About the NGO Council 

The NGO Council was formed on August 22, 2005. It aims to act as the representative body of the NGO sector in Mumbai. The NGO Council comprises a mix of organisations with complementary expertise covering all causes and sectors. It currently consists of 83 organisations. It is an open group in which more members may be added.

The NGO Council provides a platform for interested and experienced individuals and organisations to engage constructively with the Government and others and vice versa in areas of mutual interest as identified by its member organisations.

Objectives:
1. NGOs vis-a-vis Government: NGOs to be included in the policy and program planning of the Government and be also included in the evaluation, implementation and delivery of services by the Government.
2. NGOs vis-a-vis third-parties: Facilitating interaction of third-parties with NGOs e.g. CSR depts of corporates, civil society organisations, media, event organisers, city-wide initiatives, etc.
3. NGOs vis-a-vis NGOs: Networking & co-ordinating amongst NGOs to enable sharing of experiences and working together.
4. NGOs vis-a-vis Donors: Providing transparency and credibility to the NGO sector

Membership: (yet to be finalised by the Council)
– any ngo / trust – meeting once a year – nominal membership fee, say, Rs. 200 /year
– the ngo / trust should meet the minimum due diligence norms.
– committee       – meeting once a month – higher membership fee

Criteria for Committee members:
– Fairly large organisation, willing, committed, involved, generally considered as representative of their sector.
– Each organisation to hold one event that will involve all NGOs of its sector e.g. awareness, conference.
– Individuals representing an organisation to be like-minded / compatible with the others.

Invitees:
– Individuals not with any particular NGO – well-respected by NGO sector for past work, vision, achievements.
– Resource individuals to help the Council – those with expertise in particular areas e.g. town planner, lawyer.

Office Bearers:
– Convenor – more as a secretariat and co-ordinating role.  Karmayog.com will be the convening organisation.
– No other office bearers initially
– Sectoral Cells will be formed later as and when issues get taken up – e.g. by beneficiary-type e.g. Children; by issues e.g. Health; by activity e.g. awareness