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Voluntary Associations: Meaning and Characteristics of Voluntary Associations!
State is not the only association working in the society; there are a large number of voluntary associations as well which perform varied functions for the welfare, integration and solidarity of the society. State on account of its nature is a limited agency and as such there are functions which it cannot-with advantage perform.
Meaning of Voluntary Association:
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The term ‘Voluntarism’ is derived from the Latin word ‘voluntas’ which means “will” or “freedom”. Harold Laski, an eminent British political scientist, defined, “Freedom of association” as a recognised legal right on the part of all persons to combine for the promotion of purposes in which they are interested. Article 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution of India confers on the Indian citizens the right ‘to form association’. Freedom of association is rightly regarded as taking high rank among the liberties of man.
It is the liberty of the widest scope for men may wish to associate for any purpose which two or more of them may have in common. They may wish to associate to do something together, or to get something done to further their own or other people’s interest, to resist oppression or injustice or to pursue great or small, general or public object. In the U. N. terminology voluntary organisations are called non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
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These are also identified as Volage (Voluntary agencies) and AGs (Action groups). The term voluntary association is variously defined. According to Lord Beveridge, A voluntary organisation, properly speaking, is an organisation which whether its workers are paid or unpaid, is initiated and governed by its own members without external control. Definitions given by Mary Morris and Mode-line Roff are also similar. The only addition that Mode-line Roff makes is that these voluntary organisations should depend in Dart at least, upon finding support from voluntary resources.
Michall Banton defines it as a group organised for the pursuit of one interest or of several interests in common. In the words of David L. Sills, Voluntary organisation is a group of persons organised on the basis of voluntary membership without state control for the furtherance of some common interests of its members.
Norman Johnson in his examination of the various definitions of voluntary social services points out their four main characteristics:
(i) Method of formation, which is voluntary on the part of a group of people,
(ii) Method of government, with self-governing organisation to decide on its constitution, its servicing, its policy and its clients;
(iii) Method of financing, with at least some of its revenues drawn from voluntary sources; and
(iv) Motives with the pursuit of profit excluded.
To some writers like Sills legal status of voluntary organisations is not of much consequence for its activities. But in the Indian context, it is of special significance for their financial accountability, it is Classify stipulated that only those voluntary associations would be considered for grants-in-aid which are incorporated and have been existing for at least three years, Smith and Freedman considered voluntary association as a structure formally organised, relatively permanent, secondary grouping as opposed to less structural, informal, ephemeral or primary grouping.
Formal organisation is reflected in the presence of offices which are filled through some established procedures, scheduled meetings, qualifying criteria for membership and some formalised division and specialisation of labour, although the organisations do not exhibit all these characteristics to the same degree.
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Voluntary organisations have to sacrifice substantially their autonomy as there are quite a few restrictions (though regulatory in character) which they have to accept if they expect public grant. In India, for example, religion besides politics is the other social sphere from which they have to keep themselves away if they wish to seek public money for participation in nation building activities.
This is in consonance with Indian secularism which prohibits use of public money for propagation of any religion; finally in India, they must be committed to national objectives namely socialism, secularism, democracy, national unity and integrity.
Attempting a comprehensive definition of voluntary organisation Prof. M.R. Inamdar observes, “A voluntary organisation to be of durable use to the community has to nurse a strong desire and impulse for community development among its members, to be economically viable to possess dedicated and hard working leadership and command resources of expertise in the functions undertaken.”
Main Characteristics of Voluntary Organisation:
The definitions of a voluntary organisation given above bring out its following main characteristics:
(i) It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1880, the Indian Trusts Act, 1882; the Cooperative Societies Act, 1904 or the Joint Stock Companies Act, 1959 depending upon the nature and scope of its activities to give it a legal status;
(ii) It has definite aims and objectives and programmes for their fulfillment and achievement;
(iii) It has an administrative structure and a duly constituted management and executive committee;
(iv) It is an organisation initiated and governed by its own members on democratic principles without any external control and
(v) It raises funds for its activities partly from the exchequer in the form of grants-in-aid and partly in the form of the contributions or subscription from the members of the local community and/or the beneficiaries of the programmes.
Factors Motivating Voluntary Action:
The factors which motivate people to take to voluntary action or the sources of voluntarism may be identified as religion, government, business, philanthropy and mutual aid. The missionary zeal of religious organisations, the commitments of government organisation to the public interest, the profit making urge in business, the altruism of the ‘social superiors’ and the motive of self-help among fellowmen all are reflected in voluntarism. At the operational level, the above mentioned components may not differ much from one another but each of them is moved by an impulse with service as the common motivation.
Bouradillon and William Beveridge viewed mutual aid and philanthropy as two main sources from which voluntary social service organisations would -have developed. They spring from individual and social conscience respectively. The other factors motivating voluntary action could be cited as personal interest, seeking benefit such as experience, recognition, knowledge and prestige, commitment to certain values etc.
Further, impulses of a great variety move men for their grouping or forming voluntary associations to serve themselves, their fellowmen or the unfortunate lot of the society. These are idealistic, educative, psychological and social in character operating separately or on varying combination.
Idealistically voluntary associations preserve democracy and the individuals’ personality and contribute to the general health of the society. They are a strong agent of political socialisation in a democracy and educate their members about the social norms and values and help combat loneliness. Psychological impulses lead people to join voluntary associations for security, self expression and for satisfaction of their interests with the decaying of social institutions like family, church and community.
Sociologists have studied the psychology of membership with the motivating interests in view namely, community, class, ethnicity, religion, sex, age etc. and they have found that (i) the association gives the individual a feeling of community with his fellowmen (ii) membership has class bias where socio-economic interest has motivated the joining of association (iii) membership of a given group has been found to be largely homogenous in terms of class, ethnicity and religion (iv) membership is directly related to socio-economic status, as measured by level of income, occupation house ownership, level of living and education.
Greater interest is evinced in joining voluntary association in urban areas than rural; men dominate the direction boards of most agencies; women join organisation depending upon their family status and the stage they occupy in the family cycle, participation in voluntary association declines as people grow old and so on.
Thus the psychology of joining voluntary association is a complex phenomenon. It may vary from one individual to another and one group of individuals to another depending on their culture, social milieu and political environment.