India has a long history of civil society based on the concepts of daana (giving) and seva (service). Voluntary organizations3—organizations that are voluntary in spirit and without profit-making objectives—were active in cultural promotion, education, health, and natural disaster relief as early as the medieval era. They proliferated during British rule, working to improve social welfare and literacy and pursuing relief projects. During the second half of the 19th century, nationalist consciousness spread across India and self-help emerged as the primary focus of sociopolitical movements. Numerous organizations were established during this period, including the Friend-in-Need Society (1858), Prathana Samaj (1864), Satya Shodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj (1875), the National Council for Women in India (1875), and the Indian National Conference (1887). The Societies Registration Act (SR A) was approved in 1860 to confirm the legal status of the growing body of nongovernment organizations (NGOs). The SR A continues to be relevant legislation for NGOs in India, although most state governments have enacted amendments to the original version. Christian missionaries active in India at this time directed their efforts toward reducing poverty and constructing hospitals, schools, roads, and other infrastructure. Meanwhile, NGOs focused their efforts on education, health, relief, and social welfare. A firm foundation for secular voluntary action in India was not laid until the Servants of India, a secular NGO, was established in 1905. Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India in 1916 shifted the focus of development activities to economic selfsufficiency. His Swadeshi movement, which advocated economic self-sufficiency through small-scale local production, swept through the country. Gandhi identified the root of India’s problem as the poverty of the rural masses and held that the only way to bring the nation to prosperity was to develop the villages’ self-reliance based on locally available resources. He also believed that voluntary action, decentralized to gram panchayats (village councils), was the ideal way to stimulate India’s development. Gandhi reinvigorated civil society in India by stressing that political freedom must be accompanied by social responsibility. After independence, the Government of India increased its presence in social welfare and development but recognized the potential for civil society to supplement and complement its efforts. The first Five-Year Plan stated, “Any plan for social and economic regeneration should take into account the services rendered by these agencies and the state should give them maximum cooperation in strengthening their efforts.” The Central Social Welfare Board was established in 1953 to promote social welfare activities and support people’s participation programs through NGOs. This additional funding and recognition led to a growing body of professional NGOs. The Government of India decentralized development activities throughout the 1950s. The establishment of the National Community Development Program and the National Extension Service were early steps in this direction. Further decentralization was achieved with the introduction of the three-tier Panchayati Raj system in 1958. Many farmers unions and agricultural cooperatives were founded around this time, and networking became more commonplace in civil society. In 1958, the Association for Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) was founded as a consortium of major voluntary agencies. International NGOs entered India in significant numbers to provide drought relief during two consecutive agricultural seasons, 1965–1966 and 1966–1967. Many of them established permanent local operations thereafter. Moreover, foreign funds began flowing to domestic NGOs in India, changing the character of civil society once more. During the 1970s the government pursued a “minimum needs” program, focusing on the basic impediments to improving the quality of life for the rural poor, such as education, electrical power, and health. Several governmental development agencies were established around this time, such as the People’s Action for Development of India. Foreign-trained Indians entered civil society in greater numbers, leading to a professionalization of the sector. India witnessed a rapid increase in and diversification of the NGO sector as a response to the national political scenario and increasing concern about poverty and marginalization. Both welfare and empowermentoriented organizations emerged during this period, and development, civil liberties, education, environment, health, and livelihood all became the focus of attention. With community participation as a defined component in a number of social sector projects during the 1970s and 1980s, NGOs began to be formally recognized as development partners of the state. Their work was increasingly characterized by grassroots interventions, advocacy at various levels, and mobilization of the marginalized to protect their rights. The process of structural adjustment begun in the early 1990s—and the more recent approach of bilateral and international donors channeling funds directly through the government, NGO networks, and large corporate NGOs—have somewhat pushed peoples’ organizations into the background. Small, spontaneous initiatives at the community level, as a response to social and economic exploitations at the community level, are no longer the hallmark of the NGO sector. __NGOs Today__ Today, about 1.5 million NGOs work in India (i.e., nonprofit, voluntary citizens’ groups organized on a local, national, or international level). This includes temples, churches, mosques, gurudwaras (Sikh place of workshop), sports associations, hospitals, educational institutions, and ganeshotsav mandals (temporary structures set up to house Ganesh festival celebrations). Most NGOs in India are small and dependent on volunteers. According to a survey conducted by Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 73.4% of NGOs have one or no paid staff, although across the country, more than 19 million persons work as volunteers or paid staff at an NGO. The PRI A survey also reveals that 26.5% of NGOs are engaged in religious activities, while 21.3% work in the area of community and/or social service. About one in five NGOs works in education, while 17.9% are active in the fields of sports and culture. Only 6.6% work in the health sector.