By going through these Maharashtra State Board Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 8 Development Administration students can recall all the concepts quickly.
Maharashtra State Board Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 8 Development Administration
Introduction
In this chapter, we will study about the meaning, features and evolution of Development Administration. We will also study about the manner in which development administration is implemented in India. Development administration focuses on the socio-political and socio-economic development of the country. It’s emphasis is on projects, programmes and policies aimed at securing the objective of development.
Development Administration
Meaning : Development is a complex term which means improvement, growth or progress. When public administration studies “government in action for development” it becomes Development Administration. According to Edward Weidner, development administration “is the process of guiding an organisation toward the achievement of progressive political, economic and social objectives that are authoritatively determined in one manner or the other”.
An approach to have innovative planning towards growth is called Development Administration.
The need for this was felt due to limitations in the traditional approach to public administration, which covered areas such as,
- Organization of government machinery
- management of different tasks like leadership, planning, etc.
- personnel administration i.e., recruitment, training of personnel
- financial administration e.g., budget, audit, etc
- administrative law e.g., tribunals for dispute resolution.
The new approach to public administration and public policy focuses on socio-economic development, political modernization and adaptation of new technologies in administration.
Development Administration has two important aspects viz. –
- Administration of development – setting development goals and achieving them through the medium of administration.
- Development of administration — existing system has to be improved so as the achieve the goals.
Evolution Of Development Administration
After the Second World War, several Asian and African nations became independent. They did not want a government which merely carried out routine administration like law and order, external security, revenue, etc. These countries had heterogeneous societies, struggling economies and faced serious challenges like hunger, poverty and socio-economic inequality.
They needed planned and properly executed government action which would be holistic i.e., focusing on social change, political development and economic growth. The government was to become the instrument of development by taking up tasks like centralized economic planning, promotion of industrial growth, provision of social services and encouraging people’s participation, in governance. The concept of the Welfare State’ which had dominated the early part of the 20th century grew stronger. The State was expected to play a key role in the promotion of economic and social well-being of it’s citizens.
Features Of Development Administration
(i) Change oriented – Development administration seeks to re-orient towards development goals in the socio-economic and political sphere through transformation, innovation and growth. In India, after Independence, the two biggest challenges before the government were food scarcity and poverty and economic backwardness. Hence, the focus was on agriculture as well as on industrial and infrastructural development.
(ii) Output oriented – Development administration seeks to achieve certain outcomes on the basis of clear, quantitative norms of performance. This focus on targets, motivates the administration to produce the desired results, for e.g., pegging a target of 8 – 10% growth rate for the economy is a reasonable goal to be achieved.
(iii) Citizen participation – It is necessary that people actively participate in the development processes of planning, implementation and evaluation e.g., 73rd and 74th amendments are a landmark in the evolution of grassroot democratic institutions both in rural and urban areas in India.
(iv) Public commitment – The process of development is filled with challenges and barriers. Hence, the civil servants (bureaucracy) need to have a strong sense of involvement, commitment and concern to achieve the development objectives.
Development Administration In India
Post Independent India was struggling to rise from the ill-effects of colonial exploitation i.e., from poverty
and under development.
The goals of development in India were directed towards this objective.
These include –
- Modernisation of the Economy – The focus was on industrialisation, which would increase employment facilities as well national income.
- Land Reforms – This aimed to free up land which was concentrated in the hands of a few landholders (zamindars)
- Agriculture – The focus was to reduce rural poverty by developing agriculture. The use of machines, better fertilizers and pesticides, high yielding seeds and irrigation facilities would help to increase the agricultural production.
- Self-reliance – Although foreign aid was accepted by India for it’s industrial and infrastructural development, it did not want to be dependent on foreign capital for a long time.
- Socialist pattern of economy – India decided to adopt the socialist pattern of economy towards creating a Welfare State and reducing inequalities of wealth and income. The Planning Commission was created and 5 year plans were implemented.
Development Programmes In India
- For agriculture employment and rural development, programmes such as Community Development Programme (CDP-1952), Green Revolution (1966-67), Integrated Rural Development Programme (1980), JRY (1989), MGNREGA (2005).
- For poverty eradication – Twenty Point Programme (1975).
- For infrastructure – Command Area Development Programme (1975), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (2000), JNNURM (2005)
- For social welfare – Midday meal scheme (1995), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (2014), Udaan (2017)
- Aadhaar – a unique identification number created by the UIDAI.
Niti Aayog National Institution For Transforming India)
The Planning Commission was the apex planning body set up after Independence. India has adopted Five Year Plans which identified short-term and long-term goals of development in areas such as agriculture, irrigation, industrialization, infrastructure, social security, etc. In 1991, the New Economic Policy focused on economic liberalization. The Planning Commission has now been replaced by the NITI Aayog (established on 1st January 2015). The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of NITI Aayog. Since India has moved from centralized planning to decentralized planning, this body proposes grassroots level planning from village and district levels to be harmonized with state-level planning and finally with national planning. There is a Governing Council comprising of the Chief Ministers of all 29 states and of Delhi and Puducherry and Lt. Governors of Union Territories. The Vice-Chairman is Rajiv Kumar and CEO is Amitabh Kant (as of 2019).