Government Policies, Development Processes and the Role of NGOs and SHGs · UPSC Civil Services

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, Paper III: General Studies II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations):

Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.

Topics in detail

Public policy: design and implementation

The policy cycle: agenda-setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, monitoring, evaluation
Actors: legislature, executive, bureaucracy, courts, parties, interest groups, experts, citizens
Instruments: laws, schemes, subsidies, transfers, regulation, public provision
Centrally sponsored and central sector schemes; rationalisation of schemes; Centre-State friction over scheme design

Interventions for development in various sectors (by type)

Rural development and livelihoods: rural employment guarantee, rural housing, rural roads
Urban development: urban housing, urban infrastructure and smart cities, urban livelihoods
Sanitation and drinking water: the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Jal Jeevan Mission
Financial inclusion and direct benefit transfer: the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhaar, mobile)
Industry and skills: Make in India, production-linked incentives, skill development
Area-based approaches: the Aspirational Districts Programme

Issues arising out of design and implementation

Targeting: inclusion and exclusion errors, beneficiary identification, use of databases
Leakages and corruption; delays in fund flow; unspent balances
Top-down, one-size-fits-all design; weak consultation with states and local bodies
Capacity at the cutting edge; convergence across departments; last-mile delivery
Monitoring and evaluation: outcome budgets, dashboards, third-party evaluation, the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (NITI Aayog), social audit
Behavioural approaches and community participation in programme design

Development processes and the development industry

Concept of development: growth versus human development, participatory and sustainable development
The development “industry”: the network of governments, donors, NGOs, consultants and researchers around development projects; critiques of it

NGOs and civil society

Types: operational and advocacy NGOs, community-based organisations, faith-based groups
Legal forms: societies (Societies Registration Act, 1860), trusts, section 8 companies (Companies Act, 2013)
Regulation of foreign contributions (Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and its 2020 amendment); NGO Darpan portal
Roles: service delivery, advocacy, awareness, watchdog; issues of accountability, transparency and funding

Self-help groups, cooperatives and other groups

Self-help groups: the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme (NABARD, 1992), the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Kudumbashree (Kerala)
SHGs and women’s empowerment, microfinance, federations of SHGs; issues of sustainability and credit
Cooperatives: the 97th Amendment (2011), the Ministry of Cooperation (2021)
Farmer producer organisations, user groups, trade unions, professional associations

Donors, charities and institutional stakeholders

Corporate social responsibility (section 135, Companies Act, 2013)
Philanthropic foundations and charitable trusts; tax incentives for giving
Bilateral and multilateral donors (for example the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) and their conditions
Partnerships between government, private sector and civil society; public-private partnerships in social services

Overlaps

Prelims General Studies Paper I: “Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.”
General Studies III: inclusive growth, investment models and infrastructure.