rter ly or mo nt h ly. T he p ro m inent fo rm o f me mbe rsh ip is the ' annua l ' , followed by 'life',

'd o no r ' and ' p a t ro n ' in th at o rde r. Rur a l in s t i t u t ions g e n e r a l ly do not have

' Don or mem bers ' .

o

TABLE ().3: DISTIHBlITION OF NPOS BY TYPE OF ME1\IBERSHIP

I No. of membership NPOs with type of No. ofI MembershipTotal No. Sector I of NPOs based NPOs

I

Rur al I 46 ,070 I 45,490 (99) I

Urban I .+2,619 I 39.653 (93)

Total I 88.68 9 I 85. 143 (96) I

Patron Life

1,695 (.+ )

260 ( I)

I .OJO C~)

9.5 24 (24)

2.72 5 1 9.784 C~ ) ( 12)

membership

Donor Annual

- 30.6 10 (67 )

4.693 (1 2)

26.685 (67)

4. 693

(6)

56.2<)5

(6 71

Others

5. 1SO (33)

9.763 (25)

24.913

(29)

Fig ures in brac ke ts rep rese nt percent age s to to ta l NPOs .

Pe rce ntage s a re not addi tive to 100 .

Goverua lice

General ly each NPO has a Go vern ing Bo ard to manage its aff airs. T he membersh ip of

th e G overn in g. Boar d range s Irorn 7 to ove r 20 in te rm s or numbe r of boa rd me mbers. Fro m

th e percent age d is tr ibut io n of o rg an isa tio ns according to number of Board m e mbers given in

Tab le 6 .4 . it is see n th a t. w hile a maj ori ty of o rganis a tio ns have Go vern ing Boar ds w ith a

membershi p of abou t 7 me mbers. a s izeab le pr o portio n (35%) have ra th er la rge membership

of these Boards . rang ing f rom 8 to 20 and so m e Boards (abo ut 6 %) hav e eve n mo re th an

20 members . T he te rm or Board me m bers varies fro m o ne ye a r to . ]if e, but is co mmo nly one

or two yea rs . T he G ove rn ing Boa rd s mee t pe riod ica lly. 34(Yc o f the m o nce in three mo nths .

269(. o nce in s ix mo nth s and 12 % o nce in a vca r.

~

TABLE 6.4: SOME INDICATORS OF GOVERNANCE ,­Urban Rural

I. No. of Institutions with Governing Body'

2. Percentage Distribution of NPOs

(i) By no . of G .B . members:

(i i) By term o f me mbers:

7 or less

~ - 10

1\ - 20

2\ & above

Total

1year

2 - 3 years

3+

Life

Total

(ii i) By periodicity o f mee tings

Once in 3 months

Once in 6 months

O nce in a year

Oth ers

Total

Activities of N POs

-+5.\10 .39.934

60

17

2 1 ")

/00

58

21

II

10

100

57

32

~

..,

/()()

53

29

4

14

/00

38

24

8,-

30

/O{)

27

29

20

24

/00

Total

RS.044

59

19

16

6

/00

55

3 1

6

8

/00

34

26

12

28

/00

With a v iew to fi nd ing o ut as to what were the wo rk areas , whi ch were of interest to

vo luntary initia tives in the S ta te. the su rve y sched ules had q ues tio ns on ' a reas of acti vities'

in w hich the sampl ed N PO s were engage d. It was found th at th e N POs in Ta mil N adu were

engaged in a w ide ra nge o f ac ti v it ies . O n cl as s ifyi ng them int o broad groups, ado pting th e 3­

di git le ve l c lassifi ca tio n of th e Na tio na l Ind us tr ia l C las s ificat io n (N IC) , 1987, i t tu rned out

th at the three le adi ng g ro ups of acti vitie s in whic h N POs were pred ominantl y acti ve were

'Community Services' , ' Ed uca tio n ' , and ' Hea lth ' in that orde r, the pe rcentage of organi sati on s

engaged in th ese se c to rs be ing 35 , 32 . an d \ 3 respec t ive ly.

@)

'Community Services' is a very broad grou[J compris ing a wide rang e of welfare servi ces

act iviti es undertaken for promot ion of comm unity welfare such as run ning of creches, hom es

for the aged and physicall y handi capped , etc . In recent decades, there has been a growing trend

for formati on of instituti ons, whi ch serve specif ic groups of people having comm on int ere sts

and functioning in a small area. For ex amp le, Residents' Welfare Associations, Auto-rickshaw

Drivers Associations, Fans' Cl ubs of popular c ine ma sta rs, etc . are organi sati on s included in

the group 'Community Serv ices', irrespective of whether they are registered. The group "Education'

covers services like running of non-formal in stitutions lik e night sc hoo ls, adult edu cati on

centre s, etc. as also form al inst itut ions fro m primary schools to eng ineer ing and medical colleges.

T he activity ' hea lth ' co ver s pro vision of heath and medi cal se rv ice s suc h as hospital s. T he

categor y 'Others ' consists of newl y e merging activiti es like environme nt, AIDS aw aren ess and

simil ar act iviti es. T he number of ins titutions in these areas is small.

A class if ication of NPOs accord ing by the ir rur al /urban locati on shows more o r less

similar patt ern of distribution in bot h the locations. However, in rural areas, a relatively larger

number of NPOs were engage d in 'Com munity Services ' as against ;' Education' occupying a

more pred omin ant place in urban areas (Table 6 .5 ). If the di stributi on of NPO s by their

registration status is looked into, it turns out that while registered organisations have "Education'

as the main activity, the unregi stered ones are more activ e in 'Community Services ' (Table

6.6).

TABLE (l.S: ,\ CT IVIT IES (H ~POS BY LOCATIO- '

Area of Activit)'

I. Education a. Technical b. General c. Scientific

2. Health 3. Culture 4. Sports 5. Community Services

a. Welfare b. Others

6. Housing 7. Religion 8. Others

NIC Code

920 921 022 930 050 959

041 040 SO() 040

Rural

13.321 (28.0) 2,345 ( 5.1)

10.322 (22.4) 644 ( 1.4)

4,056 ( 10.8) 57H ( 1.2)

3,444 ( 7.5) 19,632 (42.6) 5,040 ( 10.0 )

14.592 (31.7) -

3.304 ( 7.2) 835 ( 1.8)

Urban Total

15,045 05.J) 4,442 ( 10.4) 6,629 ( 15.6) 3,074 ( 0.3) 6,412(15.1) 1,280 ( 3.0)

358 ( 0.8) 11 ,606 (27.5) 6,797 (16.C» 4.800 ( 11.5) 3.107 ( 7.3) 3,527 ( 8.3) L194 ( 2.8)

28,366 (J2 .0) 6,787 ( 7.6)

16.961 ( 19.1) 4,618 ( 5.2) 11,368 ( 12.8)

1.858 ( 2.1) 3,802 ( 4.4)

31.328 (35.3) 11,837(13.3) 19,491 (22 .0) 3,107 (3.5) 6Jn 1 ( 7.7) 2,029 ( 2.2)

I

TOTAL 46.070 42,610 88.689 -Figures ill brackets indicate percentage s.

G

l'\BI E Cd,' \(11\ IIII-~ 01·

Area of Act ivity

l. Education

a. Tec hnical

b. General

c. Scientitic

2. Health

3. Cu lture

4. SpOI1S

5. Commu nity Services

a. Welfare

b. Ot hers

6. Hou sing

7. Religion

8. Others

NIC Code

920

921

922

930

959

959

94 1

949

500

940

TOTAL I Figures in brackets ind ica te percentag es.

"PO" H\ RE(;ISTR\TIO'\i s r vn s

Registered

19.774 (47 .8)

5.6 12 (13.6)

9.803 (23.7)

4,359 (10 .5)

5.627 (13.6)

5n ( 1.2)

11.390 (27.6)

I

6,303 ( 15.3)

5.087 (12.3)

2,749 ( 6.7)

!. 190 ( 2.9)

4 1.309

Unregis tered

8.592(IX. I)

1, 175 ( 2.5)

7. 158(1 5. 1)

259 ( 0.5)

5,741 (12.1)

1.280 ( 2.7)

3.1;;02 ( 8.0 )

19,938 (42. 1)

5.534 ( 11.7)

14,404 (30 .4)

358 ( 0.8)

6.83 [ ( 14.4)

838 ( 1.8)

47,380

Total

28,366 (32 .0)

6,787 ( 7.6)

16.961 (19.1)

4,6 18 ( 5.2)

11.368 (12 .8)

1.858 ( 2.1)

3.802 ( 4.4)

31.328 (35.3)

11.837 (13 .3)

19.49 I (22.0)

3, 107 ( 3.5)

6K~ I ( 7.7)

2,029 ( 2.2)

88,689

R eligion~ 2% 0 Education 8%

Education 0 Health 32%

o Culture

• Sports

Community Services

Commun ity o HousingServices

35% Health o Relig ion 13%

o OthersCulture 2%

Sports 4%

GJ

- -

Employees and Volunteers

Table 6 .7 bel ow gives the es timat es of em ploy me nt and th e number of vo lunteers

deployed by the non - profit sec tor in Ta mi l Nadu . It would be seen that the sur vey puts these

estimates at 4. 18 lakhs paid em ployees and 10 .73 lukhs vol unteers working in the NPO sector

durin g 1999- 2000, g iv ing a to ta l of 14.91 lakh pers o ns en gaged in th e sec to r. Two main

fe atures of the NPO e mployme nt sce ne emerging fro m the table a re predominance of volunteer

force and of part-time employ men t. Vo luntee rs at 10.73 la khs we re tw o and a half ti rnes th e

paid em ployees (4 . 18 lakhs) and co nst ituted the ma ins tay of ma npo we r in the sec to r. Also.

24 % of paid employees and 84 % of vo lu nteers worked on a part - time basis. Fur ther, amo ngst

the pa id em ployees, nearly 90% were regu la r wor ker s a nd onl y IW'k we re contract workers .

Rural NPOs, despite the ir larger num bers , accounted for only 4(k of the paid employmen t

and 49 (/(1 of the vo luntee rs . W hile vo lunteers formed the mainst ay of manpow er in both rural

& urban sec to rs, it is s ig nifica nt to no te th a t pa id e mploy ment in the urban sect or wa s nearly

three-fourth s of vo lunteers, wh e reas in th e ru ra l sec to r, it w as only 3 %. A ga in, full tim e

e mp loy me nt was more in the urban secto r. A n Urban N POs, on an average, had 22 .3 perso ns

(9.4 pai d employees and 12. 9 vo lun tee rs) . wh ich was ne arly double that of a rural NPO- 11 .7

(0 .4 paid e m ployees a nd 11.3 vo lu nteers) .

TABLE 6.7: EMPLOYMENT IN NPOS

BY LOCATION & REGISTRATION STATlTS

. -

I

-I

I

Rural

Urban

TOTAL

Registered

Unregi stered

-­Paid Employees

--­ -­ -Volunteers l

Full Time

14.588

3JU.691

3,18,279

3.06.452

ll :iQ7

Part Time

2,lJ96

96,909

99,905

94.061

8J~44

Total

17.584

4,00,600

4, 18,184

3,97.513

20,671

Full Time

69Jl53

1.06.751

1,75,804

1,37.716

38.088

Part Time

4.54.663

4.42.733

8,97,396

4.77.280

4.20.116

Total

5.23.716

5,49.484

10,73,200

6,14.996

4 .58 ,204

p rofessional/Nott Projession« I

Professional

Non Prof.

1,24,144

1.94 .135

48,143

51 ,762

1.72.287

2.45.897

8.336

1.67.468

8 1.691 I 81 ,575

90Jl27

9,83,173

§)

R -\TIO OF PA II> E1\ I PLO\ EES ,,~ \ OLl r ~TEE R S

72%

28%

• Paid Employees

• Volunteers

A sec o nd poi III e me rg ing f ro m da ta in Ta ble 6.7 is tha t form a l ins t ituti o ns accoun ted for

a maj o r sha re o f paid e m p loyees a nd o f vo lun te e rs . th e re spec t ive sh are s be ing 0)% an d SY /c.

A c lass ificat ion of em plo yees a nd vol unte e rs in to p ro fess ional a nd no n-pro fess ion al ca tego rie s

sh o wed th a t. wh ile no n- profe ss io na ls fo rmed the m aj or group for both paid e mploy me nt &

vo lu n tee rs . the share of p rofess io na ls was a t 4 1Sit am o ngs t pa id e mployees was rather high .

T hese d iffe ren t as pec ts of e m p lo y ment patt e rns nee d to he viewed in th e bac kg ro und o f

t he nat ur e a nd s tructure o f the se c to r as a w ho le . As no te d a lre ady, 5 3 % o f th e NPO s ar e

unre g iste red. A s igni f icant pro po rt io n o r the re g is tc re d se c tor insti tut io ns are associ a t io ns of

s ma ll gro ups o r perso ns o pe ra t ing in a li m ite d g eo g r,lp h ic a l area and fu nc tio n in an informal

ma nne r. A k w o f the m like some Re s iden ts ' We lfa re As so c ia tio ns do no t hav e a fi xed offic e .

as it change s \\ il h the ch a ng e in the se cret ary. T hey e mpl o y no pa id s t;l fT a nd th e unpaid

vo lu n teers lo o k aft e r al l the work co n nec ted w ith run n ing the m . It is o nly so me or the urb an

reg iste red NPOs, whose sty le o f fun ction ing is s itu ilu r [0 tha t o f the corpo rate sec to r o rga nisa tio ns,

w hic h e m ploy paid wo rk er, a nd pro tess ional s . T he struc tu re 01' th e NPO sec tor consis ts o f two

broad ca tego ri e s - a la rg e n umber o r s m a l l u n its an d a s m a l l nu mbe r of large un its .

§)

Paid Employees & Volunteers by NPO Activity

T he di st ribut ion pa id employees an d vo lun teers by areas nf activity, where the y are

employe d ha s bee n presented in Table 6. ~ bel ow. A quick perus a l of the tabl e shows that

' hea lth ' is the leading group acco unting for max imum sha re of ra id em ploy me nt: the sec tor

gen erated about 369'( of pa id employ men t. T h is is not sur pris ing sin ce ' hea lth ' invo lves

run ning of hospital s an d pro visi on of me dic a l se rvices req uiring highl y q ua lified professional

staff. T he latte r are mo re o ften pa id e mployees rat he r than vo lun teers . For vo luntee rs, the

majo r a rea of ac tiv ity is educ ation (37%). which is c losel y follo wed by 'community se rvices '

wit b J6 IJr of vo lun tee rs . Bo th "cduca tiou and 'com munit y ser vices" have a good mi x of pai d

emp loyees an d vo lunteers .

T .\BLI·. fl.X: ·\ ("T I \ IT\ 4WISE DISTIUBlITION OF E'IPI.OYEES s: \'OLlfNTEF.R~ ·

Area of Activity I NIC Code

I. Educa tion

a. Techni cal 92 0

b. Ge neral 021

c. Scientific

2. Health

3. Culture

4 . Sports

5. Community Services

a. Welfare

b. Others

6. Housing

7. Religion

8. Others

TOTAL

922

930

050

059

04 1

949

500

040

Paid Employees

1.02 .5X7 (24.5 )

18.056 ( 4 .3)

63.940 ( 15.3)

20.582 ( 4.0)

1,42.658 (35 .6)

257 ( 0. 1)

1.26 .776 (30 .3)

43 .X24 ( 10.5)

82 .052 ( 19.8)

40,65 1 ( 9.7)

5.255 ( 1.9)

4.18.184

Volunteers

3.99,602 (37.2)

02.596 ( 8.6)

2.34 .775 (2 1.9)

n,23 1 ( 6.7)

1.35,433 ( 12.6)

11.018 ( 1.0)

50.941 ( 4 .7)

J,RO.854 (35.5)

1,54,980 ( 14.4)

2.25.874 (2 1. 1)

42, 366 ( 3.9)

36,968 ( 3.4)

18.021 ( 1.7)

10,73.200

Figures in brack ets indicate p ercentag es In to tal .

Adjustments to full time equivalent

With predo mina nce o f pa rt tim e employment. it is im portant to know as to wha t would be

the fu ll time equiva len t of part - t ime work pu t in by the perso ns engaged in the sector. Th e

fu ll tim e equiv a len t of tot al emp loy me nt is the vari ab le which ne eds to be co nsid ered if o ne

G

lakhs +2,72 lak hs). T h is is s izea ble by a ny re cko ning and has far reachin g im plicatio ns fo r

the econo my. It may be no ted that the contribut io n of vo lunteers to labour force is not accou nted

for at all in the offici a l s ta tis ti c s sys te m of Ind ia . T he no n-ag r icu ltu ra l w orkforce in Ta m il

adu is es ti ma ted at , by the NSS O . abou t ISO lakhs. The refore . appro x ima te ly 4 .J S+ the non­

agricultu ra l employment wil l be orig inating from the non-profit sec to r. T he tota l non -agricultural

e m ploy me nt inc ludes industrial emp loy ment as a lso em p lo y men t in o the r sec tors where the re

a re insi g nific ant no n-prof it ac tiv iti es . If o n ly the sec tors. w he re the no n-pro fi t ac tiv ities are

pred o minant. are ta ke n into accou nt. it is obv ious tha t the sha re of no n-profit e mploy ment will

go up substanrially. Sec ond ly. th e Ce ntra l St at is tic a l O rganisa tio n of the G o ve rn ment of Indi a

e s tim a tes the S ta te Do mes tic Prod uc t o f Tamil Nadu a t Rs. 117.825 C ro res in the ye ar I YY l)­

2000. ou t of w hich a lmos t Rs, 102. 000 Crorc s co nics fro m no n-ag r ic ultu ra l sec tors o f th e

economy. T herefore . it wou ld ap pea r tha t at leas t RsA .OOO Cro rcs was co ntribu ted by the non ­

prof it sec to r.

Receipts of the Non - Profits

• Rece ip ts co ns tit u te a no the r inde x o f the sca le o f o pe ra tio ns of an NPO . Ta b le 6 . [0 g ives

the es ti ma tes of fu nds recei ved / ge ne ra ted by the N POs in Tam il Nad u ove r the three yea r

pe ri od viz . 199 7 - 9R. 1098 - 99 . a nd 199 9 - 2000 . T he main fe a tures of the es tim ates are :

• To ta l re ceipts of th e NPO sec to r in Tam il Nadu du r ing 19 97 -9 R w as estimated at Rs . 16,

309 mill io ns ( Rs . 16.3 bi ll ion s). T he fund s gene rated sh ow an increasi ng tren d ov er time . The

sector w as able to ge nera te f u nds to the tu ne of Rs. 10. 6 b ill io ns in thc year 1995l - 2000;

• T he re was an ov era ll increase of 26 % in receip ts du r ing: the peri od 199 7-98 to )999-2000.

which im pl ies an av e rage of g row th ra te o f a bou t J 2 .2% pe r ye a r:

• Ave rag e rece ip ts pe r NPO d u ring 1999 -2000 was a ro u nd Rs . 23 I ,ROO (or about

Rs. 2 .3 lakhs);

• A na lys is of recei pts by bro ad g rou p of so urces shows tha t a m aj o r po rt io n (68% in 1999­

2000) "vas f rom self-genera ted sources; G rants accou nted for 17 C}f of total recei pts and donations

brou ght ano the r ) 5 % fu nds.

§J

--

TABLE 6.10: ESTIl\IATEI> RECEIPTS OF FUNDS BY

,;Olil{CES liN RUPEES i\IILLIONSI

1998-99 1999-2000

Amount o/i-' A mo unt ck

13.30g 7 1.87 14.074 68.47

- 96 0.46

2. 110 II AO 3.374 16.41

.H>98 16.73 3.014 14.66

18.516 100.00 20.558 100.00

Source

Se lf-Gene rated

Loans

Grants"

Donutions?"

Tota l

1997-98I Amount

11 .286

2.307

2.7 16

16.309

(j(,

69 .20

14.1."

16.65

100.00 -

:,::!: 111 el l!de [o rei t:/I f? ra 1/ ts . :~ In cl ude inte rnational grants. , , ,

25,000

20 .000 j --­I -­15 ,000 _ Self-Generated

_ _ Grants '

- __ Donations" 10,000 _ Total Revenue

5.000

al 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000

Self-Generated

• Loans

o Grants"

o Donations**

16.41%

0.46%

G

More de ta ils o f co mp one nts of the sou rces o f fu nds ge nera ted hy the sect or in ycur J l) ,:)l)

- 2000 ha ve bee n pres e nted in a table a t An nex II. T he imp o rta nce of rc lntivc ly la rge sha re

of se lf- ge ne ra ted funds by the NPO sec to r is o fte n not gi ven the d ue im por ta nce by the pol icy

makers in the go vern m e nt. III the pres ent sur ve y. it W ;IS found tha t the reg iste l'ed orga nisations .

parti cular ly the large r ones. which run hosp ita ls and edu cat iona l institut ions. receive co ns ide rab le

amo unts fo r the serv ices they render. T his has lead to the two ite ms 'fee s & service charges '

and ' sa le of pr od ucts and o ther bus iness i uco me s ' toge ther acc o unti ng for as much as 52 (} of

tota l rec eipts in the year 19l)L) -2000 . Ot he r major sourcc -, of inco me were found to be don ation s

fro m fore ign so urces and gra nts fro m the Ce ntra l G overn me nt. Fore ign co ntributions rece ived

in 19 ':)9 -2000 are est imated at Rs. 2.7 10 m i l l ions. con s is ting o f g ran ts of Rs. 4 RJ mil lio ns

f ro m int ern ation al age ncies and Rs . 4.5 6 mil lion s fro m other for eign ag e nc ies bring ing a total

of fore ig n grants to R s. 9J X m illion s. Fo rei gn donat ions we re es tim a ted a t 1.771 millions. It

ma y be po in te d o ut thai est im ates 01 f\lrc it!n c o n uihu tio ns prese nte d 11L' re are lo we r tha n the

FC RA fig ures puhlish ed by he M inistry o f Ho rne A ffairs. T h is d isp arity is an ributablc to the

I;lc t iluu the sampl ing desig n used in the survey was a gl' ne ra li/ ed des ign, no t gl' aJ"e d to

s pec ifical ly netting very large NPOs (w hich recei ve Forei gn conuibu tio ns & wh ich ar c few in

num ber) and more o ft e n than nul. in ,1 gc neral survc v the re spondi n g NPOs do no t report the

for e ign co ntr ibu tions they recei v e fro m nc t-work ing org.m ixatio n«.

Expenditure Patterns

T he esrimatc« of ex pend it ure g ivc n in Tab le (1 . 11 sh ow th at the to ta l cxpc nditu re

incurred hv the 11011 - pro fits in the S ta te w. r-, Rs . 1:'i.UOI mi llions dur ing the ye ar 199 7 - <)8 .

T he figu re rose ( 0 a SUIl! o f was Rs . ~2 . S 06 rn i llion- in 1909- 2000 . The i ot ul q uantum ul

ex pend iture showed a n increasing trend w ith the p:lss ag e of time . like in th e L ise of rece ipt

pat te rn s . Ex pe nditure eo,;timall.' s were >.; Iightl y lo we r tha n the co rre s po nd ing re c e ip t cs u m.u cs

fo r the yea rs 199 7- 9 S a nd 1995 - l)0 . hut we re sOllle Whal h ig her for the ye ar ( l)':)l)- 2()OO . T he

",li ght d i ftc rc ncc x ,1I"t' not statix ticul l v s igni ficant a nd have ari se n due to nor ma l sa m pling

va ria tions: some o f the d iflcrcnccs may perhup-, be .u ui buta h lc hI the time lag bet ween receipts

and ex pend itu re ex perienced in so me )'l'ars It needs he noted that the IO ta! es timate d ex penditure

du ring the three years at Rs . :'i:'iA72 mi llion s a lmost eq ua l led the to ta l cst im .u c d receip ts of

Rs . :'i ) .3S.' m ill io ns . T he csr im .ue -, U ll I ill' whu le ap pear co ns is te nt w ith the co rres po nd ing

csf i rn .ucs 0 1" re ven ue receipt» pre sented i ll Table h . 1O.

~

TABLE (J.lI: ESTIl\lATED EXPENDITlIRE BY Pl]RPOSI'.

Purpose

I. Sala ry and o the r ben efit s

2. O perat ing expen se s

."' . Rent

4 . T rave l

5. Ad ministrative Cost

6. In teres t Pa id

7. Charity/donations

X. O thers

Total

1997-98

4 . 150 ( !X)

6 .:209 (4 1)

536 (4)

193 ( I )

1.6 17 ( , 1)

l) ( -)

3S0 ( 2 )

1.937 ( U)

rs.on I

1998-99

4.596 (26)

7.59 1 (43)

644 ( 4)

239 ( I )

1.597 ( 9)

101 ( -)

4 17 ( 2)

2.57 1 (15)

17.665

1999-2000

6..3.34 (28)

7.960 (35)

7 1S ( J)

266 ( I )

1.755 ( 8)

II ( -)

52 1 ( 2)

5.244 (23)

22 .806

Figures ill brackets indicate percentages to tota l

A fur ther perusa l o f info rmatio n in Tab le 6 . J I bring» out tha t the tw o ite ms of expe nditure.

v iz. o pe ra ting e x pe nses a nd sal a ry an d o th er be nefits together. acc o unt ed fo r s lig ht ly less tha n

tw o- th irds o f th e to ta l ex pe nd iture . T hese tw o it e ms to get her wi th i ru vc l ex penses c a n. by a nd

large . be v ie w e d as e xpen d it u re go ing d irectl y into runn ing of va r io us p ro g ra m me s of the

sec to r, S uc h a la rge pro po rt io n of tota l expe nditu re go ing int o the prog ra m me co st s de monstrates

tha t the se c to r is u t ilis ing. the f u nds effic ien tl y a nd e ff ec t iv e ly .

Fixed Assets

Fixed as se ts possess ed by th e NPOs c .g . la nd s. bui ld ing . m ac hi nery & to o ls and transpo rt

eq uipme nt. an d the ir statu s i .c. (o wn ed , h ired . re n t- free . e tc. ). and the ir ap pro x im ate va lue

w e re the la s t se t of item s rel a ted wit h the o ve rall he a lth o f the se c to r o n w h ic h the S urvey

a ttempted to coll ect info rm at io n . T he ba si c e s t im a te s o f these pa ra m e te rs hav e bee n g ive n in

T a b le 6 . 12 be low. T he ta b le s ho w s tha t 4Wl of the N POs had so m e f ixed a sse t o r the o ther.

H o wever, the bu lk of the se o rg a n is ati ons w e re ur ba n a nd reg is te red . T h e p re se nt wo rth of a ll

th e assets owned w o rked o ut a t Rs . 20. 186 m ill io ns . W hile the overa ll a ve rage val ue of assets

per N PO was Rs.227 , 60 0 , it w a s Rs . 4 77 ,7 20 fo r th o se orga nis a ti o ns , w h ic h ow ned f ix ed

as sets . O f th e to ta l present w o rth o f these as sets . b u ild ing s ac co un ted for 38% (Rs .7, 5 76 m. ) ,

land fo r 32% ( Rs , 6 ,4 19 m .) and mac h ines & to o ls for 20 O/C- ( Rs .4 ,0 70 m ).

G

TABLE ('-'2: FIXED ASSETS

Asset Type

I. Total No. of NPOs

2. No. of NPOs with any as set

3. Value of Assets (Rs. milli ons)

(i ) Land

(ii) Buildings

(iii) Machinery & Tool s

(iv) Transport Equipment

(v) Others

Total

R8.689

42.255 (4R)

6.419 (32)

7.576 (38)

4.070 (20)

515 ( 2)

1.596 ( 8)

20.186 (100)

Fig ures in brackets ind icate percentages to total

(no . of NPOs/ Va /u{' of A ssets .

Survey of Registration Frame - Results of Additional Explorations

As me ntione d in C hapter V. a sma ll expl o ra tive survey of N POs lis ted in the reg is ters

of th e O ffice of Reg is trars imp le me nting the Soc ie ties Reg is tration Act was also un dertaken.

A n a tte mpt was ma de to com pile a ll es t ima tes pa ra lle l to the ones p resented in th is C hapte r,

wh ich ma y he construed as col la te ra l est ima tes g iv ing co lla te ra l ev idence of the reli ability of

variou s infe rences dr aw n. It has a lre ad y be e n po inted o ut in C hapte r V that the regi s trat ion

sy ste m in Ta m il Nad u was fou nd to be f un cti on ing we ll. T here fo re . o bta ini ng the re levant

regi ster s. preparing reg is tra tio n frames. and d rawi ng of ra ndom sam ple s of N POs pro ved to be

a hassle f ree exe rcise . A mongst vario us es timates prepared. the most important estimate re lated

to the num ber of fu ncti on ing soc iet ies . T his number tur ned out to be 56 ,465 as against a fig ure

4 1.309 th rown up by the ma in sur vey. T he d iffer ence would g ive an es timate of th e number

of soc ie ties fa ll ing ou ts ide the de finitiona l bo und a ries o f the NP Os. Of - co urse, a part of the

di ffere nc e w il l be accou nted fo r by tile fac t th at the sampling desig ns u se d in two ap proaches

a rc di ff e re nt. A ll the ot her est im ates and pa tterns of the ir d is tr ibu tio ns were st r ik ingly close

to th e o ne s pres e nte d in thi s c hap te r. whic h ga ve a tremendou s confide nce in th e brad order

of va riou s estima tes . For exa mple . he re ag ain. a lmost all soc ie ties were contacted a t their He ad

O ffic es. indi ca ting th at mos t o rgan isa tio ns have gen e ra lly o nly one o ff ice . S im ila rly. mos t

soc ie ties had fo unders func tio ning as C hief Executives . All so c ieties were membersh ip based :

predo minan t form of me m bersh ip be in g ' an nua l ' . T he me mbersh ip of Govern ing B oard s of

diffe rent institution s varied from 7 to 20 and the re we re 2H% so cie ties (as again st 22 % estim ated

ea rl ier). whi ch had Board me mbership exceed ing I I . Need les to re-i terate that all oth er estimates

were fo und to be, more or le ss . sta tis tica l ly ve ry c lose .

o

T hL' nWSI import ant co ntr ihuu on o f the e xplorut orv cxcr c isc was its capabil ity to ~ i v c

insights into the mort ul ity pnucrs or the regi" lered inst itutions. some thi ng . wh ich could nut be

(' rl ,. ) 111 the mai n sur vey. It was d iscovered t hrouu]: the rcg istra tiun iru mc survey that the

Slate had 1.06. )()J soci eties o n the reg ist ers li t" the Offi ce of Reg istra rs 01" Soc ieties. Ho weve r.

the estimates put the numbe r Ill" functio ning soc ie ties <It o nly 56 .-+6:". as on .' I Decem ber 2000 .

Thus. only 5Y;. or a lillie more than hall". Ill' the ,"oc iel iL' s 11 1 the reg is te rs were function ing

and the rem a ining '+7 1/ ( were JW I active , Fhc m.u n reason Ior the no n- Iu ncu ouing o r soc ict ic»

was ihc ir closu re or no n-c xistcnce al the rc g istc rcd add ress . The morta lity pattern \If the

soc ic tir s ca n be st ud icd by find ing (lilt t hc pcrccru age \II" non- func tionin g soc iet ics in the

.; amples 1"01' diffe rent ye ars . However. a" the "c Is 0 " yl'<lr-; chosen for d ifferent s.un plc d istr ict s

vc re not the <arne. there were n(ll en o ugh ohscrvntions 1'0 1' some 0 1" the ye ars . E ve n so. by

t'l\.. ing the samp le d.uu for a period ,1" a whole and by ccn ui ng the m ag:lin-; I mid-years of

d if fere n t pe riod chosen fo r the st udy. an attemp t to arr ive at the broad nic turc o f prob able

morta lity pau erns wa s ma de , Tuh lc ().I .~ gives the Jlcl"Cl..'l1lag l.. .unplc NPO ...

found functionin g durin g d ilfercn: pe riods, II appea rs ih.u the ch ance s o f socie ties formed

during t hc per iods ( 1 9 l) 6 -~OO() 1. (19 SI - Il)():") &. ( I <)()(l - 1 l) ~ O ) no t ... urv iviug till the yc.u

2000 is 2OC/(. 40 (,i( &. 5(}C,1 rc spectivc ly. The c ha nce" of morurl itv for soci et ies fo rmed in

ear lier period s is see n to he rc l.u ive ly lo wer. hut that i ... c lcarly because the lis ts o f soc ietie s

for those years had a lready cx c luclcd suCiC lics de- rcg i - tcrcd t ill the se venties. II is seen fro m

the tab le tha i the chances u f a soci e ty ceas ing 10 fun ction in the first rive yea rs of cx is tcuce

IS rut her high at 20 (/; . o r in o the r words. t hc i nluu t m()rt~t1i t y ru rc is rat her high.

B

EXPLORING THE NON PROFIT SECTOR IN INDIA Some Glimpses from Tamil Nadu

VII. SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE SURVEYS

T he o rg an isatio n and co ndu c t o f th e f irs t ev e r st a t ist ic al ly designed sam ple survey on a

com plex subj ect lik e the NPO Sec tor has provided valuab le exper ie nce . the les son s fro m wh ich

wi ll he useful for pl ann ing s im ila r surveys in future. W ith th is end in vie w. a fe w sugge s tio ns

have been made in thi s se c tio n.

T he sur vey has b ro ug ht to l ig ht s truc tu ra l co m plex iti e s of the N PO sector. T hL: ex tre me

het e roge ne ity of th e units un de rl ines the need for pre-st rat ificat ion of the sec to r int o seg ments

like the sma ll. th e med ium and the large and devi si ng a ppro pria te sa m pl ing s tra tegies for each

of them .

A lo t of prel im ina ry wo rk ne eds to be do ne to und e rs ta nd the spec ia l cha rac teristics of

d iffe rent segme nts an d . if poss ible . to de l inea te the ir bo un da rie s .

All im mediate task con ce rn ing the large seg ment. w hich is the ec ono mic bac kbone of the

sec to r. is to co llec t a l l the lis ts an d d irec to ri es of such un its . sc ru tin ise them and prepare a

C onso lid ated Direc tory o f La rge NPOs free fro m dup lica te e ntrie s. Such lists and Direc to r ies ,

w h ic h a rc now ava ila ble w ith va r io us age nc ies . a rc part ia l a nd inco m ple te an d are e ither

subj ec t-speci f ic o r a rea-spec ific . Ha rd and co nce r ted wo rk wi ll be req uired for contac ting the

age nc ies and coll ec tin g th ese lis ts. Al tho ug h la bo rio us . th is is an es sen ti al tas k. which need s

to be take n up ser io us ly.

(4 ) T he present a ppro ach of ident i fy i ng NPOs th ro ug h ho us eho ld lis t ing proved to be

ci rcumlocurory. No doub t the ma in purpose o r ho use li st ing w as to col le c t no n-agricu ltura l

e mp loy me nt da ta. How ever. if no n-ag ric u ltura l em p lo y ment d ata are not es sentia lly req u ire d.

mu ch time a nd ene rgy ca n be saved by ma k ing onl y in te ns ive enq u irie s in th e sam ple ab out

th e exi stence of NPOs . T he time saved ca n he used fo r cove ri ng m o re sam p le uni ts.

(5 ) T he a pproach in e xp lo ra tory exe rc is e of divi d in g the 20 1" Ce nt ury into si x per iod s

and selec ti ng one yea r fro m eac h pe r iod had pro ved inad equa te fo r ne tt ing larg e units. T h is

as pec t needs to be ke pt in vie w in pl an n ing surveys based o n reg istra t io n data.

(6 ) Fo r surve y in g the la rge se g me nt. the C o nso lida ted D irec to ry sugges ted in (3) above.

can be used a ~ the f ra me .

(7) O peratio na lly. there is need for co mp le ting the plann ing fo r a ll aspec ts o f th e survey

ri gh t fro m des ig n to re le ase o f res ult s befo re la u nch in g the fie ld work. In par ticu la r, softw a re

fo r d at a en try and d at a a na lys is s hou ld be ready before comp le tio n of f iel d w ork and shou ld

be co m mon fo r a ll the S tat es in w h ic h thc survey is to be co nd uc ted .

~

05 ­ IHAN.lAVUR 0 1. Papanasam () I . Knhi sthalmu

02 . Rumanuj upuram O ~ . BlI dlll ur ol .Ba van.nnang nl.un

02. Thiruvalampozhil 04 . Mannargu di OJ. Ncrnel i Mann argudi ( I )

02. Muru vukadu 05. Mayiladuthurui 01 . K celuivur Mnyil.uluthurui (21 O() . Nagupauinam n I. Jvuna llur Nagapauinam (2)

02 . Chinn.u luunbur 07. Pattukouai 0 1. N adu vuk urichi Partukortai ( I ) OX. Sirk. al i 01 . Thirunaguri OLJ . Set hubavachat rum ()I. Sc thubuv achatnun 10. Tarung .nnbadi 01 . Purusulur I I . Kumbakonam Kumb akonurn (3)

12. Thi ruva ivaru () I . Nug.uh: 02. Varunnngudi

D . Nannilam 01 . Scmbianal lur 02 . Pcrulum

14. T h ir uvurur Thiruvarur (2) 15. T hi ru ihuri poondi 01 . Kau imcdu 10. T hanja vur T hanjnvur t-l i

B

REFERENCES

I) CA F"'-India ( 1999), D imens ions o f C ivi l So cie ty - So me Qualitative Aspects, New De lhi.

2) Director of Census Opera tions, Tamil Nadu . Census of Ind ia 200 I, Provisional Population

Totals, Paprs 1 and 2, Che rmai

3) Drucker ( 1992), Managing the Non Prof it Organisa tions, ha rper Business .

4) PR IA ( 1999 ). Organisationa l Surv eys of No n Profit Sector in India. New De lhi ( rn i meo)

5) PRIA (2000) . Defi ning the Se ctor in Indi a. Vo luntar y. Civil or Non Prof it, New De lhi.

6) PRIA (200 I ). Legal Framework for No n Pro fit Inst itu tions in India. New De lhi.

7) PRIA (200 1). Histo ical Backgrou nd of the NOll Profit Institu tions in India, New Delhi.

8) Mahjan . Vijay (2000) , 'Vo luntary Action in Ind ia. A re tro spec tive Overview ' ; pub li shed

in Voluntary Organizat ions. Respo nsible Partne rs in Natio n Building; VAN I (2000) .

9 ) PRIA ( 199 1). Volun tary Deve lopme nt Orga nisation in Ind ia: A study of History, Role s

and Future cha llenges .

1O)Saia mo n, Lester M. and Anhc ier Helm e! K. and As soc ia tes ( 1999) . The Emerging Se ctor

Revisited, A Summary, The Johns Hopkin s University.

II ) S itararnan G & Co.. (2000) . The Tamil Nadu Socie tie s Registra tion Act. J 975, Chennai.

12)TCl mil Nadu Government. Evaluation and Applied Research Department, Economic Appraisal

1997-9R. Ch ennai.

~

PIHA RESEARCH TEAM

1. Dr. Ra j cs h Ta nd on

Pres ident. PRJ.

2. Dr. S .S. Srivastatva

Principal Researcher

3 . Dr. S ha ile nd ra K . D wi vcd i *

4. Dr. M. Padmannbhnn ""

S. !'vl r. N M Swam v**

o. Chandra Shckhar Josh i

S ince I August ::WOO

:,::,: From Anjanc ya As soc iate". Chcnnui

HOPKINS CORE TEAl\1

I . Dr. Leste r M. Sa lamon

Director

Ce ntre fo r C ivil Socie ty Studies

Jo hns Hop kins University

Balt imore. USA

Project Director

,., I\r. Le s lie C. Hems

Direct or

C e n tre fu r Voluntar y Sector Policy

Univer sit y College of London

Louck1I1. UK

Coord inator. Data Collection Strategy

3. Dr. Wojc icch Soko lowxk i

Ce ntre fo r Ci vil Socie ty St ud ies

Johns Hopkins Univer sity

Balti more. USA

Dat a IV) un .iger

4 . Dr. And re w Green

Ce ntre for C ivi l So ciety Stud ies

Johns Hop kins University

Baltimore. USA

Coordi nator . Lega l Aspects

s. Ms. Mi mi Bilzor

Centre for Civil Socie ty Stu d ies

Johns Hopk ins University

Baltimore. USA

Communications Associate

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