ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the experience of Apnalaya – an organisation working in the slums of Bombay – as a means of testing a number of more general propositions about the nature and determinants of NGO accountability under the New Policy Agenda. 1 It is divided into four sections. The first summarises the broad themes to be explored. The second provides a brief overview of the organisation and its work. This is followed by a more detailed exploration of the activities undertaken, and the forms of accountability associated with each one. In a concluding section, we return to the propositions outlined at the beginning of the chapter to ask how relevant they are in the light of Apnalaya’s experience, and what implications they might hold for the future. The main thrust of our argument is that the New Policy Agenda has begun to impinge upon what Apnalaya does, and that some of its implications are indeed negative. At the same time, we aim to show how pressure for greater accountability, if responded to in particular ways, can be converted into a force for positive change.
