Governance of non-profit organizations in India: Issues and challenges

The paper assesses the problem and current scholarship on the topic. It portrays theoretical and normative understanding of non-profits. It affirms that withdrawal of state has facilitated the growth of non-profits in the era of liberalisation. It neatly draws the evolutionary profile of NPOs in India and its relationship with the contemporary state. Study reveals that 1860 and 1991 are watershed years in the history of evolution of NPOs in current forms. Glancing through institutional and functional framework of NPOs in India, it pleads why governance of non-profit is needed at all. It introduces different levels of interactions between state, market and civil society. It justifies the need of accountability mechanisms for NPOs in particular and third sector in general. Accordingly, it argues, why it is ethically important to adopt accountability and transparency mechanisms for NPOs before they ask for the same from government. In addition, it also unravels accountability mechanisms used by NPOs in India.