How the Indian Government Supports NGOs Through CAPART

India’s rural development story has always had a strong partnership between the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). But how exactly does the government channel its support to thousands of grassroots NGOs working in remote villages? The answer lies in a dedicated institutional mechanism – the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART). Set up in 1986, CAPART was designed to be the bridge between government resources and voluntary organisations committed to improving rural livelihoods.

What is CAPART? 🔗

CAPART is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. It was created to coordinate and strengthen the partnership between the government and voluntary organisations working towards sustainable rural development. Rather than running development programmes directly, CAPART acts as a facilitator – identifying credible NGOs, funding their projects, building their capacities, and monitoring outcomes.

Over the years, CAPART has assisted over 12,000 voluntary organisations across the country in implementing a wide range of rural development initiatives. Its headquarters is in New Delhi, and it operates through nine regional centres spread across India to stay closer to ground-level action.

How was CAPART formed? 🔗

CAPART came into existence in September 1986 through the merger of two existing agencies: People’s Action for Development India (PADI), established in 1976, and the Council for Advancement of Rural Technology (CART), set up in 1984. PADI was focused on supporting voluntary agencies in rural development, while CART was tasked with transferring laboratory-developed technologies to rural communities through NGOs.

The Indian government recognised that having two separate bodies working in overlapping areas was inefficient. By merging them into CAPART, the goal was to create a single, more powerful nodal agency that could coordinate voluntary action, inject technological inputs, and ensure that benefits of government programmes reached the most vulnerable rural populations.

This merger was also timed with the Seventh Five Year Plan, which formally acknowledged the role of voluntary organisations in national development planning. CAPART was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and operates as an autonomous society – meaning it has its own governance structure while being funded entirely by the government.

Key objectives of CAPART 🔗

CAPART was established with a clear set of objectives that continue to define its mission. These objectives revolve around promoting voluntary action and appropriate rural technologies.

Encouraging voluntary action 🔗

The primary objective is to encourage, promote, and assist voluntary action for implementing projects that enhance rural prosperity. This means CAPART doesn’t just wait for NGOs to approach it – it actively seeks out and supports organisations that have the potential to make a meaningful difference in villages.

Promoting rural technology 🔗

CAPART also aims to act as a catalyst for developing and disseminating technologies that are appropriate for rural settings. This includes everything from low-cost housing construction techniques to biogas plants, improved agricultural tools, and rainwater harvesting systems. The idea is that technology adoption can accelerate rural development when paired with community-level implementation by NGOs.

All-round rural development 🔗

Beyond technology, CAPART supports projects aimed at creating employment opportunities, promoting self-reliance, generating community awareness, and improving overall quality of life in rural India. This broad mandate allows the organisation to fund a diverse range of initiatives – from watershed development to women’s empowerment and disability inclusion programmes.

How CAPART supports NGOs 🔗

The core function of CAPART is providing financial and technical support to NGOs. Here’s how this works in practice.

Financial assistance and grants 🔗

NGOs submit project proposals to CAPART seeking funding for rural development activities. Special committees review these proposals and decide whether to fund or support them. The amount of financial assistance depends on the nature of the project and the capability of the organisation to handle the funds effectively.

Once approved, CAPART releases funds in instalments based on the project’s requirements and the proportion of funding the NGO can mobilise from other sources, including beneficiary contributions. By March 2007, CAPART had sanctioned over 25,500 projects and disbursed approximately Rs. 956 crore to nearly 11,000 voluntary organisations.

Capacity building 🔗

CAPART goes beyond just writing cheques. It actively builds the capacity of NGOs through workshops, training programmes, and technical guidance. Over 50 workshops and training sessions have been organised to benefit more than 1,500 NGOs. These programmes cover everything from project management and financial accounting to subject-specific technical skills needed for effective rural development work.

Technology transfer 🔗

One of CAPART’s distinctive contributions is connecting rural communities with appropriate technologies developed in research institutions. For example, CAPART signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc Bangalore for rural technology transfer. This partnership covered areas such as water and sanitation, household energy efficiency, alternate energy technologies, sustainable building techniques, and agro-processing. Projects funded under this partnership included small biogas plants, bio-fuel efficient stoves, and solar water purification systems.

Major schemes and programmes 🔗

CAPART has classified its assistance into six broad programme categories to ensure comprehensive coverage of rural development needs.

Natural Resource Development and Management (NRDM) 🔗

This programme supports projects related to watershed development, water conservation, rainwater harvesting, and sustainable management of natural resources. Given that India’s rural economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, and agriculture depends on natural resources, this is a critical area of intervention.

Rural Industrialisation, Income Generation and Market Access (RIIMA) 🔗

Under this category, CAPART funds initiatives that help rural communities develop income-generating activities and connect with markets. One notable initiative is the Gram Shree Mela – organised at state capitals and smaller towns to provide marketing outlets for rural artisans and promote their products. These melas include buyer-seller meets that help rural producers access wider markets.

Human Resource Development Scheme (HRDS) 🔗

This scheme focuses on training rural youth for sustainable employment, organising seminars on traditional knowledge systems, placing young professionals with NGOs and District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs), and building the capacity of Panchayati Raj functionaries. There is also a scholarship programme for meritorious students from disadvantaged communities.

Empowerment of women, SC/ST, and disadvantaged groups 🔗

CAPART runs a special scheme for the empowerment of rural women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and persons with disabilities. This targeted approach ensures that the most marginalised sections of rural society receive focused attention and dedicated resources.

Other key initiatives 🔗

Additional programmes include the Advancement of Rural Technology Scheme (ARTS), which funds innovative projects for upgrading traditional technologies and introducing new ones; the Yuva Jyoti scheme targeting rural youth; and awareness campaigns like the Gramin Vikas Andolan, which spreads information about government development schemes in rural areas through NGO networks.

Decentralised structure through regional centres 🔗

To bring its services closer to the grassroots, CAPART decentralised its operations by establishing nine regional centres across India – at Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Dharwad. These regional offices handle the monitoring, evaluation, and selection of NGOs in their respective areas.

Each regional committee is empowered to sanction project proposals up to Rs. 25 lakh, which speeds up the funding process considerably. This decentralised approach is important because rural development needs vary significantly from region to region – what works in Rajasthan may not be relevant in Kerala. The regional centres ensure that CAPART’s response is contextual and timely.

A good example comes from the Dharwad regional centre, which partnered with a local NGO to provide drinking water to Lakhmapur village in Karnataka. This village of about 3,000 people had no nearby water source and depended on a single private borewell located 2 km away. CAPART funded the drilling of a new borewell, construction of a storage tank, and installation of 22 community taps within the village. Once completed, the project was handed over to the local gram panchayat for maintenance – a practical model of community ownership.

Monitoring and evaluation 🔗

CAPART has a structured system for tracking how funded projects are performing. Projects go through three stages of assessment: pre-funding appraisal (before money is released), mid-term appraisal (during implementation), and post-evaluation (after project completion). This system uses both CAPART’s own officers and empanelled external evaluators with expertise in specific subject areas.

What makes CAPART’s monitoring distinctive is that it works directly with NGOs rather than routing through state departments or district administration. This direct relationship allows for more transparent oversight, though it also means CAPART needs robust internal systems to manage a large number of projects across the country.

Challenges and the road ahead 🔗

Despite its significant contributions, CAPART has faced criticism over the years. A study by the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) found that much of CAPART’s inefficiency stemmed from the incomplete merger of two unequal organisations – PADI had a decade of experience and a large staff, while CART was still in its early stages. The report also pointed to issues of excessive bureaucratic control, with 27 different senior bureaucrats leading the body in its first 24 years.

The IRMA report recommended that the government should step back from the day-to-day management of CAPART and hand over leadership to rural development professionals. In 2012, the then Union Minister for Rural Development, Jairam Ramesh, resigned as CAPART’s president following these recommendations, signalling a shift towards greater professional autonomy.

There have also been concerns about transparency and accountability in how funds are disbursed and whether all funded NGOs are delivering results effectively. As the Ministry of Rural Development’s budget for welfare programmes has grown significantly, much of the funding that reaches villages now bypasses CAPART, raising questions about the organisation’s continued relevance in its current form.

For CAPART to remain effective, experts suggest it needs to modernise its operations, adopt technology-driven monitoring systems, strengthen its engagement with high-performing NGOs, and build partnerships with private sector and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Why CAPART matters for rural India 🔗

Despite its challenges, CAPART represents an important institutional experiment – the idea that government resources can be made more effective when delivered through committed grassroots organisations rather than only through bureaucratic channels. By training NGOs, funding innovative projects, promoting appropriate rural technologies, and creating platforms like Gram Shree Melas for rural entrepreneurs, CAPART has touched the lives of millions of rural Indians.

The government-NGO partnership model that CAPART embodies is especially relevant today, when issues like climate change adaptation, digital literacy in villages, and sustainable agriculture demand the kind of flexible, community-embedded responses that well-supported NGOs can provide.

What do you think? Can a reformed CAPART, with greater professional autonomy and modern systems, still serve as an effective bridge between the government and rural NGOs? Or has the time come for entirely new models of channelling government support to grassroots organisations?

References

1. https://www.india.gov.in/council-advancement-peoples-action-and-rural-technology
2. https://www.ecoideaz.com/green-directory/council-advancement-peoples-actions-rural-technology-capart/
3. https://www.gktoday.in/council-for-advancement-of-peoples_24/
4. https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/capart/capart-need-history-objectives-funding-and-implementing-agencies/66719
5. http://www.allgov.com/india/departments/ministry-of-youth-affairs-and-sports/council-of-advancement-of-peoples-action-and-rural-technology?agencyid=7562
6. https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/erelcontent.aspx?relid=28933
7. https://ngosindia.com/capart-council-for-advancement-of-peoples-action-and-rural-technology/