At the mela, organisations working for orphans and slum children, women, disabled people and the aged, are getting an opportunity to display and discuss their work, and sell products made by their beneficiaries.

The Concern India Foundation (CIF), a public charitable institution, works to make disadvantaged individuals self-reliant by giving financial and other aid to organisations that provide them education, health facilities and vocational training.

CIF reaches out in various ways to over 100 Indian NGOs through its offices in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Calcutta. In 1995, the Foundation began organising an exhibition which not only brought together NGOs working in thesocial sector but also created awareness about the commendable work they were doing for underprivileged people. The activity gathered momentum, and the Mela soon became a meeting ground for no less than 96 NGOs. This year, though, the number of participant organisations is down to 55 for want of space.

Sujata Agrawal, manager, communication and public awareness at the Concern India Foundation, says that over the last four years the NGO Mela has grown in strength and is today the only exhibition of its kind in Mumbai. ``It brings together various organisations that are working for the common good and broadens their vision. So one NGO may see another doing some good work, and would like to emulate or replicate. They can exchange ideas and maybe come together and collaborate on certain projects.''

That the affair has been successful thus far can be gauged from the fact that over 10,000 people visited the fair last year. ``It makes one really happy to see ordinary citizens so interested in the activities ofNGOs,'' says Agrawal. ``They help the cause even if they buy the products being sold at the stalls, for this money is then routed to welfare activities.''

Fund-raising is an important aspect of the Mela. The NGOs will display and sell a variety of items like leather and jute bags, beaded necklaces, home-made pickles and jams, gift items, greeting cards and stationery, cane furniture, terracotta pots, block-printed fabric and other handicraft items.

These items are made as part of their vocational training and rehabilitation programmes. Of course, no fair would be complete without a large number of food stalls. So Concern India has taken care of this aspect. Other regular `mela' activities include `mehndi' tattoos, hair-braiding, making portraits and sketches, and yes, fortune-telling.

Two organisations associated with the NGO Mela for the last couple of years have opted out this time because of financial constraints. In any case, an important mission of the fair is to acquaint NGOs with potentialcorporate sponsors and donors. Colgate Palmolive, Alliance Capital and S Kumar's are sponsoring the fair this year, while KPMG Peat Marwick is the co-sponsor. It is for the first time that the Mela has found a press sponsor in The Financial Express.

Agrawal says corporate visitors who are looking for deserving charities in which to invest their support find a host of worthy organisations at the NGO Mela. ``The corporate sector can contribute towards the many developmental tasks being undertaken for the welfare of children, handicapped persons or underprivileged sections of society. There are well-known organisations like CRY and Akanksha, as also the lesser known ones which could do with help,'' she says.

The past couple of months have been spent sending out mailers to participants and invitees, garnering media support, putting up posters at public places in the city, organising the venue and the stalls. Of course, now is the acid test, but it does look like the NGOs will come good.