Development – Introduction

UNIT 1 DEVELOPMENT – INTRODUCTION and Paradigm

AND PARADIGMS

Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Development: Its Meaning and Variants
1.3 Development Paradigms
1.4 Let Us Sum Up
1.5 References and Selected Readings
1.6 Check Your Progress - Possible Answer

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Development is an easy word to say, but a difficult and complicated one to define.
Although, the term is used abundantly in common parlance, as well as in academic
discourse, yet, its definition has always remained as a debated issue amongst
social scientists. However, development, and its related terms, remain fundamental
to contemporary thinking.
After going through this unit you should be able to
• define development and paradigm of development
• discuss various development paradigms

1.2 DEVELOPMENT: ITS MEANING AND

VARIANTS
After the Second World War, and, with the independence of the Asian and African
countries from the colonial rule, the developmental priorities of these nations
become subjects of study of the USA and other western countries. Since the per
capita real income in all these countries was conspicuously low, high priority
was given to developmental programmes which could help Asian and African
countries realize the maximum possible growth rate. In this process, several
factors cropped up, such as education, health, sanitation, poverty eradication,
and malnutrition. It was in this connection that the importance of development
was realized. Development is no longer considered to be the same as growth, as
it was earlier perceived by developed world. Development economists are no
longer impressed by the growth performance of the economy reflected in terms
of rise in GNP; rather, they concentrate more directly on development processes.
The differences between the terms, growth, and development, urged social
scientists to begin to define the term, development.

Development and its related terms remain fundamental to contemporary thinking.

There is no agreement among developmental thinkers regarding a common
definition of development. Some say it is an increase in income and productivity
while others lay emphasis on the quality of life, provision of basic needs,
happiness, and wellbeing. Some of the definitions of development, given by a
few developmental economists are discussed below.
5
Development – An Overview Gunar Myrdal (1960), treats development as an upward movement of the whole
social system by providing better living condition, viz. adequate food, better
housing, improved facilities for health, education and training, and the general
improvement of cultural facilities, which are all desirable.

According to Bernstein (1973), “development embodies a value judgment, as it

encompasses the desirability for overcoming malnutrition, poverty, and diseases
which are the most immediate and widespread aspects of human suffering. In
positive terms, it advocates a commitment to development that transcends the
limiting term of economic growth to embrace such features as social justice,
equality of opportunity, full employment, equitable distribution of income, and
basic political freedom.”

The International Labour Organization (ILO, 1976) insists on incorporating the

basic needs strategy in the development plans for developing countries. First, a
plan should include the minimum requirements of a family for private
consumption: adequate food, shelter, and clothing, and the necessary household
equipment and furniture. Second, it would include essential services provided
by, and for, the community, such as safe drinking water, sanitation, public
transport, and health and education facilities.

According to Seers (1979), the three additional requirements for the use of the
term development are a decrease in poverty and malnutrition, a decline in
inequality, and improvement in the employment situation.

According to Meir (1995), development means growth plus change; there are
essential quality dimensions in the development process that extend beyond the
growth or expansion of an economy through a simple widening process.

According to Amartya Sen (1999), a country can grow rapidly but still do badly
in terms of literacy, health and life expectancy. Sen interprets development as a
process that expands what he terms, the entitlements and capabilities, of the
people. He opined that instead of concentrating on national product or aggregate
income, development economists should concentrate on the entitlements of people
and the capabilities these entitlements generate.

According to Cypher and Dietz (2009), development incorporates the diverse

and broad aspirations of, what might be called, the ‘good life’, in all its economic,
social, and political dimensions. They were of the view that development is
about realizing very fundamental human values, and finding the means to extend
the fruits of these values to the greatest majority of the world’s population.

According to Tadaro, “development is both a physical reality and a state of mind

in which society has, through some combination of social, economic, and
institutional processes, secured the means for obtaining a better life.” In order to
achieve development, all society must have at least the following three objectives
1) to increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustaining
goods such as food, shelter, health, and protection to all members of society.
2) to raise levels of living, higher incomes, provide more jobs, better education,
and more attention to cultural and humanistic values. These all are required
not only to enhance material wellbeing but to generate greater individual
6
and national self-esteem
3) to expand the range of economic and social choice to individuals and nations Development – Introduction
and Paradigm
by freeing them from servitude and dependence, not only in relation to
other people, nation, and states, but to the forces of ignorance and human
misery.

Adiseshiah termed development, ‘growth with social justice’. Adiseshiah, in

the 1960s, extended the Horrod Domar Model by including various other
dimensions of development. The model as written by him is
Y1 = f (L1, K1, T1, R1, S1)
Y1 = The total output during a period of time T
L1 = Labour
K1 = Capital
T1 = Technical knowledge
R1 = Natural resources
S1 = All social, educational, cultural and political factors
According to Adiseshiah (1990), development is the removal of poverty,
unemployment, inequality, illiteracy, and ill health, and, is one of ensuring
participation in government.

The Millennium Development Goals declared by the United Nations General

Assembly on September 8, 2000 delineate the paradigm of development for the
nation state. Those are
Group-1 : Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger
Group-2 : Achieve universal primary education
Group-3 : Promote gender equity and empower women
Group-4 : Reduce child mortality
Group-5 : Improve maternal health
Group-6 : Combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Group-7 : Ensure environmental sustainability
Group-8 : Develop a global partnership for development

Thus, from this review, it is clearly observed that development is not merely
raising economic growth, but that it goes much beyond it, and economic growth
is one of the components.
Some of the important components of development could be
• increase in income and productivity
• increase in social welfare through the provision of better healthcare and
education
• increased access to basic needs, i.e., food, clothing, and shelter
• enhanced choices and opportunities
• increase in income and employment opportunities
• reduction of disparities
7
Development – An Overview • Enhance quality of life of the people by way of increased and improved
social services
• reduction of poverty, malnutrition, and diseases
• increased access to potable drinking water and sanitation
• provision of infrastructure facilities for better living conditions such as road,
electricity, and information gadgets.
After reading this section, you will have gained an idea about the term,
development. Now you should be able to answer the questions given in Check
Your Progress 1.

Check Your Progress 1

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit
1) Development is a multi-dimensional concept — illustrate.
.......................................................................................................................
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.......................................................................................................................
2) Discuss various components of development.
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1.3 DEVELOPMENT PARADIGMS

Thomas Kuhn in his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, tried to
popularize the term, paradigm. According to Kuhn, a paradigm is a “universally
recognized scientific achievements that, for a time, provide model problems and
solutions to a community of practitioners”. Kuhn used the term, paradigm, due
to the tremendous shift in the scientific worldview, from the mechanistic approach
of Newton to the realistic one of Einstein. Hussain (2003) has remarked that a
paradigm, according to Kuhn, is a framework of thought within which questions
are posed, and, answers, pursued. In other words, a development paradigm is a
way of perceiving development in terms of its manifestations, process, and causes
through a certain prism. According to Sato and Smith, ODII (1993), a paradigm
shift in development, to be minimally consistent with Kuhn’s concept, would
need to meet three conditions: (i) it must provide a metatheory, that is, one that
serves to explain many other theories; (ii) it must be accepted by a community of
practitioners; and (iii) it must have a body of successful practice, ‘exemplars’,
8
that are held up as ‘paradigms’ in practice. To them and according to the Development – Introduction
and Paradigm
metatheory, development should be people-centred; democratically organized;
responsive to the whole environment, not only the ecological and the economic,
but also the political, social and cultural and balanced, for example between
centre and periphery, between public and private, between the roles of men and
women. The Johannesburg Growth and Development Strategy outline,
Development Paradigm as an in-principle argument for how to conceptualize
and overcome the development challenges confronting nations. Some of the
principles which they included are sustainable and inclusive development, basic
needs, a focus on people and not on place, and decentralized development
strategies. The ODII (Organizing for Development, an International Institute)
report, while defining the term, development paradigm, has mentioned that
“development must be human-centered, coming from within, rather than imposed
from the outside. In addition, the center of effort in development needs to shift
from resource-based strategies to interactive or participative strategies.”

V.R. Panchamukhi, in his article, ‘New Paradigms of Development’ has the

following observations about development
i) development can no longer be identified as a process of shifting surplus
labour from agriculture to the industrial sectors
ii) growth is no longer the guarantor for trickle down effects
iii) market as an instrument for ensuring optimum allocation of resources has
been discredited
iv) concepts such as take off, big push, great support, backward and forward
linkages, have also lost their essence.

Therefore, he said that simplistic paradigms of the development economics are

no longer valid. The existence of large pockets of poverty, despite a long period
of planned development, widening gaps between the haves and have-nots, neglect
of the inadequacies of the social aspects of development, such as education,
health, and other basic needs, have cast doubts on the utility of received paradigms
of development. Development, in the sense customarily perceived as growth
and increase in income, no longer persists.
Some of the facets of the development paradigm are
• development not only means the increase of GNP, but includes aspects such
as social, human, cultural, and political dimensions
• the focus has shifted from the one sector model to dual sector models, for
example, rural-urban; agriculture and industry linkages, etc.
• the shift from a centralized to a decentralized model, for faster development.
• inclusive development, where every individual participates in development
processes, and exclusion is minimal.
• linkages of the national economy with the international economies, and the
role of FDI in development of the developing economy.
• development with a humane face removing poverty, hunger, and human
misery from society.

9
Development – An Overview Different paradigms of development are as follows
i) Less Consumerism and More Welfare Paradigm
At the outset, the modern philosophy of development intends to enhance the
human wellbeing. In other words, it wants to move from consumerism
towards welfare and from the concentration of wealth towards the
deconcentration of wealth. Consumerism is guided by selfish motives leading
to malpractice and distortions of the market. The use of terms such as, creative
capitalism, or, benevolent capitalism, are steps towards moving away from
the consumerism of an elite group, voluntary or forced, either of which would
be suitable strategies for better distribution of the benefits of growth. The
existing development paradigm has made man largely into an economic
species by making him more and more materialistic, individualistic, and
self-created. Mahatma Gandhi once said that “complete non-possession is
an abstraction. It can never be fully realized. There is a distinction between
possession and possessiveness. The evil lies not in possession as such, but
in possessiveness …..it is this ( possessiveness) which is the root cause of
conflict.” Consumerism, in general, and imitative consumerism, in particular,
has brought about distortions in the pattern of development. In the new
paradigm of development, economic growth, consisting of the accumulation
of wealth and gross national product, would not be considered as sole
objectives of development.

ii) The Human Development Paradigm

Human beings are the key factors of the development. The concept human
capital came into the development arena in the 1960s. It emphasized the
quality of human capital, their skills and education, for the generation of
wealth, and for the accumulation of capital. Education is regarded as a means
of differentiation of labour skills through making use of one’s mental and
physical talents, or, by developing new ones, which enable one person to
differentiate his labour from that of others (Adiseshiah, 1990). Thus,
education is the seed as well as the flower of development. The income and
wealth of a person would be better enhanced, not by the accumulation of
wealth, but by the accumulation of knowledge. Developed countries like the
US, Japan, and South Korea have grasped the importance of human capital,
better than developing countries. The per capita expenditure on education,
and the expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP are much higher in
developed countries compared to that of developing countries. Harbinson
(1973) says: “human resources constitute the ultimate basis for the wealth
of nations. Capital and resources are passive factors of production. Human
beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources,
build social, economic and political organizations and carry forward national
development. The human resource development is one of the pivotal aspects
of development, which promote economic, social and all other development”.
Human capital plays a significant role in simulating growth and a central, if
not a dominant one, in meeting basic human needs. It is the quality of the
human beings that counts. It is man who builds up the wealth and fabric of a
nation.

The UNDP launched its first Human Development Report in 1990 and
constructed a composite index called the Human Development Index (HDI).
10
 The three important components of HDI are: Life Expectancy- representing Development – Introduction
and Paradigm
a long and healthy life; Literacy-educational attainment; and, Real GDP-
representing a decent standard of living. UNDP (2001) has envisaged that
Human Development is about much more than the rise and fall of national
incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop
that potential, and lead productive and creative lives according to their needs
and interests. It considers that the people are the real wealth of a nation. The
National Human Development Report – 2001, Government of India, had a
consensus and a broad-based view about human development. It viewed
development in terms of three critical dimensions of wellbeing: those are
related to long life - the ability to live long and healthy lives; education-
ability to read, write, and acquire knowledge; and, command over resources
- the ability to enjoy a decent standard of living, and have socially meaningful
lives.

iii) Basic Needs Paradigm

The basic needs approach is an attempt to deal directly with poverty in the
fields of food, nutrition, sanitation, health, education, and housing. The ILO
(International Labour Organization) has indicated two crucial elements in
the Basic Needs Approach: (i) first, they include certain minimum
requirements of a family for private consumption, i.e., adequate food, shelter,
and clothing, as well as certain household equipment and furniture; and (ii)
second, they include essential services provided by, and, for the community
at large, such as safe drinking water, sanitation, public transport, health,
education and cultural facilities. Todaro (1977) mentioned that development
in all societies must have at least the following three objectives: (i) to increase
the availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustaining goods such
as food, shelter, health, and protection; (ii) to raise the level of living
including, in addition to higher incomes, the provision of more jobs, better
education and greater attention to cultural and humanistic values, all of which
will serve not only to enhance material well being but also to generate greater
individual and national self esteem; and (iii) to expand the range of economic
and social choices available to individuals and nations by freeing them from
servitude and dependence, not only in relation to other people, but also to
the forces of ignorance and human misery.

iv) Social Development Paradigm

Social development is not only influenced by economic development, it also
influences economic development. Social indicators such as education, health,
women’s empowerment, and participation by the socio-economically
backward people in the development process would promote faster
development. Therefore, social inclusion is, today, considered as one of the
important factors of growth and development. The welfare of women and
children is not only the responsibility of the family but also of society and
the nation. Therefore, national and international agencies have launched many
programmes for the welfare of women and children. The Integrated Child
Development Scheme (ICDS), launched in many developing countries with
the support of UNICEF, is an example of pre-school education and health
care of children, and nutritional care of children and lactating mothers is one
of such examples. It is realized that human, or ,social capital seems to be
more significant for development than material resources. In recent years,
11
Development – An Overview social capital has become one of the important dimensions of human inputs
in community development and wellbeing. Moreover, social development
is influenced by the social norms, values, traditions, etc., which influence
development, directly, or, indirectly. Maiti in his book Development Ethics
gives eight components of social capital, described in Figure 1.1.

Values
State Choice

Market Social Capital Voice

Norms
Civil Society
Actors

Fig.1.1: Social Capital

Source: Maiti, P(2008), Development Ethics, Concept publishing company, New Delhi.

All eight components of social capital play important role in the development
processes. Social capital must be emphasized for the speedy socioeconomic
development of a nation.

v) The Agriculture-Industry Interface Paradigm

Development requires a frequent, equity based interaction between agriculture
and industry. In the dualistic growth models, the relationship between
subsistence agriculture and manufacturing industry is rarely established to
augment growth and development. The modern industrial sector develops
by importing labour, capital and raw materials, while agriculture remains a
subsistent activity. There is poor connection between agriculture and industry.
Customarily, the connection between agriculture and industry is established
by the use of unskilled and semi-skilled labour force from the agriculture to
be used in the industrial sector. In this set up, economic growth and
development are referred to as the transfer of the labour force from subsistence
agriculture to the market oriented industrial sector. In other words, this implies
that industry is associated with everything that is modern and growing, and
agriculture is traditional and stagnant. Agriculture is largely treated as low
in productivity, industry high in productivity, in other words, industry is
considered to be the big brother in the process of development. As a result,
in many developing countries, the contribution of the industrial sector is
seen to be increasing, while the contribution of the agricultural sector to
12
 GDP is either constant, or, slow, or even, diminishing. As industrial Development – Introduction
and Paradigm
employment goals and per capita income expand, the urban demand for
agricultural products increases. This requires a market oriented agricultural
growth and historically this happens only in a few countries where agriculture
faces genuine negligence. Agricultural economists cite the example of Japan
from the Meiji revolution to World War I, when agriculture and industrial
development went forward, concurrently.

Therefore, for balanced development, both agriculture and industry must be

interdependent and help one another for their mutual promotion. One example
of triangular trade-off between agriculture, industry, and the rest of the world
is the Brazilian growth process, from the 1930s to the early 1960s, which is
described in Figure-I. In this model, agriculture (A) sells coffee to the world
(W) and buys manufacturing products from industry (I) which, in turn,
requires capital good from foreign markets.
W

Machines
Coffee

A T
Manufactures

Fig. 1.2: Brazilian pattern of trade between agriculture, industry and the rest of the world

Another type of interlink between agriculture and industry is the establishment

of agro-processing industries for the advancement of agriculture.

Market

Agro-based
Agriculture industries

Fig.1.2: The interlinks between agriculture and industry

The effective linkage between the agriculture and industries is, today, a
development agenda pursued by countries for the concurrent development
13
Development – An Overview of both agriculture and industry. Unless strong linkages are established and
maintained between agriculture and industry, either sector will face demand
bottlenecks, thereby retarding the overall pace of growth and development.
V.R. Panchamukhi (1990), in his analysis remarks that for a large number of
developing countries, from 1970 to 1984, there is a significant positive
relationship between the growth rate of GDP and the strength of linkages
between manufacturing and agriculture (as measured by the elasticity of
manufacturing GDP, with respect to agriculture GDP). Therefore, it is being
increasingly realised that the strength of the agriculture-industry linkages
influences the pace of development, and weak linkages between agriculture
and industry would have detrimental effects on both the sectors, as well as
on the economy. In the new paradigm of development, this is given serious
consideration.

vi) Decentralization and Development Paradigm

Decentralization of functions, functionaries, and funds to the local self
governments has proved to be an effective strategy for development in many
countries. The Local Government declaration to the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, held in 2002, maintains that: “We live in an
increasingly interconnected, interdependent world. Local government cannot
afford to be insular and inward looking.”. In the Indian context, Gandhiji
maintained that “Independence must begin at the bottom, and every village
will be a republic of panchayats having full powers. It is, therefore essential,
that every village has to be self sustained and capable of maintaining its
affairs even against the whole world. It will be trained and prepared to perish
in the attempts to defend itself against any onslaught”. The decentralized
model adopted by the Scandinavian countries in Europe, and in Kerala of
India has enabled these nations and state to achieve all round development.
The decentralization of economic decision making and implementation would
not only reduce the cost of development, but would also ensure more equitable
distribution of the fruits of development.

National Government

Bottom Up Top down

Approach Approach

Regional Government

Local Self Government

Fig. 1.3
14
 The top-down centralized approach is more instructive and less participatory Development – Introduction
and Paradigm
as compared to the bottom-up approach. Further, the top-down approach is
too bureaucratic in nature and allows less room for peoples’ participation.
The bottom up approach has been found to be a more successful approach,
to facilitate faster development. The paradigm of development in recent years
is shifting from the highly centralized towards the decentralized system.
However, the decision maker at the bottom level must be given complete
freedom to exercise their power with less bureaucratic interventions.

vii) Inclusive Development Paradigm

The concept of inclusive growth and development has gained wider emphasis
in many countries, particularly in developing countries, including India. The
UNDP (2008) has defined inclusive growth, laying emphasis on the
production and income side of GDP as :“the process and the outcome, where
all group of people have participated in the organization of growth, and
have benefited from it. Thus, inclusive growth represents an equation-with
organization on the left hand side and benefits on the right hand side.”.
Inclusive growth is achieving a growth process in which people in different
walks in life participate and benefit from the process of growth and
development. In inclusive development, contributions made by each
individual are valued. Thus, inclusive growth, by very definition, implies an
equitable allocation of resources with benefits accruing to every section of
the society. Inclusive development can have several dimensions.
• It is a development process in which every individual feels included.
• It includes the excluded groups such as women, disabled and other
marginalized sections in the process of development. They not only
receive benefits, they also contribute equally to growth and development.
They are not treated as passive beneficiaries of the fruits of development,
but are active participants in the development process.
• It gives equal emphasis to both rural and urban development. The urban
bias is minimized and an equal emphasis is placed on the balanced
development of both rural and urban sectors.
• In inclusive development, all the sectors, both formal, as well as informal,
are equally empowered to contribute towards development.
• The countries experiencing exclusions in different forms, i.e., (i)
regional; (ii) social exclusion within the region; and (iii) sectoral
exclusion must be done away with, as this leads to inequality. This
needs to be understood in the context of access to opportunities in labour
markets, access to benefits from the service delivery mechanism, and,
access to political process.
• The process of development creates opportunity for the poor and
downtrodden to participate in the process of development.

The inclusive development believes that the economic growth achieved

through social exclusion can be neither economically nor socially sustainable.
Only the broadest social participation involving education, health, and
habitation will enable a nation to achieve viable, sustainable, and equitable
development. It can be said that the greatest challenge facing today’s
15
Development – An Overview government is to present a united front to address shared problems. In other
words, inclusive development means development for all, and all for
development.

viii) The Development with a Human Face Paradigm

A landmark development in the formulation and recognition of new human
rights is the declaration of the Right to Development, adopted by the UN
General Assembly on 4th December, 1986. The declaration recognized that
development is a comprehensive, economic, social, cultural, and political
process which aims at the constant improvement of the wellbeing of all, and
of all individuals on the basis of their active, free, and meaningful participation
in development, and, in the fair distribution of benefits resulting therefrom.
The declaration envisages that nations have the right, and a duty to formulate
appropriate national development policies that aim at constant improvement
of the wellbeing of the entire population. Development with a human face
means the removal of poverty, hunger, child labour, human morbidities, and
preventable diseases. It further means that the rich should invest their
resources for the wellbeing of the poorest of the poor, which can be called
benevolent capitalism. It calls for pro-poor policies. Jawaharlal Nehru’s
speech which was delivered in the midnight of the day of independence was
a clear message for development with a human face. Nehru said, “The service
of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of
poverty, ignorance, and diseases, and inequality of opportunity. The ambition
of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every
eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and sufferings, so
long our work will not be over”. Thus, the greatest challenge before the
nation is to have an agenda of development with a human face, i.e., to energize
the economic, social, political and administrative system which delivers with
a human face, working towards the wellbeing of the downtrodden, socio-
economically backwards sections, the disabled, and other excluded groups.

ix) The International vs. National Factors Paradigm

Today, we recognize that we live in a global economy and that no country
can remain de-linked from the rest of the world. The developed countries,
through different multi-lateral organizations, are investing a lot of money
for the economic and social development of developing countries. The impact
of FDIs on various sectors of development is visible in many developing
countries. Krueger (1978), Bhagwati (1985), and Sachs and Warner (1995)
stressed that countries that started exporting early, pursued sober macro-
economic policies, and depreciated their exchange rates performed much
better, economically, than other countries. However, many exponents believe
that reforms should be owned by developing countries, rather than being
imposed by an outside donor. Dogmatic imposition of free market reforms
by the international institutions, especially with regard to the free movement
of capital, threatens the growth prospects of developing countries. However,
in spite of these debates, the relationship between aid flows and development
are stronger after liberalization, privatization and globalization adopted by
various countries, since the beginning of the 1990s. Globalization, the process
which integrates economies across the world through global trade and
investment, has become an economic reality for almost all countries.

16
x) The Sustainable Development Paradigm Development – Introduction
and Paradigm
Sustainable development emerged as an important theme of development in
1987. The Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development, in
its report, “Our Common Future”, called for the application of sustainability
as a criterion for all development initiatives. The commission said that “in
order for development to be sustainable, it must meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.”. Sustainable development has two important goals: (i) Basic needs
for all human beings, i.e., food, clothing, shelter, education, health, and social
security, and ;(ii) it must maintain ecological balance. In order to achieve
this goal all nations and their people need to join hands. Thus, sustainable
development can be looked at from a variety of perspectives, such as
environmental, economic, social, political, cultural, and technological. The
Brundtland Report envisaged that sustainable development requires
i) a political system that secures effective citizen participation in decision
making
ii) an economic system that is able to generate surpluses, and technical
knowledge on self-reliant and sustained basis
iii) a social system that provides for solutions for the tensions arising from
disharmonious development
iv) a production system that respects the obligations to preserve that
ecological base of development
v) a technological system that can search continuously for new solutions
vi) an international system that offers sustainable pattern of trade and finance
vii) an administrative system that is flexible, and has the capacity of self-
correction.
Sustainable development is a holistic approach towards development, where
the sustainable development vision is shared by the sectors, nations and
people. It presupposes that the actors of sustainable development are
interdependent, and, not independent.

xi) Poverty Reduction Paradigm

At the Millennium Summit 2000, the international community agreed on
the Millennium Development Goals - including halving the proportion of
the world’s population living in extreme poverty, by 2015. More than half of
the population in the developing countries, (around 2.8 billion) are living on
less than US $ 2 a day. How to scale up the fight against global poverty is a
new development paradigm of the new millennium. Here, scaling up means
formulating and implementing programmes, policies, or projects in different
places over time and space to fight against poverty. Even replications of
good practices are recommended.

Here are a few of examples of poverty reduction projects, or, programmes,

prepared by Wolfensohn (2004).

• In northeast Brazil, a decade of piloting and expanding rural community

driven programmes has benefited some 7.5 million rural poor, and resulted
17
Development – An Overview in 35,000 community associations and 1500 representative municipal
councils. 90 percent of the project resources directly benefit the people.

• Indonesia’s Kecamatan Community Development Programme benefits about

35 million poor people, expanding from 25 villages in 1998 to 20888 villages
today. The programme gives power to communities by placing funds and
decision making directly in the hands of villages.

• The Yemen Social Development Fund provides clean water, education,

cultural restoration, and health delivery in rugged rural communities, which
decide on their own priorities, contribute a percentage of the costs, and play
a key role in maintaining the services themselves.

One widely quoted example of poverty reduction in India is the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Programme, a poverty reduction programme recently
implemented by the Government of India, in 2002. It has provided unskilled
employment to millions of disadvantaged people, particularly women, Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes in rural areas. It is implemented by the panchayati
raj Institutions. Hussein (2003), in his article on “A New Paradigm for
Overcoming Poverty” has says that “if poverty is to be overcome, what is required
is to understand the processes of poverty creation, and, to identify the points of
intervention in the poverty process through which the poor can be enabled to
overcome poverty on a sustainable basis.”

In this section, you studied various paradigms of development. Now answer the
questions in Check Your Progress 2.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) What are various paradigms of development?
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2) What is meant by inclusive development?
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 Development – Introduction
1.4 LET US SUM UP and Paradigm

Development is an easy word to say, but a difficult and complicated one to define.
Customarily, it has two dimensions: quantitative, and, qualitative. It is also called
growth plus change. There are several paradigms of development such as human
wellbeing, human resources development, social development, sustainable
development, inclusive development, development with a human face, and the
international impact on development paradigms. Thus, development is a multi-
dimensional concept, where the dimensions are interdependent.

1.5 REFERENCES AND SELECTED READINGS

Adiseshiah, M. S. (1990), “The Development Scenerio” in K.S Ramachandran
(ed.) Development Perspectives, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi,
92-106.
Bernstein, H. (1973), Underdevelopment and Development, Penguin Book Ltd.,
London.
Bhagwati, J.N. (1985), Development and Interdependent Essays in Development
Economics, Vol. 2, ed. G. Grossman, Oxford: Baril Blackwell, PP. 123-38.
Gillis, M. P., D.H. Roemer, M and Snodgrass, D.R (1996), Economics of
Development, Forth Edition, WW Norton & Company, New York.
Harbinson, H.F. (1973), Human Resources as the Wealth of Nation, Oxford
University Press, New York.
Hussain, A. (2003), “A New Paradigm for Overcoming Poverty”, The Daily
Times, Thrusday, July 10, 2003.
ILO (1976), Employment Growth and Basic Needs, One World Problem,
International Labour Organization, Geneva.
James, D. W. (2004), “A New Paradigm in Poverty Reduction”, http//
www.china.org.cn/English/2004/may/96261.htm
Kruger, A.O. (1978), Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development:
Liberalization attempts and Consequences, NBER, Cambridge, MA, Ballinger.
Meir, G. M. (1995), Leading Issues in Economic Development, Oxford University
Press, Sixth Edition.
Mydral, G. (1968), Asian Drama: An Enquiry into the Poverty of Nations, Penguin
Press.
Narayan, K.R.(1999), Nehru and His Vision, D.C. Books, Kottayam.
ODII(1993), The New Development Paradigm: Organizing for Implementation
1993 Repot, The Magic Interaction, Washington DC.
ODII(1994), Organizing for Development, an International Institute’s 1994
Report, The Magic Interaction, Washington DC.
Panchamukhi, V.R. (1990), “New Paradigms of Development Some Thoughts”,
in K.S. Ramachandran (ed.), Development Perspectives, Vikas Publishing House
PVT.Ltd, pp.152-60. 19
Development – An Overview Pyarelal, (1958), Mahatma Gandhi the Last Phase, Navajivan Publishing House,
Ahmadabad.
Sen, A.K. (1999), Development as Freedom, Anchor Books, New York.
Szirmai, A. (2005), The Dynamics of Socio-Economic Development An
Introduction, Cambridge University Press, London.
Tadaro, M.P. (1977), Economics for a Developing World, Longman, London.

1.6 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
1) Development is a multi dimensional concept - illustrate.
Answer.Development is an easy word to say, but a difficult and complicated
one to define. Development is perceived as economic, social, political, and
cultural development, a process that helps to raise the quality of life of people.
One development scientist define it as both a physical reality and a state of
mind in which society has, through some combination of social, economic,
and institutional processes, secured the means for obtaining a better life.
2) Discuss various components of development.
Answer. Some of the important components of development are
• increase in income and productivity
• increase in social welfare through the provision of better health care
and education
• increased access to basic needs i.e. food, clothing and shelter
• enhanced choices and opportunities
• increase in income and employment opportunities
• reduction of disparities
• enhanced quality of life of the people by way of increased and improved
social services
Check Your Progress 2
1) What are various paradigm of development?
Answer. The various paradigms of development are social development and
promotion of social capital, human development, inclusive development,
sustainable development, interface between agriculture and industry for
mutual benefit to both the sector, and the role of foreign capital in
development. These are a few important paradigms of development.
2) What do you mean by inclusive development?
Answer. Inclusive development is the process and the outcome where all group
of people have participated in the organization of growth, and, have benefited
from it. Thus, inclusive growth represents an equation, with organization on
the left hand side, and, benefits on the right hand side. Inclusive development
is a development process in which people from different walks of life
participate, and benefit from the process of growth and development. In
inclusive development, contributions made by each individual are valued.
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