A Big Draw

Driven by the need to contribute to society, more youngsters are turning to NGOs.

- Smruti Kasulwar

The non-government sector has come of age in India over the last decade or so. Studies have shown that there has been a significant rise in the number of NGOs in the recent past.

In 2015, the CBI’s exercise to map registered NGOs had disclosed that India had at least 31 lakh NGOs. This was the first-ever such exercise undertaken in the country. Three years later, the numbers must have most certainly risen and the reasons for it could be a legion, ranging from growing entrepreneurial spirit and rising wealth to increasing social inequality.

But the boom in the social sector has also led to another novel phenomenon. The non-profit sector is attracting more and more youngsters and has thrown open many new avenues and horizons for them. Youngsters have been choosing to work with NGOs with the aim to contribute towards making a change in society and in people’s lives. It is common today to see young men and women armed with MBA degrees, who could have easily landed a swanky job in the corporate sector, choosing to work with non-profits. In fact, globally too, more and more millennials are now looking for purposeful and meaningful work. A PwC report, Millennials at Work–Reshaping the workplace, states that “millennials want their work to have a purpose, to contribute something to the world and they want to be proud of their employer.”