Analyse the challenges before the development and participation of civil society.

Answer: Challenges before the Civil Society:

1. Suspicious nature of state that has been arresting activists, raiding Civil Society Institutions, and curbing sources of foreign funding while imposing onerous reporting and operating conditions;
2. The rise of the right wing which questions the very legitimacy of the Civil Society Institutions (CSIs), just as the left was doing in an earlier generation;
3. The increasing marginalisation of civil society with respect to all three spheres of our lives— political, economic and social, due to resistance to criticism by the state.
4. Many CSIs are seen as corrupt, and personal fiefdoms of charismatic founders, who continue in leadership positions long after their passion for the cause has died.
5. A large number of CSIs are not accountable to any constituency other than their donors.
6. Jobs in CSIs are seen as employment of last resort, to be abandoned for a position in a company or a government agency as soon as an opportunity arises.
   Overcoming Challenges:
   CSIs need to increase their membership or user-ship base and become accountable to them. They also need to become more democratically governed, participatory and accountable.
   CSIs should have boards in which a majority of directors are from among those who strive to organise or serve. CSIs can evolve multiple sources of funding, primarily based on member contributions and user fees, and leverage these proportionately with grants from the
   government’s tax revenue and a share of the corporate social responsibility funds.

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