The Indian Ocean Tsunami: The Global Response to a Natural Disaster

9: The Role of NGOs in Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction in Cuddalore District, South India

183 9 The Role of NGOs in Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction in Cuddalore District, South India Muthusami Kumaran and Tricia Torris The intent of this chapter is to illustrate the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the recovery, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of coastal communities affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. It is a case study of NGOs involved in tsunami relief in Cuddalore district, one of the worst-affected coastal areas in Tamil Nadu,South India.Section 1 of the chapter provides an overview of NGOs in India and their role in tsunami relief in general and in Cuddalore district in particular. Section 2 presents the first-person report of coauthor Tricia Torris, a trained and experienced professional, who spent two months (May and June 2005) in Cuddalore working on tsunami aid with a network of NGOs. It highlights the situation on the ground, providing a human face to the issue of disaster relief and rehabilitation. In each section, major lessons learned in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster are outlined and a few recommendations to improve the disaster management capabilities of NGOs are presented. The Role of NGOs in Tsunami Relief: The Case of Cuddalore District NGOs in India In the twenty-first century, NGOs appear to have become an integral part of Indian society. Indian NGOs are organized at local, regional, national, and international levels and are usually task oriented and managed by people 184 Kumaran and Torris with common interests; they perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions and bring citizen concerns to the government. The wide array of initiatives,interventions,services,advocacy,and knowledge that Indian NGOs provide to society makes it difficult to formally define them and provide a set of their characteristics. The World Bank (1995, 13) defines NGOs as “private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering,promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development.” This World Bank document, titled Working with NGOs, further explains:“In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organization which is independent from government. NGOs are typically value-based organizations which depend,in whole or in part,on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalized over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics” (13–14). The NGOs in India reflect a wide spectrum of organizations, playing the role of an independent force outside the realm of government and private businesses. They include religio-political institutions, social movements, voluntary organizations, community-based or grassroots organizations, welfare associations of religious organizations, associations for the promotion of art, science,and culture,research groups,and organizations that provide services to the needy and the poor. Like the NGOs in many developing countries, Indian NGOs have emerged in recent decades as a dominant force in providing an impressive range of direly needed social services,community development,and grassroots activism.Unlike in the United States of America,where the nonprofit sector has been well established through a facilitative taxation system,excellent volunteerism, and substantial government contracts, the NGO sector in India is still in its infancy both in terms of resources and volunteerism. According to IndianNGOs.com,aWeb portal dedicated to providing information and knowledge exchange for Indian NGOs,there are about 1.5 million NGOs functioning in India. NGOs are registered as “Societies” or “Trusts” or “Section 25 Companies”(under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act), and estimates of their number ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 in 1993. However, since then, there has obviously been an explosion in the number and variety of these organizations. During the past two decades, the Indian government has recognized the contributions and importance of NGOs in the country’s socioeconomic development through services that governments are unable to provide. Beginning with the Indian government’s seventh Five-Year Plan (fiscal years 1985–1989), the funding for NGOs has been steadily increasing, further contributing to the rise of the sector. The NGO sector has also thrived Role of NGOs in Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction in Cuddalore District 185 on foreign donations and funding sources, which in 1999–2000 contributed more than U.S.$ 1 billion (Sooryamoorthy and Gangrade 2001). While Indian NGOs had made tremendous strides in socioeconomic developments and reforms such as the women’s movement...