SATHEE: NGO Organizations

NGO Organizations

1. What is an NGO?

Non-Governmental Organization: legally constituted, non-profit, voluntary citizens’ group
Operates independently from any government
Purpose: social, environmental, humanitarian, advocacy, development
India has ~3.3 million registered NGOs (CBI-2018) – 1 NGO per 400 people, highest density worldwide

2. Legal Forms of NGOs in India

Form	Enacted	Regulator	Key Feature
Trust	Indian Trust Act 1882	Charity Commissioner	Public/Private trust deed
Society	Societies Registration Act 1860	Registrar of Societies	Democratic elections
Section-8 Company	Companies Act 2013	MCA (ROC)	Limited-liability, no dividend

3. International & Indian Milestones

Year	Event
1945	Term “NGO” first used in UN Charter (Art. 71)
1946	UNICEF founded (became permanent 1953)
1973	CHIPKO movement – Sunderlal Bahuguna
1980	Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) Nobel Peace Prize
1981	Sulabh International established – Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak
1983	SEWA – registered trade union of self-employed women
1994	CRY – Child Rights & You (originated 1979, registered 1994)
1995	World Social Summit, Copenhagen – NGO consultative status expanded
2003	Greenpeace India office opened (HQ Amsterdam 1971)
2005	Right to Information Act – driven by MKSS/Aruna Roy
2010	Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act tightened
2013	India is 1st country to legislate CSR (2% of profit)
2020	Amnesty International India closed FCRA operations

4. Top Indian NGOs (by reach & budget)

NGO	Founded HQ	Focus Area	FY-22 Receipts ₹ Cr (approx)
1. The Akshaya Patra Foundation	2000 Bengaluru	Mid-day meals	665
2. Bharti Foundation	2000 Delhi	Education	480
3. Goonj	1999 Delhi	Clothing, disaster	110
4. HelpAge India	1978 Delhi	Elderly	205
5. Pratham	1994 Mumbai	Learning outcomes	310
6. Smile Foundation	2002 Delhi	Healthcare & education	235
7. GiveIndia	1999 Mumbai	Online giving platform	400

5. Global Giants with Indian Presence

Name	Founded	HQ	Nobel Prize	India office since
CARE	1945	USA	–	1946
Oxfam	1942	UK	–	1951
Save the Children	1919	UK	–	2008 (re-registered)
Amnesty International	1961	UK	1977	1966 (closed 2020)
Médecins Sans Frontières	1971	Switzerland	1999	1999

6. Regulatory Framework

FCRA 2010 – Ministry of Home Affairs; mandatory for foreign donations >₹15 lakh/yr
12A & 80G – Income-tax exemptions (donor gets 50% rebate)
CSR Schedule VII – Companies Act 2013; 2% of avg. 3-yr net profit
Darpan Portal – NITI Aayog, mandatory for govt. grants ≥₹10 lakh

7. Quick Reference Tables

Table-1: Nobel Peace Laureate NGOs

NGO	Year	Country
ICRC (3rd time)	1963	Switzerland
Amnesty International	1977	UK
MSF	1999	Switzerland
Grameen Bank & Yunus	2006	Bangladesh

Table-2: Famous Campaigns

Campaign	NGO/Leader	Outcome
Right to Information	MKSS (Aruna Roy)	RTI Act 2005
Narmada Bachao Andolan	Medha Patkar	R&R policy, SC judgments
Appiko Movement	Pandurang Hegde	Western-Ghats conservation
Jaago Re	Janaagraha	Voter registration spike 2009

8. One-liner Revision Bullets

India has the world’s largest NGO network: ~3.3 million (CBI 2018)
UN Charter Article 71: consultative status for NGOs
FCRA licence valid 5 years; renewal online via fcraonline.nic.in
Section 8 Company can be formed without “Limited” in name
CSR threshold: net-worth ₹500 cr OR turnover ₹1,000 cr OR profit ₹5 cr
“Anshu Gupta” started Goonj – Ramon Magsaysay 2015
“Kailash Satyarthi” founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan – Nobel 2014
SEWA – 2.1 million women members (Gujarat-based)
Akshaya Patra feeds 2 million children daily across 15 states/2 UT
GiveIndia is India’s largest online donation platform

9. MCQ Practice Set (Railway Exam Level)

Click to view 15 MCQs with answers

Which act allows NGOs to receive foreign donations in India?
- a) FEMA 1999
- b) FCRA 2010
- c) PMLA 2002
- d) IPC 1860
- Ans: b
The term NGO was officially recognized in which international document?
- a) Universal Declaration of HR
- b) UN Charter
- c) Kyoto Protocol
- d) Geneva Convention
- Ans: b
Who founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan?
- a) Medha Patkar
- b) Kailash Satyarthi
- c) Sunderlal Bahuguna
- d) Anshu Gupta
- Ans: b
Match: NGO – HQ city
- A. Pratham – 1. Bengaluru
- B. Akshaya Patra – 2. Mumbai
- C. Goonj – 3. Delhi
- D. SEWA – 4. Ahmedabad
- a) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
- b) A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
- c) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
- d) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
- Ans: a
Under Companies Act 2013, what % of profit must qualifying firms spend on CSR?
- a) 1
- b) 2
- c) 3
- d) 5
- Ans: b
Which NGO won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999?
- a) CARE
- b) Oxfam
- c) MSF
- d) Amnesty
- Ans: c
The Darpan Portal is maintained by
- a) Ministry of Finance
- b) NITI Aayog
- c) RBI
- d) TRAI
- Ans: b
CHIPKO movement started in which state?
- a) UP (now Uttarakhand)
- b) Kerala
- c) Karnataka
- d) Odisha
- Ans: a
Which of the following is NOT a legal form of NGO in India?
- a) Trust
- b) Cooperative Society
- c) Section-8 Company
- d) Registered Society
- Ans: b
Grameen Bank model of micro-finance originated in
- a) India
- b) Sri Lanka
- c) Bangladesh
- d) Nepal
- Ans: c
RTI Act 2005 was an outcome of the campaign led by
- a) MKSS
- b) Greenpeace
- c) CRY
- d) Smile
- Ans: a
FCRA licence is granted for a period of
- a) 3 years
- b) 5 years
- c) 7 years
- d) 10 years
- Ans: b
Which NGO is associated with mid-day meal scheme in India?
- a) Goonj
- b) Akshaya Patra
- c) HelpAge
- d) Pratham
- Ans: b
The highest number of registered NGOs are found in which Indian state?
- a) Maharashtra
- b) Uttar Pradesh
- c) Kerala
- d) West Bengal
- Ans: b (UP ~5.5 lakh)
Amnesty International India halted operations in India in which year?
- a) 2018
- b) 2019
- c) 2020
- d) 2021
- Ans: c

Last-minute cram card: UN-71 → FCRA-10 → CSR-2% → 3.3 million NGOs → Nobel 99-MSF → Nobel 2014-Satyarthi → RTI-MKSS → CHIPKO-1973 → Akshaya Patra-2000 → SEWA-1983 → Darpan-NITI → 80G-50% rebate → Trust-Society-S8.

International Organizations

Professional Bodies