Comments from readers: –
1. Community-based organisations are the greatest dividers of the Arunachalee society. The so-called tribe-based and clan-based organisations should be discouraged and all-round district-based or circle-based organisations should be encouraged, which would include people form every section of the society, irrespective of tribe, clan, gender, etc.
2. It becomes inevitable as Arunachal’s communities are countable and need help from such organisations. It is a kind of competition among the communities now. But I would say politics is the root cause of the growth of community-based organisations in Arunachal.
3. The community-based organisations are relevant in order to bring forth the problems of the communities before the planner/government. However, such organisations are being used by the people of Arunachal Pradesh to make money by creating unnecessary issues.
4. No not at all. It only encourages communal stratification.
5. These community-based organisations are the root cause of all the narrow-minded hatred in the state. Nowhere else in the country will one find such self-coined organisations like the ones existing in Arunachal.
6. Yes, as long as it protects its own community and does not discriminate against other communities and tribes.
7. If this continues, Arunachal will be divided into pieces someday.
8. Community-based organisations create divisions in societies, based on areas, clans and tribes. We should curtail such organisations.
9. They are communal and divisive.
10. Community-based organisations can influence heavily the character of the communities’ behaviour.
11. Community-based organisations are like business organisations in our state. Don’t expect sweet fruits from them.
12. Arunachal Pradesh requires good NGOs which would monitor the government machinery executing various works in the state. By monitoring, I mean that they would act as a tool to educate the people about the government’s initiatives here. As an army officer deployed in Upper Subansiri district, I have seen exploitation of the people by their own government officials. Community-based organizations will further widen the gap between the tribes.
13. Our state is an organism of plural communities. As an individual organ, each community needs welfare, harmony, prosperity, and impartial emphasis by the government, besides self-establishment, preservation of its tradition and culture, and so on. These are being done by the so-called community-based organisations within their own purviews. And the overall development, both social and civilizational, within every community as a result goes to the state in general. Thus, these organisations are tangibly relevant in our state.
14. The CBOs have so far divided the pan-Arunachal society and always work on communal lines and petty selfish issues.
15. It only creates disunity among communities.
16. Community-based organisations have become groups for the elite people and not for the common public. They are being used for personal, political, economical and social gains by its leaders. The common masses are rarely involved in their decision-making processes, and the masses are always sidelined. The CBOs are slowly losing their relevance.
