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Non-profit organisations in India: historical development and common patterns

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Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The article documents the history of the Indian voluntary or non-profit sector involved in socio-economic development of the country. Specifically, three questions are addressed. What type of voluntary organisations existed at what periods of history, and what were their primary activities? Who were the founders, and what were their motives? Can we detect common themes or underlying patterns in the way in which the Indian voluntary sector has developed? Or in other words: what is the institutional genesis of the non-profit or voluntary sector in India? The findings are based on multiple sources — literature review, interviews and observation, and information requested through the mail. The article differs from most historical studies on Indian non-profit organisations because it takes an analytical approach by drawing from contemporary literature on such organisations.

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Authors
  1. Siddhartha Sen
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Additional information

Siddhartha Sen is Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California 91768-4048 and a Field Associate for India for the Johns Hopkins Comparative Project on NPOs. The field research reported here was supported by the Graduate College Dissertation Grant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Human Settlement Management Institute, New Delhi; and the International Development Research Centre, New Delhi. Helpful comments and suggestions were received on earlier drafts from Biswapriya Sanyal and the editors ofVoluntas.

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Sen, S. Non-profit organisations in India: historical development and common patterns. Voluntas 3, 175–193 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01397772

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