State perspective

In the mixed economy, state is a major agent of development. From the perspective of the state India continues to have the problems of poverty, illiteracy, high mortality, lack of adequate participation of minorities and women, etc. For this purpose the Government of India has evolved the framework of inclusive growth. Not only the successive Five Year Plans but also various policy documents of different ministries including statements of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) exhibit government’s concerns, approaches and strategies to solve these problems. This has produced some results. After independence India has made great strides in economic and social development which would not have been possible if state did not play a major role in planning.

Yet, the state has certain limitations. State perspective is usually determined by the thinking of the UN agencies, WB, IMF, other international organizations, and international collaborations. Sometimes it is also determined by the politics of vote bank in which political leaders who claim to represent a sizeable section of votes exert greater influence on state policy. Once a problem is identified it is followed by construction of indicators, targets, choice of strategies and programs, earmarking resources for the programs aimed at solving the problems, followed by evaluation and monitoring of programs. All this becomes part of Plans and policies. Sometimes there is a gap between planning and people’s felt needs. This is most obvious in case of rural development. Central Government runs a large number of programs for various target groups for different regions. Although in a significant way power has been transferred to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for both implementing programs and resource generation they remain dependent on government funding, administration and political leaders.A village head is a part of decisions regarding selection of beneficiaries under a particular program or scheme but he cannot choose whether he wishes to spend more on Program A or Program B. Government facilities are inadequate and unreliable (from the perspective of people). In a evaluation of innovative housing scheme of Ministry of Rural Development in selected villages of UP, the villagers asked me: if they do not want the kind of houses constructed under the scheme why can’t they get the same amount to open a primary school in the village (they did not have a primary school in the village)? I had no answer. The bottom-up approach to development can solve some such problems.