Not all sectors of Indian society have been able to participate and benefit equally from the development process. Civil society organisations (CSOs) including local government bodies at the grassroots level and local media can play a critical role in making this process more inclusive.

It is our belief that effective Gram Panchayats can play a pivotal role in enabling equitable participation in the political process so that marginalised communities are able to both reap benefits from and play an active and participatory role in development. Outside the statutory federal structure, grassroots-level NGOs and local media can be instrumental in mobilising and building the capacities of people to participate in the development process in an empowered manner.

There are more than 1.2 million NGOs, foundations and associations and more than 250,000 Gram Panchayats in India, working across the country to mobilise action and raise citizens' awareness and interest about issues that affect their lives. But despite the preponderance of active groups and the introduction of government and NGO initiatives designed to benefit low-income and marginalised communities, challenges persist in the face of resource shortages and suboptimal implementation of these initiatives.

Enabling CSOs to more effectively integrate marginalised communities into the development process requires urgent attention.

In the area of civil society, ICICI Foundation collaborates with and supports CSO Partners, a non-profit organisation that is committed to strengthening civil society organisations (CSOs).

CSO Partners operates by:

Mobilising resources to enhance the effectiveness of CSOs – CSO Partners’ main strategy to mobilise resources is creating a platform through which contributors – corporate and individuals – are able to contribute to development. CSO Partners also facilitates the interfacing of the corporate sector with civil society organisations. CSO Partners uses both online and offline measures to meet these goals. Learn more.

Facilitating support services for CSOs – In today’s rapidly changing times, many CSOs require improved and in some cases new or different sets of capabilities and resources in order to provide an effective platform for just citizen participation. Without these, CSOs may be prevented from reaching their full potential and be unable to most effectively represent people’s needs and aspirations. CSO Partners is thus focused on facilitating support services to enhance CSOs’ capabilities and resources and thereby strengthen their impact on the ground.

To increase the availability of support services, CSO Partners collaborates with and strengthens existing capacity building organisations with specialised knowledge in support domains ranging from donor services, social investment services, financial management, governance, documentation, to advocacy and communications. Learn more.

Promoting a culture of accountability and transparency – Accountability and transparency determine the ability of an organisation to build trust and confidence among contributors and other stakeholders, and form the foundation of successful collaborations.
Learn more.