Recent years have witnessed growing efforts by governments, the independent sector, the private sector, research institutions and others, aimed at sustainable development. Simultaneously, there has been a growing realization that each of these sectors cannot afford to work in isolation. Collaborations and partnerships are, however, considerably hampered by the lack of timely, reliable and useful information. Consequently, decision making is often based on partial information or the conjectures of vested interests. The Development Alternatives Information Network (DAINET) has been set up to make relevant information available and accessible, in the form and time required for sustainable development efforts.

The DAINET NGO Directory is part of a series of information products being generated to facilitate sustainable development action. This Directory aims to present reliable and factual information on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working at various levels of advocacy, planning, execution and monitoring of sustainable development efforts across the country.

Considering the vast number of NGOs working in India, a set of essential and desirable criteria has been used to carefully screen them. Only those NGOs who fulfill the set criteria have been included. All NGOs included in the Directory necessarily have some form of registration as a society, trust or appropriate equivalent recognized by the responsible regulatory authority. They also have a minimum working experience of three years and an audited statement of accounts available for at least the past three years. In most cases, they have more than three full time staff or more than 25 active members.

The Directory includes detailed information on over 3700 NGOs spread across the country. While it has not been possible to collect information from a few places (such as Jammu and Kashmir, and the islands) care has been taken to include at least one NGO from almost all districts in the other states. The authenticity of the information included in this Directory has been a prime focus of the compilation effort. For this, we have depended heavily on the DAINET partners spread across the country. These Partners have not only screened each of the NGOs against the set criteria and collected precious information within their area of operation, but they have also provided valuable suggestions, comments and criticisms at helped immensely to streamline the project.

The DAINET NGO Directory is presented in 15 Volumes covering various States and regions. Each volume has between 150 to 350 NGOs profiled. The general NGO profile includes: the contactr address and persons, registration, financial and staffing details, aims.The framework of activites is also outlined. The NGO framework includes:the target groups and the themes addresses, and the type of activities prused. Probably the most important for forging new partnerships is the information on the products and services whish the NGOs offer and require. Each NGO has also indicated their interest in collaborating with other partners in the sustainable development arena.

We believe that with the presentation of this level of information in the format outlined, government agencies, business and industrial groups, research institutiona, and national and international donor agencies, will be in a better position to identify their partners in the NGO sector. NGOs will be better able to build up synergistics programmes that address ground requiremenst more effectively. Individual professionals, volunteers, students, interns and others, will be able to identify NGOs with whom they would like to work on a short or long term basis.

Systems have been set up to expand and update the DAINET NGO Directory on a regular basis. While the computerized database will have weekly updates. We hope to generate updated floppy and compact disks annually, and print revised hard copies once every three years.

The DAINET Team is indebted to all of the Indian NGOs who provided valuable information without which this Directory would have materialized. The DAINET NGO Partners across the country have been a continious source of strength. We will be relying heavily on them in the future, also to expand, upgrade and update the Directory, and to advise us on what value added products and services are required to strengthen their sustainable development efforts. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – New Delhi, The Earth Council – Cista Rica, and the ‘Spinning the Web’ programme of the Internatinal Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)-Canada, have provided invaluable susstantive and financial support. We believe that this Directory represents our shared vision.

There has been a stupendous effort to ensure the authencity and reliability of the information presented. However, it is possible that errors and omissions may have occurred. We solicit comments and suggestions for improvement of the content and format. We also welcome requests from NGO who may wish to be included in updated versions of the DAINET NGO Directory.

The DAINET Team