Undermining Local Democracy: Parallel Governance in Contemporary South India: Parallel Governance in Contemporary South India by Lalita Chandrashekhar

Author:Lalita Chandrashekhar [Chandrashekhar, Lalita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ethnic Studies, Public Affairs & Administration, Social Science, Political Science, Sociology, Regional Studies, General
ISBN: 9781317809357
Google: CP0jAwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 21555750
Publisher: Routledge India
Published: 2011-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

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Watershed Development

The Society mode of implementation of development programmes, as we have seen in the previous chapter, has made huge demands on the institutional mechanisms hitherto employed for ‘development’ in various fields. It has necessitated the setting up of autonomous Societies, placed in a mission mode, ostensibly to do away with the bureaucratization and red tape that is seen to have hampered development so far. It is therefore seen as an attempt to increase efficiency in the delivery of social services to the people.

However, does this mode of implementation actually result in greater efficiency and social justice of development programmes in the fields of education, health, watershed development and what-have-you? If that is the case, then perhaps this mode of implementation may well be justified. In order to understand this problem, we will take up three indices to gauge the efficiency and social and economic justice brought to the table by this mode of implementation. These are (i) participation; (ii) sustainability; and (iii) equality.

Participation of the people in their own development became an important criterion of efficiency after the failure of the Community Development Programme in the 1950s, which was perceived, and quite rightly so, as due to the lack of people’s participation in them. Sustainability is an important criterion of efficiency, as its absence results in an undoing of all the work that has gone into the project once the project period is over. It negates all concerns regarding cost, productivity and output, which are important factors of efficiency. Third, the criterion of equality is important from the point of view of social and economic justice, as in a poor country like India, development that leads to greater inequality will lead to a tremendous strain on the body politic, in the process challenging its democratic framework. Article 38 of the Directive Principles of the Constitution bears this in mind when it gives an important role to the State in minimizing inequality. It says, ‘The State shall, in particular, strive to minimize the inequalities in income, and endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only among individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations.’ Further, Article 39 of the Directive Principles says that the State shall direct its policy towards securing that ‘the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment’.

In order to look at participation, sustainability and equality in a development project, we have chosen the Watershed Development Society for examination. The reason for taking up watershed activities is that this field, by its very nature, demands collective action as many aspects of watershed development require co-ordination between neighbours and among communities. In other words, ‘participation’ is the sine qua non for success in the field of watershed development.

Watershed Development

A watershed is a contiguous area draining into a single water body or a water course. In other words, it is a topographical area having a common drainage.

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