NGOs in Himachal Pradesh: Organization, Issues and Challenges

The history of NGOs in India is long as it has been at the core of Indian culture, the Sanatan Tradition to serve the poor, thesuffering the helpless and the needy. However, the spirit of charity and altruism also guided the voluntary action of man in the past in diverse ways and forms even outside the formal established religious structures and channels. India has witnessed an enormous spate of NGO activity in the post independence era, especially in the eighties and nineties.The current work that has been carried out on three levels i.e. Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA),Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti (HGVS) and Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) offers tremendous insightinto the organization, role and functioning of NGOs in the state of Himachal Pradesh. They have played a significant role in the sociopolitical and economic development of the state andthe study under lines the major achievements and challenges faced by them. The work highlights certain drawbacks in NGOs like lack of internal democracy, dependence of governmentalfunding and lack of local resources, chances of misappropriation of funds due to absence of auditing, unskilled staff and poor quality of service. The work is first of its kind in Himachal Pradesh and would definitely benefit and inspire further research and interest in the area among the social workers, scholars and related officials.