ABSTRACT
The growing debate about Indian voluntary agencies, their role and contribution, clearly shows the new social reality of this historical juncture. Any discourse on voluntary agencies needs to take into account the character of the state and its relations with voluntary agencies. After independence, India is called a liberal democracy. Unlike military dictatorships or single party states, the situation of liberal democracies is rather complex. In such a set-up, the state had begun to play an increasingly important role in the area of development. Non-government organizations have played a variety of complex roles; sometimes collaborating with the state, its agencies and officials in order to plan and implement particular development programmes. They have also questioned the role of the state in perpetuating existing inequality and injustice which tends further to marginalize the poor and the oppressed. It is in these situations that the role of NGOs and their relationship with the government becomes most interesting.
