India’s voluntary sector remains highly sceptical about the private sector. Trust is not the only obstacle to effective partnership approaches, though. Capacity is a problem, too

In spite of healthy economic growth over recent years, India’s developmental challenges remain immense. About a third of the country’s 1.2 billion population live on less than $1.25 a day, the World Bank reports. Rapid industrialisation is also seeing environmental problems proliferate. The private sector annually discharges about 30bn cubic metres of effluent into India’s water bodies, according to the environmental charity Water Aid.

And there’s a widespread consensus among third-sector leaders that economic liberalisation is causing socio-economic divisions to widen. In many cases, the blame is placed at the door of foreign multinationals. 

Tentative steps

“Relative to the US and Europe, there is a far higher degree of suspicion of the private sector among NGOs,” says Delhi-based consultant Shankar Venkateswaran. The feeling, he adds, is mutual. High-profile community campaigns against the likes of drinks giant Coca-Cola and mining company Vedanta make international brands wary of the voluntary sector.

Industry associations and other business-led bodies are helping to bridge the divide. Leading the way are the Confederation for Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Through its Socio-Economic Development Foundation, for instance, the FICCI runs regular workshops and seminars for third-sector representatives and trade union members, as well as corporate executives.

Individual business associations are also seeking to build bilateral alliances to address ethical issues in their respective sectors. A good example is the Tirupur Exporters’ Association. Representing about 700 exporters in the “knitwear city” of Tirupur, in the southern province of Tamil Nadu, the association set up a “stakeholders forum” in 2010 to address issues relating to factory working conditions. The forum includes seven major trade unions and four “reputed” local NGOs, as well as about two-dozen international buyers.

In other cases, it has fallen to individual companies to take the lead in brokering partnerships. International retailers Gap, H&M, Levi’s, Mothercare and Jack & Jones collaborated in the city of Bangalore to set up the Meta-Culture Garment Sector Roundtable. The multi-stakeholder initiative includes several NGOs, one formal trade union and the state labour authority.

“People are beginning to see the merit of working together,” says Amita Joseph, director of the Delhi-based non-profit Business & Community Foundation. “[NGOs] bring in the software, and we believe companies have the hardware,” she adds.

Building capacity

Making partnerships work remains taxing, however. Mutual respect is essential, says Joseph, intimating that many corporate-NGO relationships are still defined by a donor-recipient mindset. Long-term horizons are also required. While the results-driven approach of companies can often be healthy, companies must remember that development “doesn’t happen overnight”.

Choosing an NGO partner for a corporate responsibility programme can also present its challenges. The third sector remains comparatively nascent in India, and levels of transparency and professionalism vary hugely. As the number of NGOs proliferates, the need for companies to develop robust due diligence of potential partners will increase.

To date, most large companies have chosen to play it safe. International NGOs with respected brands are often the first port of call. WWF India, for instance, boasts tie-ups with brands such as Aircel, Ogilvy, Tetra Pak and Nokia.

In development terms, the more local the community partner is, the more likely it is to be cognisant of grassroots needs. Yet few local NGOs have the internal capabilities of their bigger peers. Unicef, for instance, offers “multi-faceted” partnerships that range from PR and marketing support to employee programmes and matched giving.

Arguably a first step towards strengthening company-NGO partnerships could be for the former to invest in building the capacity of the latter. Such a move would be politically sensitive. Yet the long-term impacts for both business and civil society could be profound.