| Since the 1990s,non-governmental organizations(NGOs)have become a noteworthy force that cannot be ignored in international development,and have been playing an increasingly prominent role in promoting economic and social development.Today,a large amount of foreign funds is flowing to NGOs operating in developing countries,international and local alike.Their work in disaster relief,poverty alleviation,religious,cultural and social activities carried out in underdeveloped areas is supported by these funds.In India,known as the "hotspot for NGOs",there are currently more than 3 million registered NGOs nationwide,and more than 20,000 of them are registered to receive donations from foreign donors.Since foreign contributions account for a large part of these NGOs' financial income,the relationship between these foreign-funded NGOs and the Indian government carry with it some unique characteristics.The nature of this relationship also evolves over time.There are three main goals to be attained in this study.First,to track the changes of the Indian government's regulatory institutions for foreign-funded NGOs;second,to record the evolution relationship between India's foreign-funded NGOs and government since its independence,and to define their current the relationship;third,to explore the influencing factors of their relationship by analysing their respective policy goals and means.This paper adopts a government-NGO relationship model proposed in 2000 by Adil Najam,Dean of the School of Global Studies at Boston University.The model adopts a policy analysis perspective and combines both institutional dimension and individual dimension.Starting from the premise that "government and NGO are policy entrepreneurs",four categories of relationships are drawn by analysing the similarities and differences between the policy goals and means of both parties:when policy goals and policy means are similar,their relationship is most likely cooperative;when their policy goals and policy means are both dissimilar,they will be in a confrontational state;when their policy goals are similar but policy means are dissimilar,their relationship will be complimentary;when their policy means are similar but goals are dissimilar,they will be in a state of co-optation.This paper will analyse the policy goals and means of both the Indian government and foreign-funded NGOs in different phase,and analyse the characteristics of their relationships.The main research methodology in this paper are literature research and case studies.The study found that from 1800s India's independence to 1975,the Indian government and foreign-funded NGOs had consistent policy goals.Therefore,their relationship was based on cooperation and complementarity.The government did not yet establish a complete and mature regulatory system.From 1975 to 1991,due to the special political environment and the divergence of the policy goals of the two sides,the relationship between the government and foreign-funded NGOs has fluctuated greatly.Generally speaking,a confrontational element began to emerge in their cooperation.At this stage,the government established a formal legal framework and administrative system for foreign-funded NGO management.From 1991 all the way through 2000s,the Indian government's economic liberalization reform continued to deepen,which was inconsistent with foreign-related NGOs' rights-based policy agenda,which strongly featured empowerment and participatory development.The confrontation between the two sides continued to intensify.The foreign-funded:NGO regulatory system has been fixed here and there,while the legislative system was devising a comprehensive upgrade.Since 2010,with the promulgation of the new Foreign Contribution(Management)Act,the government's regulation of foreign-related NGOs has been strengthened as never before,and a large number of non-compliant NGOs have been disqualified from accepting foreign donations.The relationship between the two parties remains confrontational.The current confrontation between the two sides is mainly reflected in the challenges launched by foreign-funded NGOs on government policies,the government's attempt to restrict foreign-funded NGOs,ability to access foreign funds,and foreign-related NGOs' use of domestic and international judicial tools to challenge government administrative decisions.This article opines that with the electoral victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in May 2019,its liberalising and pro-business policy will continue in the near future.Foreign-funded NGOs supported by overseas funds will continue to challenge the government's policy goals on topics with alternative agenda as gender equality,caste equality,environmental protection,and religious freedom,and will attempt to run campaigns that will be interpreted as political in nature.Therefore,the division between the two sides will continue.In this confrontational relationship,government will continue to use stringent reporting and compliance requirements to strengthen its supervision over foreign fund flows,and exploit the ambiguity of the legal language to give it full enforcement power.Foreign-funded NGOs will respond to the government's technical supervision with capacity building initiatives,as well as actively challenge the legitimacy of government actions through judicial channels,and use various means to reduce the pressure brought by government supervision.This paper systematically defines the relationship between Indian foreign-funded NGOs and the government,and explains the evolution of the relationship between the two parties with abundant historical materials.This is an innovative attempt in among Chinese literatures.On the theoretical level,this paper applies a theoretical government-NGO relationship model to analyse the special interaction between the Indian govern:ment and foreign-funded NCGOs,which not only verifies the feasibility of the theory,but also deepened our understanding of their relationship.Therefore,it brings about positive contribution for the understanding of this binary relationship. |
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