Title: Women on the margins and the role of NGOs in India

Authors: Jimmy C. Dabhi

Addresses: Visiting Professor, Herat University, Herat – Afghanistan

Abstract: This article examines the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India in the context of women on the margins by responding to questions such as what NGOs can/cannot do, what they should/should not do and what they will not do. Women are not a homogeneous group and, therefore, not all suffer the same degree of marginalisation. The actors and factors responsible for marginalisation of women are multiple including the caste system, patriarchy and varna ideology. The state and market have roles to play in discrimination of women but men with greed for power and wealth play a lead role in the marginalisation of women. The civil society and NGOs in particular are proactive in assisting the women but at times, they are guilty of pushing the women to the margins. The article concludes with some possible actions to facilitate the movement of women in their struggle for freedom.

Keywords: caste system; discrimination; NGOs; non-governmental organisations; patriarchy; power; wealth; greed; social exclusion; women on the margins; female exclusion; marginalisation; varna ideology; India; male roles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2009.024653

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2009 Vol.2 No.4, pp.392 - 407

Published online: 14 Apr 2009 *

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