Socio-Cultural Group is a term which is used on the island of Mauritius to refer to private organisations whose primary objectives are to consolidate human and moral values, strengthen the family unit and promote religious and cultural values.
[1] Some of the earliest socio-cultural groups which have survived are the Cutchee Meiman Sunnee Mussulman Society (CMSMS) which was founded in 1852 and the Surtee Sunnee Mussulman Society (SSMS) which dates back to 1890.
[3] In the 1940s the Jan Andolan was founded by Basdeo Bissoondoyal when he returned from his higher studies in India.
Jan Andolan volunteers contributed to the record participation in the 1948 general elections by teaching eligible adults how to write and sign their name in one of the island's many languages at the Baitkas located in villages and sugar estates.
There was a substantial increase in the number of socio-cultural groups following the government's decision in 1962 to subsidise them using state funds.
These groups started to play a direct role in politics from the 1963 General Elections.
[5] Socio-cultural groups are nowadays heavily involved in local politics and they are generally headed by lobbyists.
[6][7] Some of these lobbyists have even been political nominees on the board of several para-statal bodies and government organisations.
There is also an absence of financial audits of these organisations although they receive substantial government funding.
[8][9] There are a large number of socio-cultural associations which receive direct funding from the government of Mauritius.
Each group's political allegiance changes depending on local conditions and deals that have been made with the main official political parties of Mauritius in exchange for positions as board members in state-run companies, or for promised concessions or change in legislation to favour the group's members.
[10][11] Critics have suggested that the government should enact fundamental changes in order to remove the involvement of socio-cultural groups in politics and to ensure that they return to their original objectives of promoting religious and cultural values only.