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by Lorna Wright

These 'selfless' organizations - lay and religious were once seen as he bulwark that served humanity and restrained Governments from going berserk. They were an integral part of civil society. Much respected.

Said again and again Governments welcomed and sought the active Co-operation and participation of these NGO's (Non Governmental Organizations) in implementing poverty alleviation and service programmes. For the NGO works with the unique advantage of the private sector.

These advantages are many. NGO's move swiftly, are patient with results. They experiment, venture into new ideas without fearing failures. Sometimes worked in tandem with government.

NGO's worked within a framework of rules and regulations of their own. Registered and supervised by the Ministry of Social Services. The complicated rigid and time consuming strictures of financial (F.R.) and administrative (AR) regulations did not obstruct. An NGO could be incisive, business-like, adapt to change. Implementation had the least amount of delay. Organizations brought people together and doing participation work enjoyed social acclaim. Religious did likewise.

But today the lay organizations struggle to survive. Besides cost of living, are demands of family life. Experienced elders now free of family responsibilities, find participation impossible as transport is a problem at their age.

The religious enjoy the social acclaim and the power that activism brings, an otherwise sequestered lifestyle. They are also financially secure for their lifetime. By structure aloof and impenetrable, they can travel the development road at their own pace. Group compulsive togetherness keeps them from admitting the immense scope of failure in mismanagement in thought, word and deed. So there is a flaw in fundamental thinking that today either lay or religious NGO organisations structured, as they are, can play a positive role in the either restraining politicians or do poverty alleviation or development work. Confusion reigns. The search for meaning, interconnectedness, ethics and self-knowledge resonates.

Funds are required for social and educational activities for those who have less. The poor. For an NGO sustainability is extremely difficult with paid staff month in, month out without donor funding. Almost impossible is collateral, when money on loan is urgently needed. Religious temples, kovils, churches, mosques have problems too as exaction of tithes has got outdated and eulogization is very much in question.

Religious and NGO organizations maintained solely for the purpose of religious worship, giving industrial training to drop-outs, juvenile offenders, orphans, the deaf, blind were not liable to taxes. It was not a contentious issue nor was it a thorny issue till 1991. But in 1.4.91 they became liable to pay and with retrospective effect. It crippled most, both lay and religious organisations. A leech-like bleeding that drained the vitality of many NGO's.

Arthur Silva, ex Labour Commissioner of Ministry of Labour, commented, "they should have examined the role of the NGO's and their functioning before they were brought into the EPF and ETF schemes together with those profit motivated business concerns. The Government should not break the camel's back."

"NGO's have increasingly taken over the tasks which were the responsibility of the State. Instead of recognition of their valuable work" says Cressida Senanayake, former Commissioner, Inland Revenue, "the Government has crippled the NGO's from year to year draining their resources in the form of income tax and turn over tax. 100% relief was given to taxpayers on donations given to an NGO. This concession was reduced drastically encouraging donation to government for war efforts and discouraging donation to NGO's. For sustainability NGO's try desperately to place monies in Securities drawing interest. These investment incomes of Charitable NGO's is taxed at 10% when interest rates are plummeting. Many Finance Companies that NGO's trusted, collapsed NGO's lost badly and survival got a lot tougher in the hard knocks world.

Minor commercial enterprises were essentially 'Ath-udauwa' (hand-help) training programmes providing skills, targeting the drop-outs, non-school-going youth. 1.5 million today. Profits ploughed back were marginal. However turnover taxes and profit on income is taxed further emptying the coffers of NGO's.

Maintaining discipline and productivity levels and Labour Tribunals' attitude is counter - productive. Discipline a paid worker/instructor who sees it as coercive and intolerable and is defiant and turns disrupter. Sack him, the non-profit NGO is taken to the Labour Tribunal wasting the valuable time of NGO seniors. It is now a one way system and has lost the dynamism of it's early years. It has today begun to turn in on itself with constant postponement practices.

Today more than ever before escalating operational costs, high cost of equipment makes skills training of drop-outs at vocational training centres almost impossible. SL de Silva's Technical Education chapter 70 P827, "Vocational Schools to a large extent depend on the sale of the products of the training workshops for their maintenance. P826 refers to these half educated youth. "The GA Central Province in 1868 called them, "PESTS in society in the stage of petition drawers, hangers - on at courts, fomented litigation in their native villages". A few hundreds then, now 1.5 million, unemployed bucking the system encouraged by political disrupters. Worse still says Prof. T. S. Hettige, Prof. of Sociology, Colombo University, "a very recent National Group Survey discloses that 70% of young people 15-29 years have a huge level of dependency and financial pressure on their parents".

This makes very relevant the work of the Memory of Mother Foundation.

The Home and Family Support Programme will have special emphasis on waste control - budgeting recycling - indigenous food and medicine - nutrition - mother-child care. Needle related skills - catering - entrepreneurship home based. With 555,000 women working abroad and 70% mothers, the link in mother-daughter learning no longer exists.

Basic Competency Based Trade Skills Training, masonry - carpentry - plumbing - welding - etc. for youth in an Ath-udauwa Programme. NAITA Certification, meets the aspirations of youth - to be cost-effective in training. The MOM Foundation insists maintenance monies for schools, hospital and public buildings be used and the system changed to meet this urgent need. (Lorna Wright is a veteran social activist) 

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