Efforts by the state to reduce poverty and improve rural livelihoods in mountainous and none mountainous regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan have gain modest success. The vacuum created by the state and non-government organisations (NGOs) in the discourse of rural development is (sometimes) filled by social movements that may include village-level organisations and religious non-profit organisations. Such organisations assert that they are deeply rooted in the traditional and religious culture of the province, and that they are in a better position to address the issues related to prevailing rural poverty and inequality in the marginalised areas. These organisations and movements sometimes even challenge the state departments in providing basic services to the rural communities. Keeping in view the above notion the present research is designed to analyse both qualitatively and quantitatively the social organisations in a broader perspective of civil society.

The results showed that the organisations working in the study region can be broadly categorised into the organisations working for rural development / human rights, cultural identity and religious identity. As compared to the state departments, the staff members of so called culturally and traditionally rooted organisations perceive that they address real needs and demands of local rural community. Besides material wellbeing of rural people, non-material wellbeing (e.g. voice/power, dignity, social justice etc.) are also the main indicators of reducing poverty and inequality. In this regard these local organisations address the non- material wellbeing of the community other than the material wellbeing. In most of the cases at the district and provincial level, these organisations had strong bonding and networking with other organisations on different issues e.g. child rights, women rights, rights of forest users and owners, rights of growers and landless labourers.  Working strategies of state vis-à-vis non-state organisations have also been analysed in the paper.