民间社会简报：印度（英）

CIVILSOCIETYBRIEF INDIA CountryContext IndiaisthelargestcountryinSouthAsia.ItsharesborderswithAfghanistan,Bangladesh,Bhutan,thePeople’sRepublicofChina,Myanmar,Nepal,andPakistan.ItissurroundedbytheArabianSeainthewest,theBayofBengalintheeast,andtheIndianOceaninthesouth.Ithasalandareaof3.3millionsquarekilometers.ThecapitalisNewDelhi.a Indiagainedindependenceon15August1947.Itisafederalrepublicwithaparliamentarysystemofgovernmentthatconsistsofthreemajorbranches.TheexecutivebranchconstitutesthePresidentof IndiaastheheadofthestateandthePrimeMinisterastheheadofthegovernment.ThelegislativebranchcomprisestheLokSabha(HouseofThePeople)and RajyaSabha(CouncilofStates),formingthetwohousesoftheParliament.ThejudicialbranchconstitutestheSupremeCourtofIndiaasitsapexbody,followedbythehighcourts.TheConstitutionofIndiaisthemainsourceofthelegalsysteminthecountry,whichisconsideredthelargestdemocracyintheworld.Indiaisextremelydiverseandrecognizes22officiallanguages.b CivilSocietyOverview DefinitionsofCivilSocietyinIndia CivilsocietyinIndiaisoftenconsideredsynonymouswiththeterms“voluntarysector,”“voluntaryorganizations,”“nongovernmentorganizations”(NGOs),and“nonprofitorganizations”(NPOs),eventhoughitencompassesalargergroup.Theriseofsocialmovements,NGOs,andvoluntaryorganizationsinthe20thcenturyledtotheconceptualizationoftheterm“civilsociety.”1Itformallyenteredthepopulardiscourseinthe1980s2and1990s. MultipledefinitionsareassociatedwithcivilsocietyinIndiagiventhevastanddiversenatureofthebodiesthatfallunderitsambit. OneearlierdefinitionwasfromParticipatoryResearchinAsia(PRIA)in2000,describingcivilsocietyas“thesumtotalofallindividualandcollectiveinitiativesforcommonpublicgood.”3Thiswasanall-encompassingdefinition,includingformalandinformalcollectivesalongwithindividualactions,anditprovidedanarrativeboundarytotheterm“publicgood.”AnotherdefinitionwasprovidedbytheVoluntaryActionNetworkIndia(VANI),oneofthelargestumbrellaagenciesforvoluntaryorganizationsinthecountry,describingthemasagroupoflike-mindedpeoplewhomanageandplanactivitiesforthebetterment continuedonnextpage boxcontinued Indiaisalsothesecond-mostpopulouscountryintheworld,witha2018populationof1.3billion,c two-thirdsofwhichisintheagegroupof15–64yearsandaquarterintheagegroupof0–14years. Theaveragelifeexpectancyasof2018is69.4years.Theurbanpopulationisnearly34%ofthetotal.Indiaholdsthestatusofalowermiddle-incomecountry asof2019(footnotea),andthegrossdomesticproductgrowthratewas5%inthatyear.Povertylevelsdeclinedfrom21.6%in2011to13.4%in2015,basedontheinternationalpovertyline(below$1.90perdayat2011purchasingpowerparity).However,thecoronavirusdisease(COVID-19)pandemichasaggravatedthevulnerabilitiesofthepopulationandincreasedthepovertyheadcount.d Theadultliteracyratehasimprovedoverthelastdecade,standingat74.4%in2018(footnoted).India’slatestHumanDevelopmentIndexranking ▲WorkerspluckingchiliesfromthefieldsinRaichurdistrict,Karnataka.Asof2019,theagriculturesectoremployed42.6%ofthecountry’sworkforce. (2020)was131stoutof189countries.eThecountryhasseenashiftinitsworkforce:whereasintheearly1990stheagriculturesectoremployednearly63%oftheworkingpopulation,by2019itemployed42.6%.Theservicessectorasof2019employedthesecond-largestproportionoftheworkforceat32.3%,followedbyindustriesat25.1%(footnotea). aWorldBank.IndiaDatabase(accessed15July2021). bGovernmentofIndia.IndiaataGlance–Profile. cAsianDevelopmentBank.BasicStatistics2019.Manila. dWorldBank.India-Overview. eUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme.2020.HumanDevelopmentReport2020.NewYork:UNDP. ofthecommunity,whichrequiresaformalsetupforimplementingthoseplansandactivities.4 TheGovernmentofIndia’sMinistryofStatisticsandProgrammeImplementation(MOSPI)usestheterm“nonprofitinstitutions”(NPIs).ItalsoconductedthelargestandmostrecentsurveyavailableonNPIs,alargesubsetofcivilsociety,inIndia.ItdrawsitsdefinitionfromtheUnitedNationsHandbookonNon-ProfitInstitutionsintheSystemofNationalAccounts,whichrefersto “(a)Organizationsthatare(b)notforprofitand,bylaworcustom,donotdistributeanysurplustheymaygeneratetothosewhoownorcontrolthem,(c)areinstitutionallyseparatefromthegovernment,(d)areself-governing,and (e)non-compulsory.”5 ThelawsinIndiadefinecivilsocietyprimarilyasthenonprofitsector,basedonthecategoryofregistrationsuchassocieties,trusts,andnot-for-profitcompanies.Therehasyettobeaholisticdefinitionofcivilsocietyorganizations(CSOs)inthecountry.Thisbriefdefines CSOsasallnonprofitorganizationsindependentfromthegovernmentandthemarketthatoperatearoundcommoninterests,purposes,andvalues.Giventheimmensediversityinsize,type,focusarea,andstructureofCSOs,thisdefinitionremainsfluid. BriefHistoryofCivilSocietyinIndia Indiahashadalongtraditionofvoluntaryservice,rootedintheconceptsofdharma(duty)anddaan(giving). Thesewerepartoftheteachingsacrossallreligioussections,encouragingpeopletohelpothersinneed.6 Amajorsectionalsostronglybelievedintheconceptofkarma(doinggoodinthepresentlifewillcarryforwardintothenextincarnation,andviceversa),drawingitsrootsfromtheHindureligion.Therefore,voluntar