India is a welfare state i.e. it is the responsibility of the state to work for the betterment and upliftment of its people. There are various governmental policies for the welfare of the society in general. But at times, the ground reality is very different from the goals and objectives of a legislation. Apart from governmental policies, there are various associations working to achieve the same goal, at a ground level. In this article, the major focus is on They both are different entities working towards the same thing i.e. welfare of the society. Both of them have some commonalities and points of difference. In this article,  we will do a detailed comparison between NGO and society: 

• Non- Governmental organizations 
• Society 

They both are different entities working towards the same thing i.e. welfare of the society. Both of them have some commonalities and points of differences.

Meaning of Non-Government Organization and a Society 

An NGO means a non-profit entity operating out of government control.  These are organizations on regional, national or international levels to serve a social, economic, legal or humanitarian cause. These organizations source their funds mainly from private donations and help make society a better place to live. The NGOs are classified into two categories on the basis of their focus

 They are: 

• Operational NGOs focus mainly on the working and  implementation of development projects in their concerned area of operation
• Advocacy NGOs focus on a specific issue and work towards them as their main goal.

There are various acronyms attached to the term” NGO”, which includes the following:

• INGO: It stands for International Non-Government organization 

• GNGO: It stands for Government based NGOs.  These kinds of NGOS are set by the government to advocate for those in need.

• QUASINGO: It stands for Quasi autonomous Non-Government organization.  They are partly dependent on public funding.

• ENGO: It stands for Environmental Non-Government organization.  These NGOs work specifically on environmental issues and developments in that field.

• CSO: It stands for civil society organizations. 

Further, there are majorly four types of NGO. They are classified on the basis of their legal status. They are:

• Voluntary and unincorporated entities classified as NGOs
• Trusts, various foundations and charities 
• Companies that are not for profits only.
• Non profit laws or associations registered under a specific NGO

Society by its definition can lead to various interpretations.  It typically refers to an organized group of people with a common religious, political or social purpose. There is no proper definition of society in this regard. But Societies can be seen as a part of NGO, so the scope of a society is narrower than that of an NGO. They can include charities, community groups, social movements, and faith-based organizations. They are also referred to as Civil societies. Both the terms are used interchangeably. 

Advantages of Non-Government organizations and Society 

Following are the advantages  society avails because of the existence of a Non-Government organization:

• The main purpose of a NGO is to work for the betterment of people,  so, contributes to the development of the society 
• It’s easily   accessible to the people in need.
• It improves accountability of those in power .
• NGOs ensure that the concerns of the public are heard and action is taken upon them.

Following are the benefits via civil societies: 

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• Civil societies work towards upliftment of marginalized groups and help them with proper representation.
• Aids in community participation at ground level and renders welfare-oriented services to people.
• Civil societies are necessary for the constant development of the society. 

Comparison between NGO and Society

 Here’s a  comparison between NGO and society:

Illustrations 

 Following is an illustration to give a better understanding of the workings of non-government organizations and societies:

When any area, in this case, many parts of the world is hit by a natural calamity, let’s say, earthquake^[1]. In times like this, various NGOs at national and international level will come to rescue and rehabilitate people, basically, help people in need and take care of their requirements. These NGOs are capable of doing so because they work on national and international levels with a strong funding system. The scale of operation of a NGO is larger. They are enabled to tackle and help in situations like these in a synchronized manner. On the other hand, societies being a small-scale organization with low funding cannot be effective in this case. They are small communities aiming to tackle problems at area to area level . They cannot provide the required services to people at larger levels. 

This is one of the primary differences between a Non- Government organization and societies.

Conclusion – Comparison between NGO and Society

Both NGOs and Societies are formed with the same goal i.e. helping those in need and aiding the state to reach people at ground levels without taking funds from the state. Both of the organizations put their time and effort into helping as many people as possible and laying the groundwork for achieving a welfare state in its true sense. However, through a detailed comparison between NGO and society, we got to know that there are some significant differences between the two in terms of scale of operation, working mechanisms etc. 

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