Role of Indian NGOs in housing and development: A critical appraisal

The dissertation examines the nature of Indian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in housing, and their impact on the living environment of urban slums, using 28 cases. The findings indicate that slums are not only pervasive, but perhaps even growing in India. An analysis of the literature establishes that Indians have traditionally formed NGOs to respond to needs that governments and the private sector have been unwilling or unable to provide. NGOs have also cooperated with the Indian central government to implement policies or to show innovative and alternative ways of program and policy implementation. At the same time, they have opposed government policies that they believed did not serve the best interests of the poor. Currently, the government has legitimized NGOs through increased governmental funding, and set distinct roles for them in development and housing. Despite this long history of NGO involvement in India, housing NGOs were found to be a relatively recent development that, until now, has not been investigated in a systematic manner. The study then analyzes 12 cases out of the 28 that were studied. Of these, four cases are analyzed in-depth and eight are presented to illustrate the richness and variety of NGO involvement in Indian urban slums. From the analysis of the case study material there emerges a portrait of Indian NGOs as resourceful and effective providers of important services in slum community. Despite such resourcefulness and innovation, the problems that NGOs seek to address persist, suggesting that housing NGOs may be a part of a comprehensive solution but not sufficiently powerful in and of themselves to ameliorate slum housing. The missing ingredients can rest in the hands of a duly elected government, although the government alone cannot be held responsible for the housing imbalance and shortage that exists in India today. The study points out that there are at least six different explanations of why slums continue to exist in India. Having described all the shortcomings of both the housing NGOs and the government, the study attempts to suggest comprehensive solutions to the problem of slum housing. The study concludes with implications for future research.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio