Thread by @sssingh21

1. Vestige of #colonialism continue to exist. The aid industry is also part of that. The #BlackLivesMatter campaign has triggered debate on #colonialism and #racism prevailing in the aid sector. Would it help addressing the problem? Would be premature to reach to a conclusion.

2. I have been working in the sector for over three decades and faced discrimination numerous times because of my nationality, complexion and also religion. Will share some experiences today. Before that, let's see how colonialism gets defined. #DecoloniseAid

3. Colonialism is a practice of domination and subjugation of one people/institution to another. It broadly has four characteristics:

-political & legal domination
-economic & political dependence
-exploitation
-racial & cultural inequality

We find all of them in aid sector

4. Years ago I joined an INGO in Delhi. I worked hard and the organisation grew, not only in India but in South Asia. However, I didn't grow with the organisation as I wasn't a national of the country from where the INGO had originated. #DecoloniseAid

5. The country head could have also be a national of that country. I saw, people with 2-3 years of experiencing becoming my supervisors despite my years of experience and competence. #DecoloniseAid

6. When a new country head arrived, she chose to rent a farmhouse, with swimming pool, to stay. The annual rent of her accommodation was higher than most of the rural projects we were supporting. #DecoloniseAid

7. Someone rightly said, 'the best life is to get salary of the First World and live in the Third World'.

And this used to the lifestyle of expatriates (meaning a white European or North American), until the government started controlling expatriate recruitment.

8. I had a good relation with an intergovernmental organisations from where I mobilised millions of dollars of projects for disaster response. But that organisation also had a prerequisite of appointing an expatriate to manage projects, as only they could be trusted not Indians.

9. So, I will do most of the work and then an expatriate would be recruited to get 8-9 times more salaries than me. Even then I would be doing most of the work. #DecoloniseAid.

10. Now the situation has changed and expatriates are not recruited. But that has created a new set of White Mughals. Remember, Britishers didn't rule over us because they outnumbered us. They ruled us by recruiting Indians to rule over us. #DecoloniseAid.

11. These White Mughals, earning high salaries follow the international policies to work in India. Because of them each INGO claims being Indian as now almost 100% staff is Indian sans the policies and strategies. #DecoloniseAid.

12. Now East India Companies are no more British. Each claims being Indian and they have significantly marginalised the Indian homegrown organisations. Indian NGO culture was significantly different until 80s, but now Western soft power has changed that. #DecoloniseAid

13. There is now significant corporatisation of the humanitarian/development sector, where many people work to earn good salaries instead of serving the marginalised or disaster affected people. #DecoloniseAid

14. Performance is appraised not on the basis of number of people one has served, but the amount of funding one has mobilised. Evidently, Indianised INGOs have more money power to capture domestic fundraising resources, which they have done completely. #DecoloniseAid

15. This financial hegemony has also resulted into exploitation of local NGOs and risk transfer to them, which was so evident during #Covid19 response. Most of the ground work was handed over to them without adequate health & insurance cover.

16. Most of the local NGO staff, live with perpetual financial insecurity. They get (low) salaries, whenever there is a funding. They rarely get social security benefit. And it's because the financial resources are largely captured by INGOs who pay rich salary to their staff.

17. In my career, I have mostly worked with faith based NGOs, and I was often suggested to convert myself. In most of the disaster responses, I heard people talking about taking it as an opportunity to save perishing souls (saving them by converting). #DecoloniseAid

18. This is why, establishment of @humanaidint is not establishment of one more NGO. It's a mission - a mission to reform humanitarian/development architecture and to #DecoloniseAid in India. The task is not easy, but we shall accomplish it.