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MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT AND
THEORIES OF MODERNIZATION
Unit Structure :
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Basic concepts
1.2.1 Social change
1.2.2. Evolution
1.2.3 Development
1.2.4 Modernization
1.3 Theories of development
1.3.1 Modernization theory
1.3.2 McClelland and Hagen
1.3.3 Hoselitz
1.3.4 Smelser
1.3.5 Rostow’s stages of growth.
1.4 Summary
1.5 Questions
1.6 References
1.0 OBJECTIVES
To understand the concepts of social change, evolution, growth and
development.
To understand the modernisation theory approach to development.
To critically evaluate the modernisation theory.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The sociology of modernization and development is about people
in the Third World and elsewhere, who have their own ideas of progress,
who live in a socio -economic environment which they cannot fully
control, and who yet have their own cultures. Views of development are
inevitably linked to some idea of progress, which involves a change,
perhaps an evolution, from one state to the other, both of which are real or
idealised.munotes.in
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21.2 BASIC CONCEPTS
1.2.1 Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in
behavior patterns and cultural values and norms. By “significant”
alteration, sociologists mean changes yielding profound social
consequences. Examples of significant social changes having long -term
effect s include the industrial revolution, the abolition of slavery, and the
feminist movement. Encyclopedia Britannica defines social change as the
alteration of mechanisms within the social structure, characterized by
changes in cultural symbols, rules of beha viour, social organizations, or
value systems.
Social change can take place due to a number of causes. Some of
them are as follows:
a.Contact with other societies (diffusion).
b.Population growth and other demographic variables.
c.Ideological, economic, and political movements.
d.Technological change.
1.2.2.Evolution
Throughout the historical development of their discipline,
sociologists have borrowed models of social change from other academic
fields. In the late 19th century, when evolution became the predo minant
model for understanding biological change, ideas of social change took on
an evolutionary cast, and, though other models have refined modern
notions of social change, evolution persists as an underlying principle.
Evolutionary theories believe that societies gradually change from simple
to more complex forms -from traditional to modern. Early sociologists like
Comte, Spencer and Durkheim believed that human societies evolve in
unilinear manner. For Comte human development corresponded with
societal d evelopment where society passed through three stages of social
change -the theological, the metaphysical and the positive stages. Herbert
Spencer compared societies to human organism. Applying Darwin’s
principle of survival of the fittest he argued that so cieties have evolved
from military to industrial stage. Durkheim saw societies move from
mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity characterized by increased
division of labour and specialization. They viewed social change as being
positive; moving towar ds progress and growth that is beneficial to the
society. The evolutionary view of societies moving towards new and
higher levels of civilization is associated with Charles Darwin theory of
organic evolution. The multilinear theory of evolution believes th at all
societies don’t move in the same direction.
1.2.3 Development
Development is not just an economic phenomenon but a multidimensional
process involving reorganization and reorientation of entire economic and
social system. There is no agreed definition of development. It is a
normative term which has at different times meant economic growth,
structural economic change, industrialization, capitalism, socialism etc.munotes.in
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3Development is often confused with economic growth. Economic
growth m eans an increase in Gross Domestic Product, consumption
patterns, government spending and investment, exports and decline in
imports, etc. On the other hand, economic development means changes in
the socio -economic structure of a country like growth of hum an capital
indexes, a decrease in inequality, improvement in the population's quality
of life. Thus economic growth is a necessary condition for development.
However, Amartya Sen world’s famous economist believes that
Development is not just an economic ph enomenon but has to be associated
or linked to what it does to the lives of human beings.
Today in India, Development has become a mask for great
amounts of exploitation and corruption in the tribal areas of India.
According to journalist P Sainath, hu ge amounts of money are allotted for
tribal development but very little of it reaches or benefits the tribals. The
“Robber capitalists” like the Tatas, Mittals, Ambanis have been exploiting
the natural resources of the remote tribal areas of Odisha, Jharkh and,
Chhattisgarh, AP and WB. These men claim to be leading India’s
development and improving the lives of thousands of India’s poor.
Development -induced -displacement has destroyed the lives and
livelihoods of the people especially landless labourers, trib als, destroyed
local communities, depleted water and land resources, caused high
poverty, exposed locals to hazardous diseases and created disparities in
income and wealth among the people.
Todaro’s 3 objectives of development includes raising people’s
standard of living, creating conditions conducive to growth of people’s
self-esteem and increasing people’s freedom by giving them choices.
Human development is defined as a process of enlarging people’s choices
to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire kn owledge and be educated and
to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living. The
human development index is based on 3 indices of development that
includes life expectancy, literacy levels and the standard of living.
Enhancement of life is an integral part of development. Economic
growth and human development are interrelated. While economic growth
provides resources to achieve improvements in human development,
improvements in human capital can play an important role in achieving
econom ic growth. The capability approach has provided the theoretical
foundations for human development. The capability approach as
developed by Sen and Nussbaum refers to what people are able to do and
be i.e. what are their capabilities that can help them enh ance quality of
their lives and remove obstacles that they have more freedom to live.
1.2.4 Modernization
Modernisation is defined as what is ‘up to date’ in a specific
location at any given time. It is usually the result of a process of
‘Westernisation’, involving economic, political, social, and cultural
changes which contrast with a previous ‘traditional’ stability.munotes.in
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4Development is defined as much the same as modernization: a far
reaching, continuous, and positively evaluated change in the totality of
human experience. The difference between the two concepts is that whilst
there need be no argument about modernization, about what is actually
happening, there will inevitably be strong disagreements as to whether or
not development is also occurring. Develo pment, then, is always a valued
state, which may or may not have been achieved in some other social
context, and which may not even be achievable. Development as
Modernization emphasizes process of social change which is required to
produce economic advance ment; examines changes in social,
psychological and political processes. How to develop wealth oriented
behavior and values in individuals; profit seeking rather than subsistence
and self -sufficiency. Shift from commodity to human approach with
investment in education and skill training.
Check your progress
1 Explain the concepts of social change, evolution, growth and
development.
2 Show how modernization and development are interrelated.
1.3 THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
In the past, modernization theorist tended to equate modernization
and development. They focused largely on the ‘new’ nation states, and
assumed that what had occurred in the West could be repeated, albeit with
the little help in the way of capital, technology, experti se and ‘rationality’.
Underdevelopment theorists and other critics of modernization theory
have taken a more hostile attitude to Westernization, arguing that the
expansion of Western capitalism incorporated the Third World into an
exploitative world system , thus leading to its underdevelopment.
1.3.1 Modernization theory
Modernisation theory explained the underdevelopment of countries
in Asia, Africa and Latin America due to the cultural barriers to
development arguing that traditional values held them bac k while some
modernisation theorists focussed on economic barriers to development. In
order to develop less developed country, there is a need to adopt the
capitalist -industrial model of development. There is no one modernization
theory. The beginnings of modernization theory can be traced to 18th
century when evolution of societies was studied in a systematic way.Amunotes.in
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5long, gradual process of social and cultural change considered as
differentiation, a movement through defined stages from the simple to the
complex, has marked Western social thought throughout and dominated
the great eighteenth century program to establish a science of man and
society.
Early modernization study was carried out by Daniel Lerner .I n
‘The Passing of Traditional society’ (1958) he examined the process of
modernization in several Middle East countries. According to him
modernization is a global process, the same the world over where
traditional society is slowly disappearing. In particular, the role of mass
media is crucial, and is associated with cluster of other indices of
development: urbanization, accompanied by an increase in literacy, leads
to an increase in exposure to the mass media. At the same time,
increasingly literate and urbanized population participates in wider
econom ic system. For Lerner, modernity comes about through changes not
only in institutions but also in persons. One of the crucial aspects of
modernization is the development of a ‘Mobile personality’ characterized
by rationality and empathy, which enables newl y mobile persons to
operate efficiently in a changing world. Lerner classified individual
respondents to his questionnaires as traditional, transitional or modern.
From the response, he found that, compared with ‘traditional’ individuals
the ‘modern’ were happier, better informed and relatively young whereas
people who were in the transitional category were unhappy and extremists
especially if the progress was blocked by lack of suitable political
institutions.
Several themes common to early modernization theory are found
in Lerner’s study: the classification of societies as traditional or modern or
transitional, a focus on such indicators of modernity as urbanization and
literacy; exposure to the mass media; the importance given to specific
personality typ es in the process of modernization. In addition values and
their relationship to the wider community are significant factors in
discussion of development.
1.3.2 McCleeland and Hagen
The question of values was also taken by McClelland, a
psychologist who for many years studied how people came to display a
‘need for achievement’, otherwise known as n.ach. By this McClelland
means ‘the desire to do something better, faster, more efficiently, with less
efforts’. McClelland, a social psychologist, attempted t o explain the
differences between societies. He asserted that some societies were more
advanced than others because of differences in cultural and personality
styles. According to McClelland, advancement is caused by the need for
achievement. He claims th at children can develop the need for
achievement through literature that stresses the significance of self -help,
competition and general extroverted behavior. Societies that wish to
become advanced should encourage their young generation and impart
them wi th the values of the need for achievement at the rightmunotes.in
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6time.According to McClelland, advancement and modernization is closely
linked with acquiring modern values of innovation, success and free
enterprise. The cause of underdevelopment is related to the ab sence of
achievement motivation. The desire to do well, to attain an inner feeling of
personal accomplishment is an important requirement for advancement.
In brief McClelland asserts that the need for achievement can be
found in individuals from different cultures, and that this need is
associated with other indicators of development, including economic
growth. As a personality attribute, n.ach developed in children through
literature that emphasizes the value of self -help, competition and generally
outgoingbehaviour. Adults too are able to develop these personality trait,
and McClelland claimed that short training courses for Indian
Businessman had demonstrated that within a few days they become more
adventurous, innovative, enterprising and generally more efficient. He
does not entirely ignore social factors, and accept that the need for
achievement is not the only requirement in modernization. Historical
factors are also imp ortant in determining whether or not specific group
evidence that trait. Finally, at a psychological level, economic success is
seen, by McClelland, as constructed on a desire to prove superiority and to
promote the common goods. Nevertheless, such a desir ec a nb ep r o d u c e d
in a variety of ways, including specific training programming introduced
primarily to promote the growth of the needs of achievement.
Hagen followed McClelland's concept that level of development is
correlated with achievement motivation. He tried to explain why
achievement motivation varies between societies and their classes. In the
traditional society where status of individuals is fixed s tatus quo is
maintained. Children learn to act according to established norms and
deviations are punishable. However external influences might create a new
group challenging the status of the old elite. The insecurities and
frustrations arising from these challenges leads to changed behavior which
has consequences for the family. Children readily accept new values and
in the course of time become innovative personalities. If these persons
become dominant groups in the society then it causes economic
develop ment.
1.3.3 Hoselitz
In the early 1950s, Hoselitz , an economist began to focus on the
differences in social organization between economically advanced and
economically backward countries. His framework depended heavily on the
theory of Pattern Variables g iven by the sociologist Talcott Parsons.
Hoselitz made several distinctions between developed and
underdeveloped countries based on these pattern variables. They are as
follows:munotes.in
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7a.Developed countries tend to be achievement -oriented. They tend to use
achiev ed status factors such as education and merit for assigning status
and rewards. Developing countries tend to be tradition -oriented. They
have used ascribed status factors such as kinship and religion for
assigning status and rewards.
b.Developed countries te nd to act on universalistic standards such as the
rule of law. Developing countries tend to act on particularistic
standards such as caste systems or kinship networks.
c.Developed economies are characterized by an extensive division of
labor. Developing econ omies are characterized by a less -specialized
workforce.
Critique:
His thesis is considered theoretically inadequate in that all roles are
given equal weight, in that it fails to specify which section of society is the
unit of analysis and also that it ig nores the historical and structural basis of
underdevelopment. Whilst Hoselitz did not ignore the structures of
underdevelopment, for him as well as Parson’s the empirical development
of the third world was secondary matter. Frank argues that he ignored th e
economic and political structure within which underdevelopment is
situated. However at the same time his contribution is noteworthy where
he warned against the view that underdeveloped societies would follow
the European paths of development, emphasised the importance of
research into development in specific societies and attempted to relate
economic change to social, cultural and political variables.
1.3.4 Smelser
Sociologist Smelser was particularly concerned with the ef fect of
economic development and growth on social structure.
He detailed 4 major processes that were especially important. First,
there was a move from simple to complex technology, secondly, a change
from subsistence farming to cash crops, thirdly, a mo ve from animal and
human power to industrialization and finally, an increasingly urban based
population. Smelser stressed that such processes would not occur
simultaneously, and that changes would differ from one society
to another. The process of change a nd factors promoting it would be
different being crucially affected by tradition, thus leading to different
paths towards modernization. He went on to suggest that national
differences are always important and events such as wars and natural
disaster, can crucially affect the pattern of development. He goes on to
suggest that, local conditions not with standing, these 4 processes of
change have a similar effect on modernizing societies.
The family loses functions, economic activities become distinct
from t he domestic and religious spheres and social stratification becomes
more complex, with greater emphasis on achievement and social mobility.
To maintain social cohesiveness, new integrative mechanisms arise.munotes.in
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8Welfare agencies link the family to the economy, voluntary associations
emerge, including trades unions to counter feelings of anonymity brought
about by urbanization and new political institutions cater for an increasing
number of interest groups. All of this is in line with a structural
functionalist p erspective that emphasizes the adaptive capacity of societies
and the corresponding need for social equilibrium. Despite the formation
of new integrative mechanisms, Smelser regards social disturbances as
inevitable. They come about for several reasons, the most important of
which are the clash of tradition and modernization, unevenness of
structural change and the rapidity of industrialization. In effect,
modernizing societies are portrayed as battlegrounds, where tradition is
pitted against the forces of structural differentiation and where integrative
mechanisms strive to hold the balance. The success of these mechanisms
depends on the intensity of structural change, the nature of premodern
society, the degree to which the rebels have access to political power, the
extent to which rival social groups overlap and foreign intervention.
To conclude Smelser is dealing with a more or less uniform pattern
of social change, in which modernizing societies are following the
examples set by their more advanced cou nterparts. And social adaptation
seems to occur without a great deal of assistance from human agents.
Instead, societies are like huge self -correcting machines, with defence
mechanisms being brought into play as soon as social equilibrium is
threatened. Th at said he does not pretend that modernization is easy, or
that industrialization will occur immediately.
Critique:
In Smelser, we see a neo -Durkheimian, structural functionalist
perspective, which sees social change in the third world as a necessary
factor in economic growth. If only social disturbances can be contained,
perhaps through new, stronger political institutions and leadership, the
third world will be able to follow the western path with some local
variations.
1.3.5 Rostow’s stages of growth .
In his best known publications (1960), Rostow suggests that all
societies can be placed in one of the 5 categories, or stages of
economic growth. These he derives from his study of western economic
development.
Rostow:
Rostow in his Stages of Economic Growth proposed an alternative
to Marx’s theory of history. His model is one of the major historical
models of economic growth. It was developed by W. W. Rostow. The
model suggests that economic growth occurs in five basic stages.
1.The First Stage or Traditional stage of society:
a.Subsistence agriculture or hunting & gathering.
b.No science and technology.munotes.in
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9c.Output is limited.
d.A static or 'rigid' society.
e.Political power is centralized.
f.Fatalistic values.
2.The second stage or Preconditions for take -off:
a.External demand for raw materials initiates economic change;
b.Development of more productive, commercial agriculture & cash
crops not consumed by producers and largely exported.
c.Investing money to expand produ ction (i.e. irrigation, canals, and
ports).
d.Increasing spread of technology & starting new industries.
e.Giving up traditional values and institutions.
f.Individual social mobility begins.
3.The third stage or Take -off stage:
a.Shift of economy from the primary se ctor to the secondary sector.
b.Expansion of the secondary (goods -producing) sector.
c.Few leading industries used for both, domestic consumption and
exports.
d.Textiles & apparel are usually the first "take -off" industry, as
happened in Great Britain's classic "Industrial Revolution".
4.The fourth stage or Drive to maturity:
a.Technology becomes complex.
b.Multiple and heavy industries expand.
c.Manufacturing shifts from investment -driven (capital goods)
towards consumer durables & domestic co nsumption.
d.Large -scale investment and development of infrastructure such as
transport, communication, education, health -care, etc.
e.Adopting values and institutions of high -income countries.
5.The fifth stage or Age of High mass consumption:
a.Industrial base dominates the economy.
b.The primary sector is of greatly diminished weight in economy &
society.
c.Achieving high standards of living.
d.Widespread consumption of high -value consumer goods.
e.Consumers typically (if not universally), have disposable income,
beyond all basic needs, for additional goods.munotes.in
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10Rostow asserts that countries go through each of these stages in a
linear manner. However the stages may differ from country to country,
and even from region to region.
Critique:
Rostow’s theory claims to be dynamic, dealing not just with
economic factors but also with social decisions and policies of
governments. Like other modernisation theorists, he incorporates the idea
of diffusion in his account of development. Echoing the views of Marion
Levy, he regard ed the process of modernisation as inevitable; societies
could opt to halt development but in practise the momentum would be
maintained by population increase and attraction of modern living
standards. He also suggested that available technology set constr aints on
social, economic and political action and within these constraints
individuals were free to make choices. His theory has often been
criticised. Leaving aside economic arguments, it is doubtful whether
western development occurred along the lines h e suggests, and even more
unlikely that it could occur on such lines in the third world. The political
message of Rostow’s work is inappropriate; if colonialism and neo
colonialism have actively underdeveloped the third world; it is unlikely
that closer as sociation with and following of the developed countries will
enable third world countries to make up for the ground they have lost in
the race towards the age of high consumption. His unilinear approach to
development and the idea that traditional societi es underwent change in
the economies, values as well as social structures can be found elsewhere.
Whereas Smelser considered strong, centralised government a necessity
and Rostow emphasised entrepreneurial elites in the economic take off
period, such theme s were general among early modernisation theorists.
Check your progress
1 What are the various tenets of modernisation theory?
1.4SUMMARY
In the 1960’s modernization was adopted by social scientists,
planners and politicians, both in the west and in the third world. The unit
of analysis was the nation state and the third world nations were put on the
evolutionary scale with the western societies at the top. These modern
western societies provided a development pattern which if followed in the
third world would allow the developing societies to catch up with the westmunotes.in
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11which would help the other developing and underdeveloped country
through capital, expertise and technology to grow. In classical Marxism
one found the variant of modernization theory .
1.5QUESTIONS
Q1 Examine the basic concepts of social change, evolution, growth and
development.
Q2 Examine the interrelation between growth and development.
Q3 What is development? Examine the various modernisation theoretical
approaches to understand development.
Q4Critically evaluate the contributions of the following to modernisation
theory:
a)Daniel Lerner
b)Hoselitz
c)Rostow
d)McClelland
e)Hagen
f)Smelser
1.6REFERENCES
Ghosh, M. 2006. Economic growth and human development in
Indian state in economic and Political weekly pp. 3321 -3329
Harrison, D. 1988. The Sociology of Modernization and
Development, Heritage Publishers, Delhi.
Mishra and Puri.2005. Indian Economy, Himalaya Publishing
House.
Nussbaum, M. Gender and Governance
Padel, F and Das , S. 2010. Out of this earth, East India Adivasis
and the Aluminium Cartel, Orient Black Swan, New Delhi.
Peet, R., Hartwick, E. 1999. Theories of Development:
Contentions, arguments, alternatives. Guilford Publications, New
Delhi.
Sen, A. 2000. Developme nt as Freedom. Anchor books.
https://revisesociology.com/2017/09/19/modernization -theory/
https://revisesociology.com/2015/09/27/modernisation -theory -
development -and-underdevelopment/munotes.in
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12https://revisesociology.com/2015/10/17/dependency -theory/
https://revisesociology.com/2017/09/10/what -is-neoliberalism/
Harrison, D. 1988. The Sociology of Modernization and
Development, Heritage Publishers, Delhi.
Ghosh, M. 2006. Economic growth and human development in
Indian state in economic and Political weekly
Sen, A. 2000. Development as Freedom. Anchor books.
Harrison, D. 1988. The Sociology of Modernization and
Development, Heritage Publishers, Delhi.
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132
DEPENDENCY THEORY AND NEO -
LIBERAL APPROACH
Unit Structure :
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Underdevelopment theory.
2.2.1 Baran and underdevelopment
2.2.2 Frank’s critique of the Sociology of Development
2.2.3 Wallerstein’s Theory
2.3 Neo liberal economic ap proach
2.3.1 Characteristics of Neo -liberalism.
2.3.2.Globalisation and Its Impact on Indian Society
2.3.3 Impact of Globalisation on Indian Agrarian Class Structure:
2.3.4.Impact of Globalisation on Indian Women:
2.4 Let us sum up
2.5 Questions
2.6 References/ Suggested readings
2.0 OBJECTIVES
To introduce students to the dependency theoretical approach that has
shaped the concept of development.
To provide a critique of the dependency theory.
To understand the neo liberal economic approach.
Tocritically evaluate the neoliberal approach.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Dependency theory, a key element of underdevelopment theory,
arose from the disillusionment with economic strategies of development,
especially as they had been applied in Latin America. Depe ndency theory
is a Marxist theory that developed in the 1970’s as a criticism of
Modernisation theory.munotes.in
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142.2 UNDERDEVELOPMENT THEORY
Just as there is no single modernisation theory, there is no one
Marxist approach to development. A variety of approach es originating in
classical Marxism and leading to a broad based school of neo Marxists ,
whose collective work has come to be known as dependency theory, world
systems theory and development theory. Dependency theory refers to the
body of thought concerni ng development that emerged in Latin America
in the 1950 and 1960 and which was later to lead to a more general view
of development and its opposite, underdevelopment, as key features of the
world capitalist system. Dependency theory and world systems theo ry can
be seen as constituting underdevelopment theory, which is reference to all
neo Marxists perspectives, regards underdevelopment and not
development as the result of the spread of internationalism. Dependency
theory was based on the premise that the periphery nations provided the
core nations with cheap raw materials and labour that helped the core
develop, whereas exploitation of the periphery nations led to their
underdevelopment. The key elements of dependency theory are that poor
nations provide c heap raw materials, labour and market for developed
economies; wealthy nations through various mechanisms like banking,
finance, education etc. perpetuate a state of dependence and wealthy
capitalist nations actively regulate attempts by dependent nations to resist
dominance and influence either through economic sanctions or use of
military force.
Dependen cy theory states that the poverty of the countries in the
periphery is not because they are not integrated into the world system, or
not 'fully' integrated as is often argued by free market economists, but
because of how they are integrated into the system .A n d r eG u n d e rF r a n k ,
the leading dependency theorist suggests that the lack of development of
less developed countries because the western nations have deliberately
under developed them.
Check your progress
1)Explain the features of Dependency theory.
2)Theories of underdevelopment
2.2.1 Baran and underdevelopment
In the ‘Political Economy of Growth’, Baran asserted that
bourgeois social science gave ideological support to the exploitation of themunotes.in
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15third world inherent in capitalism. The capitalist world kept the third
world nations backward to further their own capitalistic expansion. The
third world provided the capitalist nations with raw materials and
opportunities to extract economic surplus. Underdevelopment in the third
world was a result of c apitalist development in the west, a relationship that
no amount of agrarian reforms or aid could disguise. To escape from this
exploitation, the only way, according to Baran, is to withdraw from the
world capitalist system completely and introduce sociali st economic
planning. He posed a direct threat to the prevailing notions of capitalist
development that had been disastrous for the third world. Monopolies that
had once been considered progressive were now active in keeping wages
down, thus inhibiting the demand for their own products, and while
general increase in consumption would benefit the entire capitalist system
it would ruin any individual company prepared to increase the consumer
power of its own workers to the detriment of its own competitiveness .
Baran did not ignore the internal class structures of underdeveloped
societies and he did not suggest that it was impossible to obtain an
economic surplus. However he felt that the actual, rather than the potential
surplus were largely wasted. First a pa rt of it went to the lumpen
bourgeoisie that included money lenders, real estate agents and others he
considered to be parasitic and non -productive. Secondly, domestic
industrial producers also received some of the actual surplus. They
remained monopolisti c discouraging competition. Thirdly, the economic
surplus was received by the foreign enterprise. Foreign companies brought
few benefits to the host society; investment tended to be from profits made
locally and most capital goods were imported. Foreign en terprises were
inclined to be capital intensive, providing less work to the local workers.
His assertion that foreign companies were reluctant to employ workers
was however questioned by critics. Finally the economic surplus is also
taken by the state. Ba ran refers to 3 types of state: the directly
administered colony which uses its revenue to develop its resources of raw
materials, secondly the government that rules on the behalf of western
capitalism, concentrates on developing its military and ideologic al
apparatus and caters to the tastes of the rich and finally the new deal type
of government which is the area for competing class interest of national
bourgeoisie and feudal elements.
Critical evaluation:
Baran is dealing with ideal types of societies in two respects
1)In the more social scientific sense some characteristics of existing
societies are abstracted and developed into a conceptual tool to be used
as an aid in analysis.
2)He refers to an ideal society, a socialist society without ex ploitation
and with the potential economic surplus fully used for the benefit of
the majority rather than for the exploiting minority.
There are problems with Baran’s thesis. He mentions but does not
develop the fact that underdeveloped societies may exis t within the
developed societies and his concept of development is outdated. Againstmunotes.in
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16this he clearly has in mind the possibility of a just and non -exploitative
society, based on socialism rather than on capitalism. He was utopian in
his view of what could be achieved by the third world societies following
socialist path of development, seeming to suggest that in such societies, or
between them, inequality would no longer exist. Baran was not against
western capitalism. Baran’s book described as a “Stalinist tract” and a
predictable piece of Marxist orthodoxy. Its effect on economists and
sociologists was minimal. However, the book was to play an important
role in the formation of the Marxist and neo Marxists views on
development and Baran reiterates and deve lops the concept of uneven
development. His focus on exports, on capitalist competition and on the
role of war is regarded as a continuation of the concerns of classical
Marxism. Nevertheless, it is understatement to claim that by regarding
capitalism as a hindrance to the third world development, Baran’s views
represented a change of emphasis from previous Marxists writings. Such a
view was contradiction to capitalism as well as Marxist, both of which
argued that capitalism was nothing else but a necessary stage for the
development of any society.
Check your progress
1)Critically evaluate Baran’s theory.
2.2.2 Frank’s critique of the Sociology of Development.
Frank, a Chicago trained economist was influenced by Baran.
Modernisation theory accord ing to him was empirically invalid,
theoretically inadequate and politically ineffective. He criticised the ideal
typical approach of Hoselitz and Rostow in which development is seen as
change from one stage to the other. In Frank’s view neither developed nor
do underdeveloped societies reveal the characteristics suggested by
Hoselitz. Rostow’s stages of growth theory was criticised on the grounds
that they simply do not correspond to the past or present reality of
underdeveloped countries. Frank also criti cised the acculturation or the
diffusionist perspective that suggests that if development fails to occur, it
is because within the third world there are obstacles to diffusion. He
denies that development can be introduced in such societies and suggests
that it is not poverty that has prevented underdeveloped societies investing
in their own future but the net outflow of capital into the west. In short the
third world has subsidised the development of the first. He also criticised
the approaches of Hagen and McClelland who gave the psychological
explanations of development.munotes.in
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17Frank criticized the thesis which stated that ‘the underdeveloped
countries with their traditional societies would gradually become
developed and modern countries by engaging with the de veloped capitalist
economies and modern societies’. Therefore, he has presented the new
analysis of the relationships between economically developed and
underdeveloped countries.
Frank argues that developing nations have failed to develop not
due to internal barriers to development but because the western countries
due to their superior economic and military power has systematically
underdeveloped them keeping them in a state of dependency. Frank
argued that developed nations had vested interest in k eeping poor
countries underdeveloped so that developed could gain from the economic
weakness of the less developed countries.
The Development of Underdevelopment Theory
In his book ‘The Development of Underdevelopment’ Frank gave
emphasis to the fact that, in his belief every country passes through all the
stages of development, and every stage of this process will vary in time,
depending on the position of the country. Besides, he stressed that there is
no concept of ‘an underdeveloped country’ if we talk about the
economically developed countries –these are countries which were at one
point merely undeveloped, but not underdeveloped. The notion of ‘the
development of underdevelopment’ is the main concept in the
development theory.
Frank pointed out that the contemporary underdevelopment
position of a country is the result of its economic, cultural, political and
social characteristic features. Moreover, the underdevelopment as the
result of past and present relations is an integral part of the world
structure. He pointed out that the capitalist system has developed rapidly
during the last centuries and its effect has reached the most isolated parts
of the underdeveloped world. Moreover, the metropolis -satellite relations
have been spread in the Latin American colonies and countries, having
structured the economic, political, and social life of these countries. Frank
has come to a very interesting conclusion that underdevelopment is
generated by the historical process which has generated economic
develo pment and the development of capitalism. Therefore, the two types
of countries are connected with each other through exploitation and
colonization. Frank has found the connection between the development of
the centre and the periphery countries.
Besides t his Frank explained in his book ‘The Development of
Underdevelopment’, that Latin America and other similar countries are
underdeveloped countries owing to the foreign competition, and the
introduction of free trade, which is in the interest of the ruling groups of
the economically developed countries. The now underdeveloped countries
have not had the opportunity to continue developing in the conditions of
growing capitalism. Consequently, the development of these countries hasmunotes.in
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18had to be sacrificed for tha t of others. Therefore, the contemporary
underdevelopment of certain countries is connected with their close ties
with now economically developed countries, which have become
economically developed owing to these underdeveloped countries in the
past, and w hich have abandoned them when the wealth of their mines, raw
materials and natural resources disappeared.
Critique:
On the whole what is evident in Frank's thesis, the development of
the centre not only involves, but requires the underdevelopment of the
previously undeveloped periphery. This is because development has
depended upon resources which are stolen from the periphery, and
resources which are exploited; as well as people which are exploited. At
the same time the periphery becomes increasingly depe ndent upon the
centre for certain crucial "modern" resources, including technology and
knowledge. Frank's early speculation on The Development of
Underdevelopment was crucial for the emergence of both the dependency
theory and the world -system paradigm. Hi s efforts at systematically
linking the external economic behaviour of the socialist alliance to the
larger capitalist division of labour, has been instrumental in our
understanding of not only the nature and role of existing socialisms, but
the overall dy namics of the world economy. In his view, Asia and Latin
America have actually developed underdevelopment; whereas Europe,
North America, and Australia have accumulated capital at the expense of
the periphery. This accumulation of capital has been made pos sible
through the process of unequal exchange between regions, and the
transformation internally of regions at the productive, social, and political
levels.
Frank applied his theories of development to various countries
affected by underdevelopment; speci fically those of Latin America and
Asia. These however are just to name a few; his theories could be applied
to many other underdeveloped countries. Frank viewed the present world
as a manifestation of the dominance the centre metropolis has over the
depen dent periphery; involving unequal exchange and exploitation.
The exploitation of the people, and of the natural resources and
raw materials of these countries, is what Frank believed to be the key
behind his Dependency Theory. He asserted that developed c ountries such
as Britain, Australia, have only received the labels of being ‘developed
countries’ because of their dependence on these underdeveloped countries.
The low wages given to workers of these underdeveloped countries,
together with the natural res ources and raw material which are either
stolen or bought at low prices, are all a combination of what allow the
developed countries to have such large margins of profit. These high
amounts of profit can then be reinvested in order to increase the riches o f
the countries further; all at the expense of underdeveloped countries.munotes.in
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19That is to say, if developed countries did not exploit
underdeveloped countries, then in Frank’s views they would not be such a
thing as an ‘underdeveloped county;’ all countries whi ch have not become
economically developed, would simply be undeveloped. The term
undeveloped at least allows a country the opportunity to become
developed; whereas underdeveloped implies it can never become
developed due to the continuing exploitation of t hese developed countries.
Check your progress
1)Critically evaluate Frank’s theory of Development.
2)Cite any one work of Frank to understand underdevelopment.
2.2.3 Wallerstein’s Theory
Immanuel Wallerstein further advanced the concepts of
underdevelopment theory in his book, The Modern World System:
Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in
the Sixteenth Century .He did this principally by reconceptualising
Frank’s model and adding another category. Wallerstein’s theory was
based on a capitalist world -system. Immanuel Wallerstein develops a
theoretical framework to understand the historical changes involved in the
rise of the modern world. The modern world system, essentially capitalist
in nature, followed the crisis of the feudal system and helps explain the
rise of Western Europe to world supremacy between 1450 and 1670.
According to Wallerstein, his theory makes possible a comprehensive
understanding of the external and internal manifestations of the
modernization process during this period and makes possible analytically
sound comparisons between different parts of the world. The new
capitalist world system was b ased on an international division of labor that
determined relationships between different regions as well as the types of
labor conditions within each region. In this model, the type of political
system was also directly related to each region's placement within the
world economy. As a basis for comparison, Wallerstein proposes different
categories, core, semi -periphery and periphery into which all regions of
the world can be placed. The categories describe each region's relative
position within the world economy as well as certain internal political and
economic characteristics. The world system had a core consisting of the
highly developed countries of the world, a periphery consisting of
countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, which are commonly ref erred
to as the ‘Third World’, and a semi -periphery that was made up of
countries that were neither core nor periphery, such as the Newly
Industrialized Countries (NIC)munotes.in
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20The Core
The core regions benefited the most from the capitalist world
economy. For th e period under discussion, much of northwestern Europe
(England, France, and Holland) developed as the first core region.
Politically, the states within this part of Europe developed strong central
governments, extensive bureaucracies, and large mercenary armies. This
permitted the local bourgeoisie to obtain control over international
commerce and extract capital surpluses from this trade for their own
benefit. As the rural population expanded, the small but increasing number
of landless wage earners provi ded labor for farms and manufacturing
activities. The switch from feudal obligations to money rents in the
aftermath of the feudal crisis encouraged the rise of independent or
yeoman farmers but squeezed out many other peasants off the land. These
impoveri shed peasants often moved to the cities, providing cheap labor
essential for the growth in urban manufacturing. Agricultural productivity
increased with the growing predominance of the commercially -oriented
independent farmer, the rise of pastoralism, and improved farm
technology.
The Periphery
On the other end of the scale lay the peripheral zones. These areas
lacked strong central governments or were controlled by other states,
exported raw materials to the core, and relied on coercive labor practices.
The core expropriated much of the capital surplus generated by the
periphery through unequal trade relations. Two areas, Eastern Europe
(especially Poland) and Latin America, exhibited characteristics of
peripheral regions. In Poland, kings lost power to t he nobility as the region
became a prime exporter of wheat to the rest of Europe. To gain sufficient
cheap and easily controlled labor, landlords forced rural workers into a
"second serfdom" on their commercial estates. In Latin America, the
Spanish and Po rtuguese conquests destroyed indigenous authority
structures and replaced them with weak bureaucracies under the control of
these European states. Powerful local landlords of Hispanic origin became
aristocratic capitalist farmers. Enslavement of the native populations, the
importation of African slaves and coercive labor practices made possible
the export of cheap raw materials to Europe. Labor systems in both
peripheral areas differed from earlier forms in medieval Europe in that
they were established to p roduce goods for a capitalist world economy and
not merely for internal consumption. Furthermore, the aristocracy both in
Eastern Europe and Latin America grew wealthy from their relationship
with the world economy and could draw on the strength of a centr al core
region to maintain control.
The Semi -Periphery
Between the two extremes lie the semi -peripheries. These areas
represented either core regions in decline or peripheries attempting to
improve their relative position in the world economic system. The yo f t e n
also served as buffers between the core and the peripheries. As such, semi -
peripheries exhibited tensions between the central government and amunotes.in
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21strong local landed class. Good examples of declining cores that became
semi-peripheries during the perio d under study are Portugal and Spain.
Other semi -peripheries at this time were Italy, southern Germany, and
southern France. Economically, these regions retained limited but
declining access to international banking and the production of high -cost
high-quality manufactured goods. Unlike the core, however, they failed to
predominate in international trade and thus did not benefit to the same
extent as the core. With a weak capitalist rural economy, landlords in
semi-peripheries resorted to sharecropping. Thi s lessened the risk of crop
failure for landowners, and made it possible at the same time to enjoy
profits from the land as well as the prestige that went with landownership.
According to Wallerstein, the semi -peripheries were exploited by
the core but, as in the case of the American empires of Spain and Portugal,
often were exploiters of peripheries themselves. Spain, for example,
imported silver and gold from its American colonies, obtained largely
through coercive labor practices, but most of this spec ie went to paying for
manufactured goods from core countries such as England and France
rather than encouraging the formation of a domestic manufacturing sector.
Critique:
The capitalist world economy, as viewed by Wallerstein, is a
dynamic system which changes over time. However, certain basic features
remain in place. Perhaps most important is that when one examines the
dynamics of this system, the core regions of northwestern Europe clearly
benefited the most from this arrangement. Through extremely hi gh profits
gained from international trade and from an exchange of manufactured
goods for raw materials from the periphery (and, to a lesser extent, from
the semi -peripheries), the core enriched itself at the expense of the
peripheral economies. This, of c ourse, did not mean either that everybody
in the periphery became poorer or that all citizens of the core regions
became wealthier as a result. In the periphery, landlords for example often
gained great wealth at the expense of their underpaid coerced labo rers,
since landowners were able to expropriate most of the surplus of their
workers for themselves. In turn in the core regions, many of the rural
inhabitants, increasingly landless and forced to work as wage laborers, at
least initially saw a relative de cline in their standard of living and in the
security of their income. Overall, certainly, Wallerstein sees the
development of the capitalist world economy as detrimental to a large
proportion of the world's population.
Through this theory, Wallerstein a ttempts to explain why
modernization had such wide -ranging and different effects on the world.
He shows how political and economic conditions after the breakdown of
feudalism transformed north Western Europe into the predominant
commercial and political po wer. The geographic expansion of the
capitalist world economy altered political systems and labor conditions
wherever it was able to penetrate. Although the functioning of the world
economy appears to create increasingly larger disparities between themunotes.in
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22various types of economies, the relationship between the core and its
periphery and semi -periphery remains relative, not constant.
Technological advantages, for example, could result in an expansion of the
world economy overall, and precipitate changes in some peripheral or
semi-peripheral areas. However, Wallerstein asserts that an analysis of the
history of the capitalist world system shows that it has brought about
unequal development in which economic and social disparities between
sections of the world eco nomy have increased rather than provided
prosperity for all.
This model helped to place the NICs within a neo -Marxist theory
of development. Wallerstein argues that we cannot understand any nation -
state in isolation, because its development status will b e shaped by its
placement within the overall world -system. Another key aspect of
Wallerstein’s theory is that it is based on changed definition of capitalism
as ‘production for sale in a market to realise the maximum profit’ This
departs from the more usua l definition of capitalism as the existence of a
specific mode of production based on private property; capitalists who
own the means of production and workers who are free wage labourers.
The new definition allows Wallerstein to argue that capitalism exis ted
from the fifteenth century. It also provides the basis for a world analysis,
which suggests that as the world economy develops, so does the division
of labour, with different regions specializing in different aspects of
production and consumption. The core consists of strong states that
enforce both unequal trade andpolitical relationships in such a way as to
benefit the core at the expense of the periphery. Core takes appropriate
surplus value from the periphery, which consists of areas that engage in
mono -agriculture and export commodities that are produced using labour
that is paid a low wage. The semi -periphery produces both high and low
wage products. Wallerstein’s model of a capitalist world -system, based on
three interconnected regions, therefore synthesised various theoretical and
empirical strands within neo -Marxist theory. Orthodox Marxists returning
to Marx’s original writings argued for a shift away from the whole world
as an object of analysis, and back to the region and the nation -state.
Check Your Progress:
1 Critically evaluate Wallerstein’s theory.munotes.in
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232.3NEO LIBERAL ECONOMIC APPROACH
The term neoliberalism was introduced in 1930’ sb yE u r o p e a n
liberal intellectuals to promote a new form of liberalism. In the decades
that followed, neoliberal theory tended to be at variance with the more
laissez faire doctrine of classical liberalism and promoted instead a market
economy. In the 196 0’s the usage of the term "neoliberal" heavily
declined. When the term was reintroduced in the following decades, the
meaning had shifted. The term is now normally associated with laissez -
faire economic policies, and is used mainly by those who are critica lo f
market reform. According to neoliberalism too much government
influence prevent economic and social development. It advocates
deregulation, privatization and lowering taxation to achieve economic
growth. The strategy for development of nations accordi ng to
neoliberalism is encouraging free trade.
2.3.1 Characteristics of Neo -liberalism.
There is a re -conceptualization of the role of government
expenditure. State spending is seen as justified only by the need to make
domestic capital more competitive. This allows for spending on education,
health and other public services to a certain degree, but only when this can
be justified in economic terms as leading to an increase in efficiency. The
safety net for the poor is removed. There is reduction on expen diture of
maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply again in the name of reducing
government's role. In addition, the provision of such services is seen as
something which can best be provided by the private sector, with the role
of the state mainly to m anage the awarding of the relevant contracts and
ensuring that no single monopoly provider gains too much power in the
market at the expense of other capitalists. So, privatization is central to
neo-liberalism. The rule of the market is followed. Neolibera lism believes
that an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth,
which will ultimately benefit everyone.
Neo-liberal thought is based around the breaking down of national
economic barriers. The most important of these is in the financ ial sector.
Neo-liberalism strongly advocates the removal of capital and exchange
controls and the opening up of financial markets to foreign investment.
National controls on imports of goods and services, especially tariffs and
quotas, on intellectual pro perty rights, on the awarding of government
contracts and on productive investment are all to be removed and handed
to international institutions, notably the World Trade Organization
(WTO). However, national controls on the movement of labour remain.
It follows domestic deregulation. A central plank of neo -liberalism
is a programme for ‘flexible’ labour markets, with maximum freedom for
employers in the terms of hiring and firing workers and strict limits on
trade union rights. Areas like pensions are also embedded as much asmunotes.in
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24possible in a market framework. State -imposed limits on the behaviour of
companies, such as the controls on interest rates and lending activities are
removed. Again, the regulatory role of the state is restricted to
competition a nd anti -trust policy, in support of those capitalists who might
lose out if a monopoly becomes too strong, rather than providing a
counterweight to the power of capital.
The concept of public good is replaced with individual
responsibility.
Around the w orld, neo -liberalism has been imposed by powerful
financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
World Bank and the Inter -American Development Bank. Structural
Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) policies reflect the neo -liberal ideology
that drives globalization. SAPs are economic policies for developing
countries that have been promoted by the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund (IMF) since the early 1980s that provide loans and help
countries make debt repayments on the earlier de bts owed to commercial
banks, government and the World Bank. They are designed to encourage
the structural adjustment of an economy by, for example, removing
“excess” government controls and promoting market competition as part
of the neo -liberal agenda fo llowed by the Bank. Although SAPs are
designed for individual countries but have common guiding principles and
features which include export -led growth; privatisation and liberalisation;
and the efficiency of the free market.
SAPs generally require countries to devalue their currencies
against the dollar; lift import and export restrictions; balance their budgets
and not overspend; and remove price controls and state subsidies.
Devaluation makes their goods cheaper for foreigne rs to buy and
theoretically makes foreign imports more expensive. In principle it should
make the country wary of buying expensive foreign equipment. In
practice, however, the IMF actually disrupts this by rewarding the country
with a large foreign currenc y loan that encourages it to purchase imports.
Balancing national budgets can be done by raising taxes, which the IMF
frowns upon, or by cutting government spending, which it definitely
recommends. As a result, SAPs often result in deep cuts in programmes
like education, health and social care, and the removal of subsidies
designed to control the price of basics such as food and milk. So SAPs
hurt the poor most, because they depend heavily on these services and
subsidies. SAPs encourage countries to focus o n the production and export
of primary commodities such as cocoa and coffee to earn foreign
exchange. But these commodities have erratic prices subject to the whims
of global markets which can depress prices just when countries have
invested in these so -called 'cash crops'.
By devaluing the currency and simultaneously removing price
controls, the immediate effect of Structural Adjustment Programmes ismunotes.in
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25generally to hike prices up three or four times, increasing poverty to such
an extent that riots are a fr equent result.
One important criticism of SAPs, which emerged shortly after they
were first adopted and has continued since, concerns their impact on the
social sector. In health, SAPs affect both the supply of health services (by
insisting on cuts in he alth spending) and the demand for health services
(by reducing household income, thus leaving people with less money for
health). Studies have shown that SAPs policies have slowed down
improvements in, or worsened, the health status of people in countries
implementing them. The results reported include worse nutritional status
of children, increased incidence of infectious diseases, and higher infant
and maternal mortality rates.
Critique
Though neoliberal approach advocates free trade and deregulation
it has been observed that countries who have adopted free market policies
have developed more slowly in comparison to those countries who have
protected their economies. Dependency theorists argue that neo liberalism
opens up the economy allowing transnationa l corporations to exploit the
less developed countries.
Check your progress
1)What are the various features of neoliberal economic approach?
2.3.2. GLOBALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON INDIAN
SOCIETY
Globalisation is the ne w buzzword that has come to dominate the e
w world since the n nineties of the last c century. The term" globalisation"
means integration economies and societies through cross country flow of
information, ideas, technologies, goods, services, capital, fina nce and the
people. The essence of globalisation in broad sense is connectivity in all
aspects of human life. Cross border integration can have several
dimensions -cultural, social, political and economic. (C. Rangarajan, the
Hindu, 6 -1-2003). It is a comp lex phenomenon and a process by which
the world becomes a "Global Village". Globalisation affects different
aspects such as economic, political, social and religious ones of any
country.
C.T.Kurian refers to globalisation as a short form to convey a wide
variety of process, possibilities and positions. It has a capability of
different interpretations of different kinds. He talks about the marvellousmunotes.in
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26technological innovations such as e -mail and flight that convert this earth
and its people into a "global vi llage".
2.3.3 Impact of Globalisation on Indian Agrarian Class Structure:
Globalisation in the context of Indian agriculture was supposed to
bring about vital Changes especially during the agreements with GATT
and WTO in the traditional agricultural eco nomy. There are three elements
of this change, namely, abandonment of channelizing the trade to
determine the value or the nature of the importance and exports (except
onion, pulses and edible oils), dismantling of most of the quantitative
restrictions on agriculture and reduction in tariffs. Thus, the Indian
agricultural economy is by and large freely exposed to the world market
forces which are mainly dominated by the economics of the developing
countries.
Agrarian Structure and Indian Villages: Seventy Four percent of the
India's population lives in villages and their livelihood mainly depend on
agriculture and the related activities. The village economy has been
independent throughout the ages and even the industrial development has
not reduced its imp ortance. It played a crucial role in the economic
development of India by providing food and raw materials, employment to
2/3 of workforce, capital for development and surplus for national
development. The Indian agrarian structure is dominated by 90 perce nt of
small and marginal farmers. The extent of landholdings is associated with
caste and social status. The small and marginal farmers and agricultural
labourers constitute the vast majority of the rural society. Impact and
Implications: Globalisation res ulted in the neglect of Agriculture that
adversely affected the vulnerable classes of rural society in their
employment conditions, income and consumption pattern, their education
and health status. The small and marginal farmers are affected by a
reductio n in the fertilizer and chemical subsidies and in the budget of
poverty alleviation programmes as well as by the shift of area under food
production to export oriented commercial crops. The disintegration of
rural economy brought about by globalisation lea d to the disintegration of
village communities, their society, and culture and religions aspects.
Further, in the process of globalisation, the rural poor would experience
the dislocation of their economy in its totality for the first time in the
history o f their existence. This transformation is going to bring all the
differences in future to come. The growing modifications in the size and
the institution of economy would not allow the small and marginal farmers
to make gradual adoption but will enable to continue to retain their
traditions. It is not possible to visualize the kind of intervention the
government could make to keep the interest of the poorer sections. Further
he said that in the absence of any clear cut vision about the adverse
consequences of globalisation on the rural society, it is apprehended that
this process in India would ultimately result in the disintegration of the
rich culture and traditions which were hitherto sustained by the poor and
the middle classes of Indian society through ages.munotes.in
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272.3.4 Impact of Globalisation on Indian Women:
Women represent 48.2 percent of India's population with an
absolute figure of 406.5 million as per 1991Census.It is noteworthy to
mention that women involve themselves in productive activities apart
from discharging household work and child rearing. It is in Indian paradox
that though women by t tradition were described as "Sakti"or even defined
as "Devi" they have never been accorded equal status with men. Even after
globalisation, the existing social and economic institutions unfortunately
haven ever been considerate to the crying needs of women. They are
considered more as a burden than a potential force of human resource
which can be developed for the betterment of community after
globalisation. Many critics fear that globalisation will exacerbate th ei s s u e
of gender inequality. I tm a yh a r mw o m e ne s p e c i ally in India in several
ways:
1.Economically, through discrimination, in favour of male workers,
marginalisation of women in unpaid or informal labour.
2.Exploitation of women in low -wage sweatshop settings and or
impoverishment through loss of traditional sources of income
3.Politically, through exclusion from the domestic political process and
loss of c ontrol to global pressures and
4.culturally, through los s of identity and autonomy to a hegemonic
global culture.
Globalisation has been attributed to displacement,
commodification of w omen in Asia particularly in India. Those that are
greatly affected, are industries of predominantly women workers who are
in jobs dealing with textiles and clothing, electronics, food and other
assembly type industries. Technological advances in computers and
robotics has pushed even more women out of the production processes,
adding greatly to unemployment. This disperses ev en more of the already
low workers' wages. Women workers must contribute to the family's
income and have no choice but to accept low wages. Poverty and
Unemployment led thousands of women to go to other countries to find
better opportunities. Migration pol icies have encouraged the trafficking in
women
Impact of Globalisation on Rural Dalit Women:
Dalits constitute the vast majority of the low income tier In India
and have been placed at the bottom of the socio economic and political
strata. In rural villa ges of Andhra Pradesh, after implementation of t the
NEP, a sharp rise in prices, decreased job opportunities and a drastic
decline in income opportunities which hit rural Dalit women severely.
Inflation made them unable to purchase basic items, even from the Fair -
price -shops that are supposed to provide commodities at subsidised prices.
This increase in price has also triggered reduced nutritional levels and
chronic hunger became rampant among the landless rural poor, especially
women. While industrialisat ion has generated more jobs (Dewan,1 999),it
has also increased the migration of the poor to Urban areas in search ofmunotes.in
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28jobs (Upadhyaya, 2000) and the number of female -headed households has
grown as a result.
Check your progress
1)Explain how globalisation a ffects agriculture.
2)Explain how globalisation impacts gender.
2.4SUMMARY
The neoliberal economic approach is characterized by the rule of
market, cutting public expenditure for social services, deregulation,
privatization and eliminating the concept of the public good or community
"and replacing it with "individual responsibil ity." Pressuring the poorest
people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education
and social security all by themselves --then blaming them, if they fail, as
"lazy." Around the world, neo -liberalism has been imposed by powerful
financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
World Bank.
Development and underdevelopment are seen as opposite sides of
the same process wherein development in one region occurs at the cost of
underdevelopment of another. The devel oped and underdeveloped
societies participate in the same world system that originated in capitalist
expansion and colonialism. According to this view underdevelopment
must be explained by reference to the structural position of the third world
countries i n the global economy and not as in modernization theory by the
backwardness of their people or traditions, the lack of educated elite or by
absence of values considered to be conducive to capitalist development.
2.5QUESTIONS
1)What are the various f eatures of neo liberal approach?
2)Explain the impact of globalization on Agriculture.
3)Examine the impact of globalization on Indian society.
4)Bring out the relation between globalization and gender.
5)Critically evaluate the dependency theory model of developm ent.
6)Critically evaluate the world systems theory .munotes.in
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292.6REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS
Ghosh, M. 2006. Economic growth and human development in Indian
state in economic and Political weekly pp. 3321 -3329
Harrison, D. 1988. The Sociology of Modernization and Development,
Heritage Publishers, Delhi.
Mishra and Puri.2005. Indian Economy, Himalaya Publishing House.
Naidu, Y. G. 2006. Globalization and its impact on Indian Society.
The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol 67. No 1 (Jan –March
2006) pp 65 -76.
Nussbaum, M. Gender and Governance
Padel, F and Das, S. 2010. Out of this earth, East India Adivasis and
the Aluminium Cartel, Orient Black Swan, New Delhi.
Peet, R., Hartwick, E. 1999. Theories of Development: Contentions,
arguments, a lternatives. Guilford Publications, New Delhi.
Sen, A. 2000. Development as Freedom. Anchor books.
https://revisesociology.com/2017/09/19/modernization -theory/
https://revisesociology.com/2015/09/27/modernisation -theory -
development -and-underdevelopment/
https://revisesociology.com/2015/10/17/dependency -theory/
https://revisesociology.com/2017/09/10/what -is-neoliberalism/
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/european -studies/frank -
underdevelopment -dependency.php#ixzz2AzqID1cC
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376
munotes.in
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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
Unit Structure :
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Concept
3.3 Principles of HDI
3.4 Major Components of HDI
3.4.1 Sustainability
3.4.2 Productivity
3.4.3 Empowerment
3.5 Reasons for low HDI
3.6 Conclusion
3.7 Summary
3.8 Questions
3.9 References
3.0 OB JECTIVES
●To introduce you to the concept of Human Development Index
●To develop an understanding about the indicators of HDI
●To analyse the situations which result in Low HDI
●To suggest measures to improve the HDI ranking of a nation
3.1 INTRODUCTION
For any country to develop, it is important to develop its Human
resource. If human resources remain backward, or are not protected, the
country cannot reach its expected level of development. So, the concern
for development economics in récent years has s hifted from economic
growth to human development. The main reason for this shift in focus is
the growing recognition that Education & literacy, health, physical
environment, equality of opportunities to all people irrespective of their
background etc, may be just as important as income.
3.2 THE CONCEPT
In search for a Comprehensive measure that could capture the
various dimensions of human development led to the definition &munotes.in
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31formulation of Human Development Index (HDI) by the United Nations
Development P rogramme (UNDP) in its Human Development Report
published in 1990.
The Human Development Index is a statistical tool used to
measure a country's overall achievement in its social & economic
dimensions, which are based on :
1.A long and healthy life, which i s measured by life expectancy
2.Access to education, measured by expected years of schooling
3.Standard of living measured by Gross National Income Per capita
Pakistani economist, Mahbub ul Haq created HDI in 1990 which
was further used to measur e the country's development by UNDP.
Calculation of the Index combines four major indicators: Life expectancy
for health, expected years of schooling, average years of schooling for
education & Gross National Income per capita for standard of living.
Every year UNDP ranks countries based on the HDI release their
annual report. HDI is one of the best tools to keep a track of the level of
development of a country, as it combines all four major social & economic
indicators that are responsible for economic de velopment. These
indicators have a stronger appeal & draw public attention more powerfully
than a long list of indicators.
HDI does not replace GNP but adds considerably to an
understanding of the real position of the society in many respects. In
addition to income, the HDI also measures Education & Health which
makes it multidimensional. It focuses the attention of the policy makers on
the ultimate objective of development & not just the means. Improving
health care, along with proper education facilities raises the standard of
living of the people.
Any upward movement in HDI can be regarded as improvement.
Whereas high income for some can cause relative deprivation for others,
this is not true for human development.
3.3 PRINCIPLES OF HDI
According to the UNDP report, India ranked at the 129th position in
December 2019. The principles that have guided the search for HDI are as
follows:
1.Measuring the basic concept of Human development, thus enlarging
people’s choice which covers the desire to live long , acquire
knowledge and get employed, breathe in clean air, to be free and live
in a community. The basic idea was to measure other dimensions
besides measuring only income in a methodologically sound manner.munotes.in
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322.Inorder to maintain the simplicity of the index , it was decided to limit
the number of variables involved.
3.To construct a composite index rather than constructing a plethora of
indexes. The maximum and minimum values for each variable was
reduced to a scale between 0 & 1 providing equal weightage o na
simple premise that all choices are important.
4.HDI should cover both, social as well as economic dimensions
because economic growth increases the resources and social progress
creates a conducive environment for the same.
Check Your Progress
1.What is H DI?
2.Mention at least 2 principles of HDI.
3.4 MAJOR COMPONENTS OF HDI
Along with the main indicators which include the life expectancy,
Access to education and standard of living, following are the major
components of HDI :
3.4.1 Sustainability
An essential component of human development index,
Sustainability refers to the next generations right to enjoy the same well
being that we enjoy. As emphasized by Mahbub ul Haq, the sustainability
of human opportunities must be at the centre of our con cerns which
requires sustaining all forms of capital -physical, financial, human and
environmental. Sustainability in short, refers to sharing opportunities
between the present and future generations.
According to Haq, sustainability does not mean susta ining present
levels of human deprivation, poverty, etc. If the poverty and deprivation
prevails, efforts should be made to change the same. What is to be
sustained is opportunities and not human deprivation. The disparities in
lifestyles should be recogni zed and efforts should be taken to reduce the
same. In short, sustainability means using resources economically and
rationally so that all its benefits can be enjoyed by future generations.
3.4.2 Productivity
Productivity is another important component which requires
investments in people and an enabling macro -economic environment formunotes.in
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33them to achieve their maximum potential. Many recent models of
development are based primarily on human capital. However, as pointed
out by Haq, this approach t reats people only as means of development.
Therefore it is better to treat productivity only as one part of the human
development paradigm.
3.4.3 Empowerment
Human Development Paradigm supports full empowerment o ft h e
people. lt means people are in a position to exercise choices of their own
free-will. It implies a political democracy in which people can influence
decisions about their lives. lt means decentralisation of power so that real
governance is brought to the doorstep of every citizen. It means all
members of Civil society participate in decision making process. The
empowerment of people requires action on various fronts. Requires
investment in the education & health of the people so that they can take
advantage of market opportunities. It requires ensuring an enabling
environment that gives everyone access to credit & productive assets. It
requires empowering all the three genders, so that they can compete on an
equal footing.
3.5 REASONS FOR LOW HDI
India has had a low level of HDI due to a number of reasons which
range from the presence of the caste system to the increasing financial gap
between the rich and the poor. A majority of the population lives in slums
whereas some live in high rise towers. Sim ilarly, at one end we see the rise
of private hospitals which are available for the upper classes, at the other
end, there are people who cannot afford to step in such hospitals and are
deprived of the basic health care facilities. Considering the above
dimensions, let us discuss how certain factors in each dimension are
responsible for low human development index.
3.5.1 Health
Less number of doctors in India is a major problem. Other major
problems include poor sanitation, poor facilities to the majority of people
living in slums, lack of toilets in rural areas, lack of safe drinking water,
increase in diseases such as dengue, malaria, pneumonia, etc. The food
eating habits of the people, increasing rate of obesity also has contributed
to poor health of th e citizens. Moreover, people also neglect the
importance of health and healthcare. Also, the government also does not
allocate much resources to health care. Policies are made but not
implemented. A boost is given to the private hospitals, which serve the
higher classes, depriving the lower classes.
3.5.2 Education
Education plays a major role in developing the human resource.
Today we see a number of private schools, international schools in India
but have we ever thought about the reducing number of gove rnment
schools and also the non -existence of educational facilities or lack ofmunotes.in
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34proper infrastructure to build a school in rural areas?. It is important to
note that India has empowered girl child education but still, the majority
of children are deprived of the basic education facilities.
India needs to spend on education to improve levels of literacy,
increase the enrollment of teachers, providing free and compulsory
education to the mass, boosting distance education services, improving
online education systems, etc.
3.5.3 Standard of living
India displays a sharp contrast in the standard of living of the
people. On one end we see towers, on the other end there are people living
in slum areas where they lack basic sanitation facilities. The products are
available but the citizens are unable to purchase the same. Many people
continue to face terrible situations due to poverty, unemployment and an
unhealthy environment.
There are a number of reasons why India ranks lower at the HDI
scale. Measures should be taken continuously in order to provide a healthy
environment and by raising the educational levels as well as the standard
of living of the people.
Check Your Progre ss
1.What are the major components of HDI?
2.Can you think of the challenges faced by India which result in low
HDI?
3.What steps can be undertaken to improve the HDI of a nation?
3.6 CONCLUSION
To conclude one can say that in order to analyse the dev elopment
of a nation, not only economic dimension is important but other social
factors like health, education, gender sensitisation, gender equality,
environmental balance also play a vital role. It is important to sustain the
opportunities that are avail able and not the deprivations and the negative
aspects. Every country should make an effort to improve the opportunities
and productivity of the nation, An empowered human resource, with a
higher standard of living, improves the human development index of a
particular nation.munotes.in
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353.7 SUMMARY
Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical tool used to
measure a country’s overall achievement considering social and economic
dimensions. It does not give sole importance to economic dimension but it
serves to present a view about the development of a particular country by
including health, education, standard of living and ranking them
accordingly. It considers social and economic dimensi ons to measure their
development. The sustainability, productivity and empowerment constitute
the major components of the HDI. Sustainability refers to the ability to
sustain the positive aspects and not the negative ones of poverty and
deprivation. Produc tivity refers to the increasing investments whereas
empowerment means empowering the citizens by decentralizing power
and considering their decisions in policy making. The reasons why HDI
remains low in India include the hold of the caste system, the gap b etween
the rich and the poor, lack of proper healthcare and educational facilities
that leads to lower standard of living. Measures should be taken to
overcome these challenges in order to boost the development of our
country.
3.8 QUESTIONS
1.Explain Human Development Index. What are the indicators of HDI
2.Explain the Human Development Index and elaborate on its principles.
Briefly explain the indicators of development.
3.What is HDI? Elaborate on its principles and its major components
4.What is HDI? Explain th er e a s o n sf o rl o wH D I .
5.What is HDI? Mention the reasons for low HDI ranking and suggest
measures that can be undertaken to improve the same.
3.9 REFERENCES
Ghosh, M. 2006. Economic growth and human development in Indian
state in economic and Political we ekly pp. 3321 -3329
Harrison, D. 1988. The Sociology of Modernization and Development,
Heritage Publishers, Delhi.
Mishra and Puri.2005. Indian Economy, Himalaya Publishing House.
Naidu, Y. G. 2006. Globalization and its impact on Indian Society.
The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol 67. No 1 (Jan –March
2006) pp 65 -76.
Nussbaum, M. Gender and Governance
Padel, F and Das, S. 2010. Out of this earth, East India Adivasis and
the Aluminium Cartel, Orient Black Swan, New Delhi.
Peet, R., Hartwick, E. 1999. Theories of Development: Contentions,
arguments, alternatives. Guilford Publications, New Delhi.munotes.in
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36Sen, A. 2000. Development as Freedom. Anchor books.
https://revisesociology.com/2017/09/19/modernization -theory/
https://revisesociology.com/2015/09/27 /modernisation -theory -
development -and-underdevelopment/
https://revisesociology.com/2015/10/17/dependency -theory/
https://revisesociology.com/2017/09/10/what -is-neoliberalism/
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/european -studies/frank -
underdevelopment -dependency.php#ixzz2AzqID1cC
http://www.corpwatch.org/artic le.php?id=376
munotes.in
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374
TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION -
SURVEY, QUESTIONNAIRE, CASE STUDY
Unit Structure :
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Survey
4.2.1 Characteristics of Survey Method
4.2.2 Steps involved in Survey Method
4.2.3 Subject matter of a survey
4.2.4 Subject matter of a survey
4.2.5 Merits of using Survey methods
4.2.6 Demerits of Survey methods
4.3 Questionnaire
4.3.1 Objectives o f Questionnaire & Types of Survey
4.3.2 Technique of constructing a Questionnaire
4.3.3 Advantages of Questionnaire
4.3.4 Disadvantages of a Questionnaire
4.4 Case Study
4.4.1 Definition of Case Study
4.4.2 Characteristics of Case Study
4.4.3 Sources of Data for Case Study
4.4.4 Significance of Case Study
4.4.5 Limitations of Case Study
4.5 Conclusion
4.6 Summary
4.7 Questions
4.8 References
4.0 Objectives
●To introduce the learner with various techniques of Data Collection
●To understand the various types of data collection tools
●To analyse the significance of various techniques of data collectionmunotes.in
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384.1 INTRODUCTION
Research, needless to say, is an organized way to search answers
for a question. It is a scientific inquiry to arrive at reliable and verifiable
conclusions for a given problem. Today, research plays a significant role
in every field of work. From framing Policies to analyse the consumer
behavior, from diagnosing the events that are taking place to providing a
prognosis (prediction of future development), research provides scientific
and practical guidance to answer various questions. In this unit, we will
look at a few techniques of collecting information regarding the subject
under study which includes survey, questionnaires and case study.
4.2 SURVEY
Have you come across people who ask you a certain predefined set
of questions where a person asks you a certain question like how many
residents live in your house, age group, earning members, dependent
members, or for that matter which toothpaste are you using? Certain
opinion based questions and so on..All these are examples of various types
of surveys. L et us have a quick understanding of the same.
According to the widely accepted definition of survey given by
Bogardus, “A social survey is the collection of data, concerning the living
and working conditions, broadly speaking of the people in a community” .
According to MArk Abrahams, survey is a process by which quantitative
facts are collected about the social aspects of a community's position &
activities.
A survey is generally a fact finding study which provides us with
quantitative data from a lar ge population. It is a most popular technique
used when the data has to be collected from many people, in a given span
of time.
4.2.1 Characteristics of Survey Method
●A survey method is a field study, conducted in a natural setting
●There is a direct cont act between the researcher and the respondents,
as the responses are recorded directly
●It can cover a very large population within a span of time
●Highly cost effective method of data collection
●It covers a definite geographic area -a city or a state or a c ountry
●It includes Extensive study and Intensive study. An extensive study
covers a wider sample whereas an intensive sample covers a few
samples to make intensive studies.
4.2.2 Steps involved in Survey Method
The following are the steps involved in the survey method which
includes,munotes.in
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391.Selection of the problem & Its formulation
2.Preparation of research design regarding sources of data collection
3.Actual data collection
4.Data Tabulation
5.Analysis of Data and Preparation of Report
6.Conclusions & Suggestions for further studies
4.2.3 Subject matter of a survey
With a survey method, all aspects of human behavior, social
associations & institutions, economic, political systems, social -economic
problems, popularity of a particular product, etc can be studied through
survey methods. The broad scope of survey method can be classified as :
1.To study the demographic details comprising the birth rate, death rate,
sex ratio, dependency, etc.
2.Market research to check demand & supply, requirements of customs,
customer care, quality assurance, etc to study the economic conditions.
3.Political surveys are undertaken to have collective opinions, ideas,
preferences about candidates especially during the pre -election period.
These surveys generally make use of opinion pol ls.
Besides these three broad areas, surveys are also conducted in
various fields including education, employment, social problems, issues &
policies.
4.2.4 Types of surveys
Survey, being one of the Widest methods in social sciences, it has
various types. Some of them are:
1. General & Specific Surveys
When the topic under study is of general concern, the
questionnaire is administered to a wider group. Such an administration is
called a general survey. Specific survey on the other hand, is undertak en
when a definite Issue pertaining to a smaller group is explained. For
specific survey, a sample is generally smaller
2. Regular & Ad -Hoc Surveys
Certain Surveys like the census surveys are conducted at regular
intervals in order to study the developmen t or evolution of a particular
phenomenon. Ad hoc on the other hand, are conducted only when there is
a need perceived to explore a phenomena that is completely raw.
3. Preliminary & Final Surveys
The preliminary surveys are also called pilot surveys & ar e
conducted at the beginning of a macro study in order to gauge the real
potential of the research undertaken. Final Survey is conducted in order to
sum up a research project & to arrive at final conclusions.munotes.in
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404. Census & Sample Survey
A census survey is undertaken to study the total population.
Sample Survey on the other hand deals with a smaller group. Census
Survey is therefore technically more demanding than the polls &
attitudinal studies.
5. Online Survey
Online surveys have become an easier way to reach the
respondents, who complete the surveys online by making use of internet
facilities. The data is collected and stored in the database. Many
companies also provide incentives to the respondents for taking up surveys
which include reward points, gif t cards, discounts, etc.
Check Your Progress
1.What is a survey?
2.Mention types of survey methods
4.2.5 Merits of using Survey methods
Survey methods have the following merits
1.It can study large populations at the same time, so it is Macro study
2. Survey method deals with facts & collects data that can be statistically
analysed & verified.
3. With the help of this method it is possible to compare two or more
phenomenons.
4.Social problems can be studied,tackled & handled.
5.It helps the researcher to understand & appreciate the respondents
viewpoint.
6.Relevant conclusions are drawn & theories can be verified.
4.2.6 Demerits of Survey Method
Just as a survey method has many advantages, it also comes with a
set of disadvantages for using the same. These include:
1.Survey method is highly time consuming, expensive, & therefore
cannot be conducted if the resources are limited
2.It is demanding in terms of its spread & design. Several technica lities
are involved in its planning & executionmunotes.in
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413.A single mistake in the data can compel the researcher to start the
process all over again.
4.It deals with the present, and not with the past. It is unable to anticipate
the future.
5.Most of the survey methods use sampling and it becomes important to
derive a healthy sample from the population in a scientific manner.
The sampling error leads to unreliable and unscientific data.
Therefore, the survey method is extremely popular in social sciences,
but it is impor tant to use it with technical precision & academic
caution to gain scientific results.
Check Your Progress
1.What are the advantages of a survey method?
2.Should a survey contain a lot of questions? Give reasons for your
answer.
4.3 QUESTIONNAIRE
Questionnaire is one of the important tools of data collection. It is
defined as “A list of questions given to a human or person for them to
answer. It secures standardized results that can be tabulated and tested
statistically. (Bogardus –Sociology) “A q uestionnaire refers to a device
for securing answers to questions by using a form which the respondent
fills in himself. (Goode Half -Methods of social Research) Questionnaire
is a set of questions. Today, Questionnaires are mailed to the respondents
of co llecting data. It is employed when the area of study is wide and the
subjects are widely dispersed. In this method the researcher does not
collect the data by himself. He relies on the information provided by the
respondents.
4.3.1 Objectiv es of Questionnaire & Types of Survey
There are two basic objectives of Questionnaire :
1)To collect information from the respondents who are scattered in a
wide area.
2)To achieve success in collecting reliable and dependable information.munotes.in
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42Types of Questionnaire :
a) Structured Questionnaire : -
This questionnaire is named before the study is started and it is not
possible to change it after the beginning of the study.
b) Non Structured Questionnaire : -
This kind of Questionnaire is used more like a guide. It consists of
definite subject matter areas, the coverage of which is required during the
process of data collection. It is generally used in the technique of
interview in which case it is called an interview schedule.
Questionnaire is also div ided on the basis of the nature of the
questions that it contains. They are closed, open, pictorial and mixed.
Closed questionnaires usually contain various alternatives to the real
answer. The respondent is only to select the answer and put it down.
Open Questionnaire is just the reverse of the closed
questionnaire. It is used in the cases where new facts are to be found out.
The respondent is given the liberty to express his views freely.
Pictorial questionnaire is similar to closed types of questionnai re.
Generally it is used for children of small age groups and on illiterates. I.Q.
Along with the questions, pictures showing the meanings of those
questions one given. The respondent is required to give out the answers on
the basis of pictures.
Mixed que stionnaire is neither completely closed nor open. It
consists of both types of questions. Since it is a combination of the types
of the questions it is popular in social research.
4.3.2 Technique of constructing a Questionnaire
In case, the study is to be conducted through a questionnaire
method, the questionnaire has to be drawn up in a scientific manner. The
framer of the questionnaire should keep certain things in view. In this
method the respondent gives his answers from a distance. The language
and th e wordings of the questions should be stimulating to the respondents
to give replies. The psychology of the respondent should be kept in mind
and the questionnaire should be framed keeping in view the factors that
are likely to encourage him to give correc ta n s w e r s .
1) Number of questions : -
A questionnaire should not contain a large number of questions. If
there are two many questions, generally respondents lose interest and start
giving irrelevant answers. Thus a questionnaire should neither be too long
nor too brief.munotes.in
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432)Questions should be unambiguous, clean and simple : -
Double barreled questions should not be used. One should not
include two or more questions in one. (e.g. Does your department have a
special recruitment policy for racial minoritie sa n dw o m e n ) .S u c ha
question typically leads to hesitation and indecision on the part of the
respondent. Some wounds are themselves vague and ambiguous. Themes
such as social integration for example, many not well known to the
respondents. The meaning of some words may be known only to highly
educated respondents. Slang and colloquial phrases may be known only to
one group, or may have different meanings to different groups. Such
differences can present a real communication problem if the group of
responde nts is not homogeneous. After resolving to avoid ambiguous
wordings is appropriate. This very often depends upon the educational
level of the respondents. Many researchers feel that they should phrase
their questions in the respondents everyday slang so as to maximize
rapport between respondent and researcher. This is perhaps on those
matters for which there is no right or wrong choice. Moreover the
questions should refer to concrete and specific matters like age on sex are
specific but opinion questions ar e especially difficult. The respondent
often does not have an option because he or she has never thought about
the topic. He or she is concerned about not appearing stupid and must be
measured that there is no right or wrong answer.
3) Leading questions : -
Questions should be carefully structured in order to minimize the
probability of biasing the respondents answer by leading him or her and
thus artificially increasing the probability of a particular response. The
researcher's task is to avoid leading que stions as far as possible or to use
neutral wordings instead.
4) Technical and special words should be clearly explained : -
While using technical jargon the researcher needs to provide an
adequate explanation to all the words so as to enable the responden t to
understand it in a connected way.
5) Personal questions : -
Very personal questions should be avoided . Respondents are
generally unwilling to write down such information. Personal questions
should be asked only if completely required. Besides these c onsiderations
certain technical considerations should be kept in mind like –
a) Quality of paper used.
b) Response category format.
c) Mailing facilities etc.
d) Layout of a questionnaire
A questionnaire technique is used in scientific surveys and when
the sample size is big ; it is always advisable to attach a Covering letter to
the questionnaire. A good covering letter includes the following.munotes.in
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441)A brief introduction of a researcher/researchers and basic information
about the institution involved in th ep r o c e s so fr e s e a r c h .
2)Statement regarding the purpose of survey undertaken.
3)Enclose a self -addressed envelope for the respondents convenience in
returning the questionnaire.
4)Assume the respondent that the information he gives will be kept
confidential.
5)Promise the respondent that he will be solicited after he fills up the
questionnaire.
6)If the respondent is interested, promise a copy of the results of the
survey to him.
7)If possible and if required after social incentives to the re spondents on
the return of the questionnaire.
Check Your Progress
1.Give examples of types of questionnaires.
2.What steps would you keep in mind while framing a questionnaire.
4.3.3 Advantages of Questionnaire
Questionnaires are very cost effective when compared to face
interviews. This is especially true for studies involving large sample size
and large geographic areas. Written questionnaires become even more cost
effective as the number of research questionnaires increases.
Questionnair es are easy to analyze. Data entry and tabulation for
nearly all surveys can be easily done with many computer software
packages.
Questionnaires are familiar to most people. Nearly everyone has
had some experience completing questionnaires and they genera lly do not
make people apprehensive.
Questionnaires reduce bias. There is uniform question presentation
and no middleman bias. The researcher’s own opinion will not influence
the respondent to answer questions in a certain manner. There are nor
verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent.
Questionnaires are less intrusive than telephone on face -to-face
surveys. When a respondent receives a questionnaire in the mail, he is freemunotes.in
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45to complete the questionnaire on his own time -table. Unlike other resea rch
methods, the respondent is not interrupted by the research instrument.
4.3.4 Disadvantages of a Questionnaire : -
One major disadvantage of written questionnaires is the possibility
of low response rates. Low response is the curse of statistical analys is. It
can dramatically lower one's confidence in the results. Response rates vary
widely from one questionnaire to another (10% -10%), however, well -
designed studies consistently produce high response rates.
Another disadvantage of questionnaires is the i nability to probe
responses, Questionnaires are structured instruments. They allow little
flexibility to the respondent with respect to response format. In essence,
they lose the “Flavor of the response (i.e. : respondents often want to
quality their answe rs). By allowing frequent space for comments, the
researcher can partially overcome this disadvantage. Comments are among
the most helpful of all the information on the questionnaire, and they
usually provide insightful information that would have otherwis eb e e n
lost.
Nearly ninety percent of all communication is visual. Gestures and
other visual cues are not available with written questionnaires. The lack of
personal contact has different effects depending on the type of information
being requested. A que stionnaire requesting factual information will
probably not be affected by the lack of personal contact. A questionnaire
probing sensitive issues on attitudes may be severely affected.
When returned questionnaires arrive in the mail, it’s natural to
assum e that the respondent is the same person you sent the questionnaire
to. This may not actually be the case. Many times business questionnaires
get handed to other employees for completion. Housewives sometimes
respond for their husbands, Kids respond as a p rank for a variety of
internet questionnaires.
Finally, questionnaires are simply not suited for some people. For
example, a written survey to a group of poorly educated people might not
work because of needing skill problems. Non frequently, people are t urned
off by written questionnaires because of misuse.
Check Your Progress
1.When would you select a questionnaire method?
2.What are the drawbacks of using a Questionnaire?munotes.in
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464.4 CASE STUDY
In social science research, the case study method is Widely
adopted one in carrying our research in the field. The credit for
introducing case study goes to Fredrick replay. The English social
philosopher, her bet Spencer, was among the first to adopt a case study
method in comparative studies of differen t cultures, In the comparative
studies of different cultures, the problem of juvenile delinquency was
complex to understand simply on the basis of available statistical data. It
was Healey, who supported the case study method which afforded a
deeper unders tanding of the juvenile delinquency phenomena. Later,
sociologists, psychologists, technologists and educationists became
interested in the study of primitive as well as modern cultures by case
study method.
4.4.1 Definition of Case Study
P. V. Young defi nes case study as “a comprehensive study of a
social unit, be it a person, a group of person, an institution, or a
community is called a case study”, According to Goode and Hatt,” it is an
approach which views any social unit as a whole. It is a way of org anizing
social data so as to preserve the unitary character of the social object being
studied.” In the words of Charles Horton Coolye, ”Case study depends on
our perception and gives us a clear insight into life. It gets at behaviour
directly and not by a n indirect approach.” By the above definition, it is
clear that the case study method is qualitative, inclusive, intensive, insight
stimulating and comprehensive approach. The field study is comparatively
limited but has more depth in it. It aims at studyi ng everything rather than
something about everything as in the case of statistical method. In other
words, it is a study of Micro problems at macro level.
4.4.2 Characteristics of Case Study -
1)The case study method aims at deep and detailed investigat ion of a
unit.
2)It covers a sufficient wide cycle of time.
3)It is continuity in nature.
4)It is qualitative in character and it may equally be qualitative.
5)The number of units to be studied is small.
6)It is flexible with which the researcher has independence in selecting
the problem.
7)The data is to be scientifically synthesized which should be as much
prognostic as diagnostic.
4.4.3 Sources of Data for Case Study : -
Following are the main sources of data for case study researc h.
1)The personal documents, viz. dairies, autobiographies, memories,
letters, etc of an individual which contain the description of
remarkable events of the life of an individual as well as his reactions
towards them. Although they are sufficiently sub jective in nature butmunotes.in
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47are important for social research. In the words of P.N. Young personal
documents represent continuity of experience which helps to
illuminate the individual personality . Social relations and Philosophy
of life often expressed in obje ctive reality or subjective appreciation.
2)Life history is another course for case study that reveals the respondent
life with the significance of social movements.
4.4.4 Significance of Case Study
1)Case study helps in formulating valid hypotheses. A thorough study
and careful analysis can derive various generalizations which may be
developed into useful hypotheses. Infact, study of relevant literature
and case study are the two potent sources of hypotheses.
2)It helps in framing questionnaire or schedule through case study, it can
be known the prolites of the unit of individual with which a better and
suitable questionnaire or schedule can be framed in order to get a rich
response.
3)It aids in sampling, by studying the individual units thorough ly
4)It locates deviant cases. The deviant case are those units that behave
against the proposed hypothesis .The tendency is to ignore them but
for scientific analysis they are important.
5)Case study method is a process rather than an incident. The pr oblem
under study forms a process rather than one incident EG -Courtship
process, clique formation , etc.
6)Case study method enlarges the range of personal experience of the
researcher In statistical method, generally ,a narrow range of topics is
select ed and the researcher’s knowledge is limited to the particular
aspect only. In case of case study, the whole range of subjective life is
studied and the range of knowledge is naturally enlarged with this
personal gain, he gets an intimate knowledge of many aspects of the
units.
7)Since the case study covers the entire life of the unit, it is inclusive and
intensive in nature. Under this, there is possibility of studying the
various aspects of a problem,
8)The significance of the case study is its nature of recording the data
within the life of an individual and later on, within the life of the class
of individuals. This means the researcher comes into contact with
different classes of people , a thief , a pick -pocket and a like.
4.4.5 Limitations of Cas eS t u d y
●The data collected in the case study method is incapable of verification
and the generalizations down from it leads to unsystematic procedure.
●Secondly, due to inaccurate observations and faculty inference,
selection of a case may not be typical o f the group. In other words, the
case study is susceptible to post hoc failure in memory, unconsciousmunotes.in
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48omission or repression of unpleasant facts which describes what is
more imaginary than real .
●Thirdly, the researcher thus finds some common sense explan ations to
a particular phenomena. This is so happened as he is so overconfident
to his intimate knowledge of the unit.
Check Your Progress
1.Give examples of case studies that you might have come across.
2.Case study is a lengthy process. Do you agree with t he following
statement? Why?
4.5 CONCLUSION
Various methods are used in the process of data collection. Both
Quantitative & Qualitative methods come with their own set of advantages
& limitations. The method is chosen based on the requirements of the
research question. The best method which is suited to collect verifiable
data is used to draw reliable conclusions. However, it depends a lot on the
skill and ability of the researcher to select the technique and utilise it for
the rese arch activity being undertaken. Any discrepancies in data can lead
to the failure of the entire process and compel the researcher to start over
from the beginning, leading to wastage of not only the resources, but also
the time & the efforts of the researc her.
4.6 SUMMARY
A social survey in its broader sense, has a reference to a first hand
investigation analysis and coordination of economic, sociological and
other related aspects of a selected community group. A survey may be
undertaken with the primary purpose of a selected community or group. A
survey may be undertaken with the primary purpose of formulating a
programme for amelioration of the conditions of life and work of a
community or a group, implying some frame in the mind of the survey or
as to w hat the conditions ideally ought to be. The purpose of a social
survey may also be to provide scientifically gathered facts or materials
affording some empirical basis for the social theorist to set up their
conclusions.munotes.in
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49The successful application of ques tionnaire depends on devoting
the right balance of efforts to the planning stage, rather than rushing too
early administering the questionnaire. Therefore the researcher should
have a clear plan of action in mind and costs, production, organization,
time l imit and permission should be taken care in the beginning when
designing a questionnaire, the characteristics of a good questionnaire
should be kept in mind.
Case studies provide information and evidence about a particular
phenomena by gaining in depth kn owledge about the subject under study.
A thorough study and careful analysis can derive various generalizations
which may be developed into useful hypotheses. Infact, study of relevant
literature and case study are the two potent sources of hypotheses.
4.7 QUESTIONS
1.Explain Survey Approach. What are the merits & demerits of using a
survey method?
2.What is a questionnaire? Explain its types & the technique of framing
a questionnaire.
3.Define Questionnaire. What are the merits & demerits of using a
questionnaire.
4.What is a Case Study? Explain the significance of using a case study
method.
5.Explain the case study method and its characteristics.What are the
limitations of using a case study method?
4.8 REFERENCES
Wilkinson and Bhandenkar : Methodology and Techniques of Social
Research, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai 1977.
Denzine N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds) Handbook of Qualitative
Research, London Sage Publications 1994.
Bryman A; Quantity and Quality in Social Science Research, London
Routledge 1988.
Dillon W. R. and Goldstein M. : Multivariate Analysis Methods and
Applications, New York, John Wiley and Sons 1984.
Anthony Gliders, Positivism and sociology, Cambridge, Gower 1987.
munotes.in
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505
GLOBALIZATION AND THE CRISIS OF
DEVELOPMENT -LAND
DISPLACEMENT, FOREST RIGHTS ACT
2006 AND ITS IMPACT ON THE TRIBAL
COMMUNITY
Unit Structure :
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Land Acquisition
5.3 Land Acquisition: A case of Maan and Singur
5.4 Displacement, Resettlement and Rehabilitation
5.5 Historical Background of Forest Rights Act, 2006
5.5.1 Forest Rights Act and its Impact on the Tribal
5.5.2 Opportunities
5.5.3 Obstacles
5.5.4 Suggestions
5.6 Summary
5.7 Questions
5.0 OBJECTIVES
●To understand the concept of globalization and displacement.
●To examine the issues related to land displacement.
●To understand the impact of forest rights on the Tribal.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
From the beginning of the liberalization, privatization and
globalization model of growth, the areas inhabited by the tribal saw a
surge in social unrest and protest. Due to the LPG model the sustainable
subsistence livelihood of the tribal and others came under threat as the
flow of global capital was accelerated in the tribal belts with the intent to
explore and exp loit the natural resources in the region. In the pretext of
modernization and development, the LPG model created wealth for the
rich at the cost of the livelihood and security of the tribal.munotes.in
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51It was believed that investment by the MNCs in mineral rich
backward tribal belts would accelerate economic growth and increase
revenue generation which would bring about socio -economic changes in
the tribal region and support the development of basic infr astructure in this
otherwise backward region. The LPG model of development endorsed
mega development projects to accelerate the process of development by
increasing economic growth measured in terms of the gross national
product. Instead led to the displac ement of people and obliteration of the
sustainable subsistence agriculture of the people who were traditionally
dependent upon the local ecosystems for their survival.
According to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 2013 the number of
tribal displaced sinc e 1999 due to development projects was 225708. In
recent times displacement of the tribal has deepened due to conditions
created by globalization and liberalization of the Indian economy which
created a favorable environment for maximizing profit for the M NCs and
big industrial houses. This resulted in the tension between the tribal, the
elite and the government. Thus the tribal are fighting for their traditional
rights over the ecosystem and the elite are trying to explore and exploit the
natural resources in the ecosystem in the guise of development and
evicting the poor tribal and other forest dwellers and farmers alienating
them from their home and land.
The development projects such as dams and mines create wealth
for the few affluent populations and m arginalized and exclude the tribal.
They become the victim of development because the economic and other
small business opportunities generated by these projects are grabbed by
the non -tribal. Thereby they become ecological refugees and are forced to
migra te to nearby slums and cities to survive.
Due to the LPG model of development, in recent years the tribal
regions not only in India but all over the developing world are witnessing
gigantic social, economic and environmental changes. According to Blaser
et al, 2004 the tribal are involuntarily displaced from their homes and land
without any sincere attempt for their resettlement, rehabilitation and
integration into the modern development process. Thus in the present era
of globalization, the tribal are pus hed into oblivion and are displaced by
these development monsters. Besides tribal and the forest dwellers, the
other group worst affected by the LPG model of growth are farmers. Their
land was acquired for the setting up of amusement parks, IT parks and
industrial estates in various parts of India.
The farmers share a complex relationship with their land (Sathe,
2017). For the farmers land acquisition means loss of land. It means losing
once a way of life and complete or partial annihilation of a village.munotes.in
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525.2 LAND ACQUISITION
After Independence India embarked upon the process of
development by adopting a socialist pattern of the economy. The
government hence initiated land reforms but it was only partially
successful in its endeavor due to the politic al stronghold of landed class in
rural India. The land was acquired for constructing dams, mines and other
infrastructure. This step of the government was justified as it was essential
for a rapid development of newly independent countries.
At the same t ime there was very few resistance to land acquisition
as people were not politically aware and there were very few channels to
voice their exploitation.
In the post liberalization era, land acquisition legislation was the
outcome of commercialization and an increase in investments. The LPG
model of development dependent on cut throat competition implicit in
market economy generated opportunities for the expansion of a private
business. For business friendly governments it was crucial to bring about
change in the existing laws to promote the process of land acquisition.
Even the international financial institutions encouraged liberalization in
the name of increasing economic efficiency, in fact, it was a tool to
promote capital accumulation for the small el ite population while in this
process a large number of tribal and farmers continued to become landless
and live in misery. The corporate led industrialization would push the
tribal and the farmers to poverty.
The land acquisition act, 1894 was used to grab the land of the
people and the compensation offered was a figure decided by the
government officials. Although there was scope to challenge the proposed
amount in the court, objections were just procedural or regarding valuation
and not on public purpose for which the government proposed to take over
private property. It was not open to contestation. There was no room to
challenge the rehabilitation of the displaced people. The state had the right
to define th e public purpose and deprive the farmers and the tribal of their
sustenance. The act was used to enhance the profit of the private
developers to build parks, malls, dams, power projects, industries, and
infrastructure by displacing the farmers, the tribal and depriving them of
their livelihood.
Naika B G (2016) assert that for the first time the issues of
displaced people by land acquisition was addressed by The Rights to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and
Rehabilitati on Act, 2013. The 2013 Act diluted the harsh provisions of the
earlier act and made an attempt to put in place the building block for easy
accessibility of land. It made prior consent compulsory, increased finance
to those left without land or livelihood a nd provisions for rehabilitation
and resettlement. But certain states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Telangana and Rajasthan are diluting the consent clause throughmunotes.in
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53legislation. For example, the State of Tamil Nadu passed the land
acquisition act, 2015 and added new section 105 -A by which consent of
the land owner is not required.
Karl Polanyi (1944) rightly pointed out that to permit the market
mechanism to solely decide the fate of the people and their environment
would obliterate the society.
5.3 LAND ACQUISITION A CASE OF MAAN AND
SINGUR
Maan:
Maan is a village in Maharashtra, near Pune. During the period
2000 to 2006 half of the land of this village was acquired. However, the
farmers' protest against the land acquisition in 2006 brought the
acquisi tion to a halt. Sathe (2017) the story of Maan village land
acquisition begins with the establishment of Information and Technology
Park in Hinjewadi which is an adjacent village to Maan. The distance
between the two villages was less as soon as the first phase of RGIT park
was completed, phase two, three and four was announced and thus it
reached Maan village. The phase I and III were SEZ. Phase I included
companies such as Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Tata consultancy while
phase II consisted of manufacturi ng industrial products such as
automobiles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and phase III consisted of IT
companies and residential complexes.
The farmers of Maan village were apprehensive about the
acquisition of land as they were not aware of what is in store for them in
the future. They were coerced into selling off their land. The
compensation that these farmers received was perceived by them as
adequate at the time of initial acquisition. They sold their land with the
hope that they will get job opport unities in the companies but their
expectations were not fulfilled. They started feeling that they were
cheated. They did not get any share in the appreciation value of the land.
This led to discomfort and anger hence protest. The villagers strongly felt
that the MIDC was acting as an agent of builders rather than an
intermediary and they felt betrayed by the government. They felt they
became landless, unemployed with no sustainable livelihood.
Singur:
The development induced displacement figure for the St ate of
West Bengal during the period 1947 -2000 is around seventy lakh. The
development project has used almost forty seven lakh acres of land. Thirty
six lakhs of the people are now displaced and thirty four lakhs of people
are deprived of their livelihood without being relocated to other areas. Of
these twenty percent are tribal, thirty percent are Dalits and twenty percent
come from other marginalized sections of society such as quarry and fish
workers.munotes.in
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54Singur is located in Hoogly district of West Bengal . Tata motors
acquired land here to set up its small car manufacturing unit. The state
government of West Bengal forcefully acquired 997 acres of fertile
farmland for Tata’s to construct a car manufacturing unit. The
compensation given to the farmers were inadequate and their resettlement
and rehabilitation were delayed.
Ghosh (2012) one of the important argument for the protest against
setting up of small car manufacturing plant by Tata at Singur was that the
acquisition of agricultural land that would de stroy the livelihood of a large
number of the farmers for whom agriculture was the main source of
income and they were not willing to take over any other options for
livelihood. Thus economically they were not willing to give away
agriculture. They also la cked skills for the jobs generated by the setting up
of the car manufacturing unit and therefore the jobs would go to the
outsiders.
According to an estimate, West Bengal is still to achieve food
security in a real sense although it produces eleven percen t surplus rice
and forty percent surplus vegetables but encounters severe deficit in the
production of wheat, pulses and oil seeds. Hence in this situation, the
acquisition of agricultural land will negatively impact food production and
would create an imb alance in the food security condition of the State. The
peasant protest movement at Singur has brought these issues at the center.
5.4 DISPLACEMENT, RESETTLEMENT AND
REHABILITATION
Kothari (1996) states that the number of people uprooted by and
displaced by land acquisitions is as high as four crores. A considerable
amount of the displaced are the small and marginal farmers, SCs and the
STs. The people living in the resource rich are as are the worst affected.
Despite large scale displacement of tribal, Farmers and other sections of
society there is a lack of comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation
plan for them. In the federal structure like India resettlement is a State
concern and only a few States are serious about the issues. Due to the lack
of comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation policy, the R and R
policy of the displaced people has been minimal and unsuccessful. As per
an estimate, only 26 percent of the displaced have been rehabilitated. This
is due to the fact that the project authorities are not concerned with the
resettlement of the displaced and leave this responsibility on the local
authorities and at the same time the resettlement plan is guess work done
onan ad -hoc basis. Compensations are given only to those who are
owners of the land but many of the displaced people may not have any
documents as evidence thus they are uprooted, forced to evict the land on
which they were residing for generations.munotes.in
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55The co nsequence of this kind of development is continuous
powerlessness of the farmers and the tribal communities. Several studies
have pointed out that these people become landless, homeless, socially
disarticulated, and jobless, face food insecurity, loss of c ommon property,
increased morbidity and mortality.
Conclusion:
The LPG model is a unipolar model of development and its impact
on the farmers, tribal community and the other forest dwellers is a matter
of concern. Hence there was a rise of protest movem ents in the regions
inhabited by these populations due to land acquisition and forced eviction.
The farmers and the tribal communities are facing not only economic
exploitation but also plundering of their resources and thus environmental
degradation. The resettlement and rehabilitation of these people affected
by development projects are far from satisfactory for example Sardar
Sarovar affected tribal were not even provided with any rehabilitation. The
government considered them as an encroacher on its lan d which they were
cultivating for generations.
Check your progress:
1.Write a note on Land Acquisition.
2.Write a note on Singur.
5.5 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FOREST RIGHTS
2006
The relationship between the tribal and the forest has always been
that of coexistence and they have played a significant role in the survival
and sustainability of the ecological system. Their relationship with the
ecosystem was symbiotic and recognized a nd manifested as customary
rights over the forest produce. However, these rights were not
acknowledged and recorded by the government while consolidating state
forests during the colonial period as well as after independence. This led
to the insecurity of tenure and the threat of eviction that alienated the tribal
from their ancestral land. This historical injustice was done by the Wild
Life Protection Act, 1972 which prohibited the capturing, killing, trapping
and poisoning of wild animals. It extended to the whole of India except to
the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides this, it also regulates and
controls trade in products and parts derived from wildlife. The Forest
Conservation Act, 1980 also considered the rights of tribal over the forestmunotes.in
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56and its prod uce and environmental protection as mutually incompatible.
Other legislative and executive measures in later period too held the same
view. Thus it curtailed the century old customary rights of the tribal
communities over the forests and established the co ntrol of the
government over forests.
Moreover, post -independence the economic policies of the
government accelerated development activities such as mining,
construction of dams etc., led to the displacement of the tribal on a large
scale.
In response to the tribal communities struggle and unrest to assert
their rights over the forest land and its produce on which they have been
traditionally dependent, the Ministry of Rural development constituted a
committee headed by Dileep Singh Bhruria who was a tr ibal member of
the Parliament to devise a policy for extending provisions of Part IX -Ao f
the Constitution of India to Scheduled Areas which are basically tribal
areas under special protection in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
The Bhuria committee recommended for the legal recognition of
the Gram Sabah as the primary agency of tribal governance and suggested
that long standing tribal communities demand for control over productive
land and forest accepted with minimum administrative interfe rence in
tribal affairs. On the recommendation of this report Panchayat Extension
to the Scheduled Area Act, 1996 came into existence that acknowledged
the rights of the tribal communities for self -governance but the actual
implementation of this act was u nsatisfactory.
In an attempt to undo the historical injustice meted out to the tribal
communities, the Parliament enacted the Scheduled Tribes and other
Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006. The enactment of this act was not
very smooth; it was preceded by massive discussion and debate, which
brought to light the conflict between the environmentalists, social activists
and conservationists as core issues.
5.5.1 Forest Rights Act and Its impact on Tribal:
●The Forest Rights Act, 2006 was enacted to recog nise the claim of the
tribal communities on forest resources and ownership of land and grant
legal recognition to the rights of the traditional forest dwellers. For the
first time, this act gave tribal communities and the public voice in
forest and wildlif e conservation.
●Eligibility: People residing in forests or forest lands and dependent on
forests and forest land for their livelihood and the claimant either must
be a member of STs in that area or residing in the forest for over 75
years.
●Rights enjoyed under the Act:munotes.in
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57oRight to ownership of cultivable land by tribal or forest dwellers
maximum of four hectares, no new granting of land.
oRight to use minor forest produce including ownership, grazing
areas, pastoralist routes etc.,
oRight to relief and developm ent in case of illegal eviction or forced
displacement and to use basic amenities with limitation.
oRight to forest management in order to protect and conserve forests
and wildlife.
●Decision:
Rights to be recognised by the recommendation of Gram Sabha. A
recommendation would be screened and approved by the committee
consisting of three government officials and three elected members of
the local body.
●Steps:
The provision of the Act would be implemented in four steps:
oFormation of the forest rights committe e and meeting of the Gram
Sabha.
oSubmitting the claims by the tribal to the Gram Sabha.
oVerifying the claims.
oRecognising the rights.
●The above steps have to be in tune with the procedure maintained in
the Forest Rights Act (2006). As per the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the
land acknowledged under the act cannot be sold or transferred.
●Process involved in the recognition of rights:
oSection 6 of the Act contains a three -step transparent procedure to
decide who can enjoy the rights.
oFirstly, the Gram Sabha woul d pass a resolution to recommend
whose rights over which resources for example who are the
cultivators of the land and for how long, which minor produce is
collected etc.,
oSecondly, the resolution would go for screening and approval at
the taluka level and then at the district level.
●Success:
oAt the national level, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal
agency for implementing the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Over a
period of time, various State Governments have achieved
significantly under this Act. The a ct came into effect from Jan,
2008 since then fourteen lakhs and eighteen thousand titles have
been distributed to the eligible tribal and forest dwellers.
oAs per the status report of the Ministry of Tribal Affair, May 2015,
the Tripura Government has the highest percentage of tilesmunotes.in
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58distribution (65.97%) followed by Kerala (65.54%), Orissa
(57.24%), Rajasthan (49.09%) and Jharkhand (44.73%).
5.5.2 Opportunity:
●The act is an attempt of the government to undo the wrong done to the
tribal and the other forest dwelling communities both in the colonial
and post -colonial periods, whose claims over the forest resources and
land were snatched away from them during the 1850s.
●The act aims to provide tribal and other forest dwellers a source of
livelihood and s ustainably protect the forest in a traditional way.
●The act extends the mandate of the fifth and the sixth schedules of the
Constitution that protect the claims of the indigenous people over
lands or forests they inhabit.
●The alienation of the tribe had led to various violent movements such
as Naxal affected States like Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The
act by identifying the rights of the tribal and the forest dwellers
attempt to be more inclusive.
●The act is a step to democratise forest gover nance by acknowledging
the community rights over estimated eighty five million acres in the
process empowering around two hundred million tribal and forest
dwellers residing in one lakh seventy thousand villages.
●The act would ensure that the right people get the management of
forest thereby regulating the exploitation of forest resources by forest
governance and management and officials.
5.5.3 Obstacles:
●Gram Sabha : In most of the states gram Sabha lacks proper
infrastructure and technical knowledge to k eep records. In most of the
tribal belt, Gram Sabha has yet not been constituted.
●Elections for Panchayat: There are states where the Panchayat
system is very weak, there are irregularities elections are not held on a
regular basis. As a result, the Gram Sabha may not be to able function
as desired for the implementation of Act.
●Ambiguity : For the verification and recommendation to be made
before the gram Sabha, each village has to elect a 10 to 15 member
committee from among the residents but in most of t he cases the Gram
Panchayat responsible for forming the committee are inefficient.
●Lack of awareness : The beneficiaries of the Act are mostly illiterate
and therefore unable to fill and submit the forms concerning their
claims. As a result, many intermedia ries with selfish motives try to
take their advantage. Most of the time the beneficiaries are not aware
of the provisions of the act.
●Traditional Forest Dwellers : most of the State does not recognise the
claim of traditional forest dwellers because they do not have anymunotes.in
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59documentary evidence to prove that they are living in the area from
last the 75 years.
●Individual and Community Rights : Some of the environmentalists
believe that the Forest Rights Act, 2006 favours individual rights than
community rights ove r the forest land and produce. Very few claims
have been filed as community rights and most of it is neglected.
●Forest bureaucracy : The forest bureaucracy is reluctant to give up
their control hence there has been deliberate sabotage attempt by them
both a t the national and state level to some extent even the corporate
sectors too are involved. This is due to the fact that the forest
bureaucracy do not want to give away their power hold over the land
and the people on the other hand the corporates may lose their access
to most valuable and cheap natural resources. They consider the act as
a tool to regularise encroachment rather than a tribal welfare activity.
●Indifference of Administration : Implementation of the Forest Rights
Act, 2006 is a huge challenge. The acts concerning environment are
not totally compliant with the law. There is every possibility of illegal
encroachments and unjust rejection of claims of the tribal and forest
dwellers. The government finds it easier to undermine the Act as the
tribal are not a vote bank.
●Protected Areas: In protected areas the process of settling the claims
of the tribal and forest dwellers is low and an attempt has been made to
illegally relocate the beneficiaries.
●Primitive Tribes: The provision for habitat rights or community
rights of the groups such as tribal, pre -agricultural communities is not
effectively implemented. There is no clarity over the mechanism for
claiming rights for these communities. These communities are mainly
desirous of getting habitats rights as it will give them permanent
settlement.
●Inter -departmental coordination : Although the tribal department is
the nodal department, the records of the forest lands are either
maintained by the revenue department or forest department. There is a
lack of coo rdination among these three departments making it difficult
to have mutual cooperation.
5.5.4 Suggestions:
The objective of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 is to empower the
tribal community and the other forest dwellers and grant their claims to the
forest l and and resources, right to protect forest, biodiversity and wildlife .
It is also seen as a solution to all the ills of forest management, forest
governance and tribal rights. However because of the lack of political will,
administrative apathy the impleme ntation is ineffective.
To ensure justice and achieve the aim of the act following steps
can be taken:munotes.in
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60●Create Awareness : A large scale mass awareness drive should be
conducted to reach out to the tribal community and the other forest
dwellers.
●NGOs : Help of NGOs working amongst the tribal community can be
taken in filling the application forms, identification and measurement
of land and negotiating with the concerned officials.
●Training and capacity building : Training and capacity building
programme s should be organised for people responsible for the
implementation of the Act, for example, Panchayat and Gram Sabha.
●Coordination: Steps to be taken to ensure inter -department
coordination between departments involved in the verification of
claims within the proper time frame.
●Maps and documents : Appropriate maps and documents should be
maintained by the Panchayat and it should be made available to the
forest rights committee and the claimants to simplify the work of the
Gram Sabha in identifying and fili ng of claims for the tribal and other
forest dwellers.
Conclusion:
Despite numerous hindrances faced by the Forest Rights Act and
dilution of its provision by the administrative machinery, the Act is a
powerful instrument to protect the rights and self -respect of the forest
dwellers and the tribal communities. It is an important tool for forest
governance. Therefore it is the responsibility of the State and all the
stakeholders to protect the tribal community and other forest dwellers and
see that they get their rightful entitlements.
Check Your Progress:
1.What is the Forest Rights Act, 2006?
2.Explain important features of Forest Rights Act.
5.6 SUMMARY
The LPG model of development has deprived the tribal
communities, the forest dwellers and the agriculture dependent people of
their traditional means of sustainable livelihood in the name of
modernization and development. The business friendly government
policies and the elites of India are taking over the life sustaining resources
of the poor people such as farmers, tribal, dalits and others and thus aremunotes.in
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61pushing them into poverty, alienating them from their land, home and
resources.
The present developm ent paradigm is not inclusive it does not
provide an opportunity to the tribal community and farmers in the non -
farm sector by providing them technical knowledge or by developing their
skills.
The tribal communities and the other forest dwellers have been
residing in and around the forest area for centuries sharing a symbiotic
relationship with the forest and acting as a conserver and using forest
resources more sustainably. During the 1850s the scenario changed instead
of forest being looked upon as a res ource base for the sustenance of the
tribal communities and other forest dwellers it became a State resource to
be commercially exploited.
Even after independence, nothing changed. The policies and
programmes of the central government curtailed century’s old customary
rights of the tribal and other forest dwellers and strengthened the
government’s control over the forest resources and the forest land.
Moreover, the endeavor to take India on the path of economic
development led to increase in mining, constr uction ofdams etc., that
displaced millions of tribal, and other forest dwellers and alienated them
from century old claims and symbiotic relationship with the forest.
After great struggle and protest the tribal communities and other
forest dwelling communities were granted their rightful claim to the forest
by enacting the Forest Rights Act in 2006.
5.7 QUESTIONS
1.Discuss the impact of globalization on the tribal community and the
farmer s.
2.Examine the issues related to displacement, resettlement and
rehabilitation.
3.Critically evaluate Forest Rights, 2006.
5.8 REFERENCES
1.Blaser M., McRae G., Fiet H., 2004, ‘In the way of development:
Indigenous peoples, lofe projects and globaliz ation’, Zed Books.
2.Fernandes W., 2007, ‘Singur and the Displacement Scenario’, EPW.
3.Ghatak M, Mitra S, Mookherjee D, Nath A., 2013, ‘Land Acquisition
and Compensation What Really Happened in Singur?, EPW, Vol
XIVIIImunotes.in
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624.Ghosh Buddhadeb, 2012, ‘What Made the ‘ Unwilling Farmers? A
Note on Singur’, EPW, August 11, Vol:XIVII, No:32.
5.Kothari S, 1996, ‘Whose Nation, the Displaced as Victims of
Development’, EPW, June 15.
6.Meher Rajkishore, 2009, ‘Globalization, displacement and the
livelihood of tribal and agriculture dependent poor: The case of
mineral based industries in India’,
http://jds.sagepub.com/content/25/4/457
7.Mukerji Siddhartha, 2017, ‘Land Acquisition in contemporary India:
The growth agenda, legislation and resistance’,
https://doi.org/10.1177/0019556117689851
8.Naika B, 2016, ‘Land Acquisition and |Development Induced
Displacement: India and International Legal Framework, Winter Issue,
ILI Law Review.
9.Omvedt G, 2 005, Capitalism and Globalization, Dalits and Adivasis,
EPW, November 19.
10.Polanyi, Karl. 2001. The great transformation: The political and
economic origins of our time. 2nd Beacon Paperback ed. Boston, MA:
Beacon Press.
11.Sathye D, 2017,’ Land Acquisition an dB e y o n d :T h eF a r m e r s ’
Perspective’, EPW, Vol 52, Issue XIII.
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636
RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS
Unit Structure :
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 Nature of Resistance Movements
6.2 Resistance a struggle to survive
6.3 Recent Resistance Movements in India
6.4 SEZs and the State of Maharashtra
6.4.1 Raigad SEZs
6.4.2 Gorai SEZs
6.5 Water Rights
6.6 Summary
6.7 Questions
6.8 References
6.0 OBJECTIVES
●To understand the concept of resistance movement.
●To evaluate the impact of development projects.
●To understand and discuss various resistance movements in India
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Resistance for a human being is a unique phenomenon having
collective components in the complex socio -cultural milieu. Theref ore,
human resistance needs to be contextualized in the light of group or
collective expression of the irresistible urge to resist. Thus desire to resist
is not at the individual level but a concerted group effort that takes the
shape of a movement. A move ment can be defined as a group of people
sharing the same ideas and objectives. It is an expression of one or many
interrelated forms of resistance based on certain ideological undercurrents.
A resistance movement is thus an organized effort of certain
sections of society to resist exploitation. The factors responsible for
resistance movements are unjust, discriminative, exploitative,
undemocratic and anti -humane, social, political, cultural and economic
conditions. The aim of the resistance movement is to bring to light the
existing violations of human rights by the private bodies and the
governmental officials on the one hand and seek redressal by mobilizingmunotes.in
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64people and forming public opinion on the other. A resistance movement
may use the violent or nonvi olent methods of resistance. It may operate
under different organizations, acting in different stages or geographical
areas within a State.
Since 1991 the political landscape of India has experienced a
number of the resistance movements. In every state, there have been small
or big people’s movements to counter appropriation of their natural
resources, livelihood and survival by their governments and giant national
and multinational corporations.
6.1.1Nature of Resistance Movements:
●Mass based : Resistance movements have a mass base. It involves
common people in its protest.
●Reactionary : It is reactionary. The masses react against the anti -
democratic, unjust social conditions in the society as in the political
system.
●Change oriented : Resistance movement aims to bring about changes
in society.
●Methods: The resistance movement may adopt a violent or non -
violent method to achieve its objective.
6.2 Resistance a struggle to survive:
Resistance movement is an attempt by social classes and groups at
the bottom strata of the society to handle the challenge posed by
globalization. The struggle to survive is social, economic, political,
cultural and environmental with the aim to achieve so cial justice in the
present market led development. A sense of marginalization emerging
from the LPG model of development provokes anti -government and anti -
corporate sentiments to stop or roll back certain programmes and policies.
Nuruzzman (2009) argues that the affected group’s consciousness
is impelled by continued material deprivation explicitly in highly lop -
sided wealth and income distribution which widens significantly due to
globalization. Deprivation and the likelihood of further marginalization
due to globalization process create fear and concern about the future
among the marginalized people like tribal, farmers, workers etc.,
Check your progress:
1.What is resistance movement?
2.Explain the nature of resistance movement.
3.Resistance is a struggle t o survive. Comment.munotes.in
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65The following section would provide a snapshot of some of the
resistance movement in India.
6.3 RECENT RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS IN INDIA
●Infrastructure Project:
Delhi Mumbai Corridor: The Delhi Mumbai Corridor is an
ambitious $ 1000 billion Industrial Development Project of the
government of India in collaboration with Japanese investment with the
objective to develop industrial zones spanning across six states of India -
Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra
which would accelerate economic and industrial development in the
region. As per an estimate, around 180 million people will be affected by
this mega project which amounts to 14 per cent of India’s total population.
Historically it is the largest infrastructure project undertaken by the
government that will lead to expansion of infrastructure and Industry
which includes industrial clusters along with rail, road, port and air
connect ivity in the region along the route of the Corridor and Smart cities.
This project would have a dedicated freight corridor aimed to cut the
logistic costs of the manufactured goods making it the cheapest in the
world. This project is crucial to develop man ufacturing centres that would
employ millions of people.
However, of all the infrastructural requirements water and land are
the most important finite resources. The DMIC project cannot move ahead
with usurping the water that the farmers require for grow ing their crops
and will have an adverse impact on the villages in the six States. And this
will lead to conflict over land and river acquisition. Thus the DMIC
project would take away the natural resources of the marginalized and
impoverish the neighbourh oods.
For Khosla and Soni (2012) Delhi Mumbai Corridor is the water
disaster in making. The implementation of this project would destroy the
natural resources and take away the rights of the existing users for
example farmers thereby impoverishing their farms and villages. Before
implementing this project it is necessary to scientifically scrutinize and
create public awareness by setting up an independent water commission
for the regions of the DMIC across the six states. The project of this
magnitude sho uld not proceed without the authorization of the
commission and proper environmental clearance. The project will not
meet the development needs of the local farmers and would jeopardise
their livelihood which is based on the agrarian economy.
●Nuclear Powe r Plant:
Jaitapur is a tiny port located in the State of Maharashtra, Ratnagiri
district. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India proposed the Jaitapur
nuclear power project covering 968 hectares of land engulfing five
villages -Madban, Karel, Niveli, Mithg avane and Varliwads consisting ofmunotes.in
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6640,000 population. Varliwada and Madban were the actual sites of the
project and other villages such as Karel, Mithgavane and Niveli were
planned to be developed as a township for the project staff.
The region is rich in biodiversity, home to around six thousand
species of flowering plants, birds, amphibians and plants which include
325 endangered species. It is the richest area for endemic plants and is a
source of two major rivers. The government of India forcibly acquir ed
around 2,300 acres of land by using the Land Acquisition Act. The Act
which was meant to acquire land for public purpose was used to benefit
the private companies that would risk the life of the farmers and fisher
folks.
The NPCI L claimed that sixty five percent of the land is barren
while according to the local population the land is highly fertile and
produces rice, Alphonso mango, coconut, cashew, kokum, pineapple betel
nut and other fruits. The area also has a sizable fishing economy. Fish
from here are imported to the region such as Japan and Europe. The
setting up of the Jaitapur nuclear power reactor would jeopardise the life
of the people from seven fishing villages as the plant will release around
fifty two thousand millio n litres of hot water every day in the Arabian Sea
raising the temperature of water of the Arabian Sea. The existence of a
power plant would adversely affect the fishing industry because major
catch from the area is imported to developed countries and thes e countries
require “catch certificate”, they would reject the fishes caught around the
nuclear reactor area. The local population are of the opinion that once the
project would be operational its security measures would hinder the use of
two creeks of Vij aydurg and Jaitapur by the fisherman .
EPR: A Serious Concerns
There areserious issues about the safety, design and cost of
Areva’s EPRS, in India these problems multiply due to the location of the
Jaitapur nuclear power project and also weak regulation in India.
The government aims to build the world largest nuclear power
plant at Jaitapur, but the French company AREVA which has designed
and developed the Generation 3 + class EPR has a poor track record
regarding quality control as witnessed in France a nd Finland. These two
nuclear reactors are facing the problem of safety, delay in construction and
financial problems.
Experts believe that EPRs capital cost is very expensive compared
to indigenous CANDU reactors that are installed in Madras, Narora and
Keriga and Rajasthan power stations.
●SEZs:
A Special Economic Zone is a specially designated stretch of land
owned and maintained by private business houses for the purpose of trade,
tariffs and duties. The SEZs enjoy benefits such as exemptions frommunotes.in
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67custom duties, sales tax, service tax and income tax. The SEZ Act was
passed in the parliament in 2005 and it came into effect in 2006. Even
before this Act states such as Gujarat had passed provincial SEZ
legislation in the year 2004. The main objective of c reating SEZ
throughout India was to promote exports and the hope that it would
generate around thirty lakhs jobs and would pull global manufacturing
through FDI enabling the transfer of modern technology and give
incentive to infrastructure development.
Initially, 237 SEZs were approved by the central government in 19
states occupying around 86,107 hectares of land predominantly
agricultural and capable of producing multi -crop food grains. Thus
endangering the sustainable livelihood of the agriculture depe ndent
population. According to an estimate, this would lead to loss of livelihood
of around 114,000 farming households and 80,000 farm workers’ families.
These people who are primarily dependent on the farmland for survival
will also face forced eviction w ithout any appropriate resettlement and
rehabilitation programme.
The one who promoted SEZs highlighted only jobs created through
it but did not mention the loss of jobs. The experience of SEZs in Noida,
for instance, is not very encouraging -low wages, p oor working
conditions, long working hours, occupational hazards etc., violate basic
human rights of the people. Besides these SEZs would emerge as a new
corporate city state.
The SEZ Act, 2005 violates the constitution in its letter and spirit.
It infri nges on the fundamental rights of the citizen guaranteed in Part III
of the Constitution. It will incapacitate many labour laws and environment
protection Act, It will violate the Panchayati Raj Act for local self -
government and laws granting rights and co ntrol to tribal communities
over their land and resources. Lastly will violate international conventions
on human rights.
Check Your Progress:
1.Briefly discuss DMIC.
2.Write a note of SEZ.munotes.in
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686.4 SEZS AND THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
●Marathawada region Jameen Adhikar Andolan -a Dalit struggle for
Gairan Land.
●Sindhudurg region -Struggle against Reliance Gas Lines
●Raigad region -Farmers protest against land acquisition by Reliance,
26 Gaon Bachao Sangarsh Samiti and against land acquisition by Ind ia
bulls.
●Greater Mumbai -Farmers protest against land acquisition by Reliance.
The SEZs in Maharashtra are primarily developed by private
companies, very few are developed through public private partnership.
The MIDC is coming up with twenty two SEZs in the districts such as
Raigad, Thane, Nashik, Aurangabad, Amravati and Pune. The people of
Maharashtra are opposing SEZs due to the fact that it is going to benefit
the developers not the citizens, forceful acquisition of private land and
failure on the par t of the government to include the affected people in the
process of development.
6.4.1Raigad SEZs:
The Raigad district of Maharashtra was flooded with the proposal
to develop SEZs. Admiral Ramdas and Lalita Ramdas (2007) the
government of Maharashtra on 27thOctober, 2006 brought an
extraordinary gazette notification and unilaterally declared the agricultural
belt of Alibaug consisting of 22 villages as Industrial Area under Clause G
of Section 2 of the MIDC Act,1961.
Kale (2010) points out that the Rai gad district currently has twenty
nine SEZs on at least fifty thousand acres of land. As per government
estimate, it would affect nearly fifty thousand population but some believe
that the SEZs would directly or indirectly impact more than two lakhs
popula tion. The RIL has proposed setting up of multiservice SEZ by
acquiring fourteen thousand hectares of land belonging to the tribal, fisher
folk and OBC community people. These communities use this land for
agriculture, production of salt and cattle grazing .
The twenty two villages from the Pen and Uran talukas strongly
resisted land acquisition. The protest was led by farmers, workers’ unions,
civil society groups and certain organizations such as 24 gaon SEZ
Virodhi Snagarsh Samiti, Rashtra Seva Dal and others. Pressure mounting
from all quarters i.e. farmers, activists, opposition parties, lower and upper
houses of the legislature pressured the government to respond to the
demands of the protesters. The legislators proposed a referendum to
determine whet her farmers were willing to sell off their land to RIL. On
the government notification, the Forest and Revenue departments prepared
the referendum and gave a month's notice to around thirty thousand
landholders in Pen. Out of thirty thousand farmers, six t housand one
hundred ninety nine farmers filed their opposition for MAHA Mumbai
SEZ on 21stSeptember, 2008. These farmers were holding on an averagemunotes.in
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69of three plots of land equivalent to 2/3rdof the land to be acquired. Thus in
the historic referendum, the farmers from Raigad opposed and rejected the
projects but the government of Maharashtra did not disclose the outcome
of the referendum. The Bombay high court also rejected the RIL’s plea for
a stay on land acquisition and allowed extension as the land acq uisition
was to be completed by 2009 as per Land Acquisition Act, which did not
happen due to resistance movement. India Today (2011) states that the
Government of Maharashtra scrapped the SEZ in Raigad and announced
that the farmers were free to utilise t heir lands as they want. The project
was scrapped on the ground that land acquisition was not completed
within a stipulated time.
6.4.2 Gorai SEZs:
Gorai is a village nestling between the lush green hills and the
Arabian Sea, housing twenty five thousand fish workers. The sea and the
rich fertile land has been the source of the livelihood for farmers and
fisherfolk from generations. Due to this the local popu lation is a reservoir
of knowledge catering to the ecological niche of the region. For the local
people, sea and land is not only a source of livelihood but also their
cultural and identity. For centuries the farmers and the fisher folk enjoyed
unhindered rights over the land and resources of Gorai but it was grabbed
by the State agencies who advocated intensive development through
tourism and amusement parks.
The livelihood, ecological space and culture of the local farmers
and fisher folk were engulfed by the capitalist State. It was Pan Indian
Paryatan that came up with the idea of opening an amusement park which
soon caught the fancy of erstwhile revenue minister Mr. N. Rane. The
State violated the coastal zone regulation and provided seven hundred
acres of common property land for the construction of an amusement park.
However, the activists are of the opinion that the land taken over by the
Essel World is three times the actual land being claimed by officials. Thus
the seven hundred acres of mangroves land which belonged to the local
community were taken away and gifted to the private business house –
Essel World Leisure Private Ltd. for the construction of an amusement
park.
The construction of artificial jetties and plying of ferries blocked
the fisher folk’s access to the sea and destroyed their nets and boats. It also
ruined the rich fishing grounds in the creek. Besides this, the park started
dumping its chemical effluents and waste directly into the sea which
polluted the sea and adversely affected the ecosystem. It led to a sharp
decline in the sea resources and the fish catch started tremendously
declining. Due to this, the fisher folks were forced to apply for welfare
schemes of the government. The amount received was very nominal and it
was given only to the man and not a woman. Thus the amusement park
created ripples of displeasures. It snatched away the basic rights of fisher
folks to follow their traditional liveliho od, endangered their environment,
culture and identity. The amusement park planted several bore wells for itsmunotes.in
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70everyday requirement of two hundred tanks of water. This lowered the
underground water level and the ground water became salty and unfit for
drink ing. The villages now have to depend on water tankers supplied by
the municipality but that also according to villagers is bought by the
builders on high price so practically the villagers have to go without water
which was not the case before the construc tion of the park.
The people of Gorai due to these changed circumstances were
forced to resist the Essel World project. The State attempted to suppress
their voice by resorting to various tactics from direct police repression to
rewriting the history of Gorai through false claims. Thus in the name of
development, the neoliberal government is creating opportunities for the
elite by taking away the right to land and resources of the traditional
inhabitants. The neoliberal government forgets that development is not
possible without the support and consent of the local population. We
cannot have inclusive development and growth if we keep the farmers,
tribal community, forest dwellers, the Dalit’s, women and the fisher folks
out of the process of development.
6.5 WATER RIGHTS
Water rights of the marginalised section of society is often
compromised for the benefit of the dominant section of the society. Along
with this, the construction of large dams and other development projects
has strengthened the state o wnership of surface water that has resulted in
the elimination of the traditional community -based water distribution
systems. Thus Government control over the water resources has
transferred the management of water for irrigation to the water
departments. The control of the state on water has indirectly support
private ownership of natural resources.
The Government policies over water in pre -independent and post
independent India has two different approaches with regard to surface and
groundwater .I n p r e British India water was considered as a mobile, free
flowing asset over which all the people had rights. Over 2000 years ago
the Indian society had a sophisticated and decentralized water
management system and in some parts of India the ancient system of w ater
management still exists for example Tamil Nadu. It was a community
maintained system based on a sustainable water extraction principle with
storage and conveyance structures adaptable to local conditions. It also
considered the social structure, land, raw materials available and
topography of the area (Kumar and Furlong, 2012). Some of the practices
exist even today in the tribal belt of India like the diverse systems Zings of
Ladakh and the bamboo drip irrigation of the Khasi and the Jaintia of
Meghal aya. But this policy changed after the arrival of the British in India.
The British government took over the ownership of natural resources such
as forest, land and water and thus the people’s rights over the natural
resources slipped in the hands of the s tate.munotes.in
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71In the post -independence period things did not change much as the
government of India initiated a five years plan and aimed at constructing
large dams and other development projects for generating electricity and
for food security etc., All these p rojects were funded by international
agencies such as the World Bank. This led to the funding of large scale
projects and a steady decline in the funding of small scale irrigation
projects. In 1986, the state developed a National Water Policy neglecting
the traditional system of water harvesting.
In 1990s due to mounting pressure from the international funding
agencies, unplanned development, urban centric model of development,
neoliberal policies of the state, appropriation of natural resources by the
state and private corporations such as privatization of irrigation and power
projects the local community rights and people’s management of the
resources were totally neglected.
The access to groundwater was linked to land rights. As a result
those who owne d the land only had the right to acquire water with no
specification on the size of the land. This led to the usage of ground water
through tube well and power pumps for commercial and irrigation
purposes, resulting in the drop underground water level. Mos tp a r to fI n d i a
is facing severe water shortage, the situation in Maharashtra is worst as
farmers are committing suicide due to lack of irrigation facilities and
financial support.
Depletion of water resources, control of water by the state has led
to con flict. People are protesting against urban centric development
model, overexploitation of water resources, and contamination of ground
water etc., for instance Plachimada in Andhra Pradesh and Athur village in
Tamil Nadu.
Local Resistance Movement:
Pani Sangharsh Chalwal is a local resistance movement active on
water rights in South Maharashtra. It is present in the districts of Sangli,
Solapur and Kolhapur. In the last few decades, the movement has spread
both physically and in terms of content and ideas . The history of the water
rights movement can be divided into twophases . In the first phase, the
movement was known as Mukti Sangharsh Chalwal and was confined
only to the taluka of Khanapur in Sangli. In the second phase, the Shed
Major Kashtakari Shetk ari Sanghatana and the Maharashtra Rajya
Dharangrat va Prakalrast Parishad became much important and the
movement spread practically to the entire part of Krishna Basin that falls
in Maharashtra.
Core premises of the movement:
To focus on equitable distribution of water and inclusion of
landless labourers, deserted women and Dalit’s. The aim was to eradicate
drought through access to additional water with a vision to set up an
equitable and just society.munotes.in
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72Impact:
●Main streaming the concept of equitab le access:
Every household would get water enough to irrigate half an acre of
land per family member, irrespective of the total land area owned.
●Right to water as a part of the right to livelihood:
Water was considered as a means of livelihood and hence to be
extended to all even the landless.
●Inclusion of dam affected people and their access to water:
The movement has strongly argued for the water rights of the
people affected by the dam.
●Facilitation of rehabilitation, dam construction and water acces s:
Through its agitation the water rights movement helped with the
rehabilitation of the oustees facilitated dam construction by demanding
and getting greater fund allocation for the dam projects as well as for
rehabilitation.
●Strategies employed:
Joint action by drought and dam affected people. Evolving
innovative political and mobilization strategies. The most important aspect
of the movement was its attitude towards alternatives. Generally protest
movements do not consider it their responsibility to lo ok for an alternative
to what they are protesting for, providing the alternative is considered as a
state responsibility.
●Participants:
The different forms of agitation, struggles and outreach
programmes initiated by the movement enabled the participation of people
at various levels and brought in to its ambit all sections of the rural
community.
●Leadership and decision making:
Most of the leaders were well educated and all of them came from
rural and farming backgrounds, agricultural labourers.
●Resource Mobilization:
In terms of financial resources the funds were collected through
traders, unions and mass organizations associated with the movements.
Success story:
●The Balaji Memorial Dam was the most important formative influence
of the movement. Yerala river, which is one of the major tributaries of
the Krishna River has gradually turned into a seasonal by 1970s due to
the cultivation of sugarcane, rampant sand excavation and construction
of small and medium water storage structures upstream. This affec ted
the surface and subsurface water flows affecting ground water.munotes.in
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73The sand excavation was identified as one of the major causes for
drying up of the river. The twin villages Balawadi and Tandulwadi
situated on the opposite banks of Yerala River led the d iscussions and
debates about the issue and its probable solutions. The movement filed a
PIL and won against the sand excavation. They were able to stop sand
excavation and construction of the second phase of the dam. The water is
not used for sugar cane fa rming.
●The Tembhu Lift irrigation scheme was launched in 1995. It was
partially a response to the pressure to provide the drought prone
upland areas of the Krishna basin with a share of the water. Atpadi
taluka which was a stronghold of the water rights movement was to get
4.4 TMC of water irrigating 16000 hectares of land in 63 villages out
of 84. A struggle was launched to restructure the scheme on the basis
of equitable distribution water so that water would be supplied to all
the 84 villages in the ta luka including the land less. Due to the strong
protest from the people in 2001, the government agreed to rework the
scheme on the principle of equitable distribution of water to all.
Check your progress:
1.Write a note on SEZ in Maharashtra with reference to Gorai.
2.Write a note of Water Rights.
6.6 SUMMARY
Development, as visualized by the neoliberal state, is urban -centric
and based on the inequitable distribution of means of production and
power. It benefits the minuscule section of society while the most remain
culturally alienated, emotionally desperate and impoverished. Thus
resistance is a struggle of the marginalized to protect their livelihood,
identity and culture.
6.7 QUESTIONS
1.Discuss the meaning and nature of resistance movement with any one
case study.
2.Briefly discuss Delhi Mumbai Corridor in the context of resistance
movement in India.
3.Discuss in detail Raigad and Gorai SEZ.
4.Write a note on Impact of Jaitapur Power Project.munotes.in
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746.8 REFERENCES
1.Admiral Ramdas and Lalita Ramdas., 2007, ‘Land Grab in Raigad’,
EPW, Vol.42, Issue 2.
2.Roy Choudhury A., 2000, ‘Amusement Parks Versus People’s
Livelihood’, EPW.
3.Bholane K.P, 2019, ‘Prospects Delhi -Mumbai Industrial Corridor
Introduction’, Conference Paper, DMIC opportunities and challenges.
4.Bidwai P., 2011, ‘People vs Nuclear Power in Jaitapur, Maharashtra,
EPW, Vol.XLVI N0. 8
5.Devale K., and Paranjape S., ‘ Pani Snagharsh Chalwal: A case study
from South Maharashtra, India, waterconflictforum.org.
Economic & Political Weekly EPW March 10, 2012 vol XLVII, Issue
10
6.Hakami M.S., 2016, ‘A study of SEZ: Problems and Prospects with
special reference to Raigad and Pune District, India, International
Journal of Advanced Research.
7.Herbert M., 2008, ‘Resistance Movement an Overview’, Oxford
Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Oxford University Press.
8.India Today, 2011, ‘Maharashtra Government Scrap Mumbai SEZ’,
www.indiatoday.in
9.Joy K.J and Paranjape S.,2002, ‘Energy Management Opportunities
and Challenges in the Tembu Lift Irrigation Scheme, Atpadi Taluka,
Maharashtra’, SOPPECOM, Energy -Water Co -management Options
andChallenges in TLIS
10.Kale S., 2010, ‘The Anti SEZ movement in India’, NCAS
11.Khosla R., and Soni V., ‘Delhi Mumbai Corridor a water Diaster in the
Making?
12.Kumar M and Furlong M., 2012, ‘Securing the right to water in India:
Perspectives and Challenges’, Blue Planet Project Organizers.
13.Mohammed Nuruzzman, 2009, ‘Globalization and Resistance
Movements in the Periphery: An Alternative Theoretical Approach.
14.Ojah O, 2007, ‘The National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy,
New Delhi, MORD.
15.Rout S., 2009, ‘ Revisiting Baliraja Dam Struggle: A study of an
Environmental Movement in Maharashtra, Sociological Bulletin,
Vol.58, Issue 3
16.SEZs and Land Acquisition, Factsheet for an unconstitutional
Economy Policy
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757
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO
DEVELOPMENT: SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT –ECO -FRIENDLY
PRACTICES, ORGANIC FARMING,
ANKOLI IN SOLAPUR
Unit Structure :
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Alternative Development Paradigm
7.2 Sustainable Development
7.3 Organic Farming, Eco Friendly Practices -Ankoli
7.3.1 O rganic Farming
7.3.2 Historical background
7.3.3 The idea of Water Audit and Water Bank
7.3.4 The working of the Water Bank
7.3.5 The Story of Reverse Migration
7.4 Conclusion
7.5 Summary
7.6 Questions
7.7 References
7.0 OBJECTIVES
●Tointroduce key elements of alternative development approach
●To examine collective water management initiative and its challenges
7.1 ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM
There has been severe criticism about the mainstream growth -
oriented development models especially in the early 1970s. The dominant
model of development is based on market liberalization and commercial
globalization. This model has failed to deliver on the social front
especially with its emphasis on unbridled capitalism and economic profit s.
The alternative approaches to development and their methodologies have
emerged as development paradigms indicating a shift from mainstream
development models. Gradually, alternative development theories/models
have emerged to avoid the challenges and we aknesses of earlier models.munotes.in
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76Many international and bilateral aid agencies such as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) began to look
for alternatives that were more people –oriented. This development is
geared to the satisfaction of needs of the people for whom development is
directed.
The distinct methods associated with it are usually participatory
methods and endogenous methods. The participatory method initiates
devel opment processes within the local community and takes into
consideration the needs of the people through the process of participatory
decision making. The local stakeholders are important in any decision -
making process. Empowerment and local control over decision -making
can be enhanced through increase in local involvement and participation.
The indigenous development theory also emphasizes on the role of women
in local development
Endogenous development has emerged as a powerful idea in
development thin king. It has certain distinguishing characteristics such as;
1) local determination of development options,
2) local control over the development process and ,
3) the retention of benefits of development within the locale. Thus with
respect to agency, s ocial change is initiated from within communities,
endogenously, or in collaboration with external agencies.
The alternative development paradigm is closely connected to the
environment and sustainability along with a focus on people. The
dominant mod ernization, dependency and neoclassical paradigms did not
take into consideration the environmental concerns into development.
However, now ecological processes and resources and economic systems
are being considered as inseparable. Another positive deve lopment has
been the emergence of the field of political ecology, which attempted to
highlight the relation between environment and politics. Capitalism has
spatial and temporal impacts especially on the people and environments of
the Third World. It is a well-established fact that politics at the global
level determine these impacts.
A cursory look at the evolution of developmental thought shows
that the process has become increasingly complex over time. It has moved
from being prescriptive to analytica l in focus. There is more emphasis on
the local community and its role in the development decision -making.
This is so because development policies are beginning to operate under the
paradigm of sustainability. Some scholars argue that we are experiencing
the alter -globalization movement. It is fundamentally a movement about
questioning and transforming development. Its main element is the shift
from the power of the institutions of neo -liberalism and working towards
people’s agency and grassroots involve ment.munotes.in
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777.2 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The recent decades have witnessed the growth of the
environmental movement. The reflection of this can be seen in the notion
of development which has expanded to include the highly debated term,
sustainability. The t erm sustainable development has been prominent in
all discussions relating to policy making since the mid -1980s. It played a
central role in the United Nations (UN) appointed Brundtland Commission
(1984 -7) and its report, ‘Our Common Future (WCED 1987). Since then
it has appeared with increasing frequency in academic studies and
government reports. It draws attention to the unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption in wealthy countries and cites these as a
major cause of environmental degradat ion.
The relationship between environment and development has
always been problematic. The Brundtland formulation of sustainable
development has brought this relationship from the periphery to
mainstream thinking. Sustainable development simply means initiating
long-term transformation of basic aspects of the present economic system.
This also means a new development paradigm that is designed to work
within the ecological limits of the planet. This is reflected in the most
cited Brundtland definitio n of Sustainable Development as ‘development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own’.
The notion of sustainability has been extended to all industries and
has been globally endorsed as the way forward. Since the late 1960s there
has been an emergence of environmentalism as a dominant global political
and social movement. Thus a new enviro nmental dimension has been
added to most economic, political and social activities. Certainly,
successive international conferences, from the 1972 United Nations
Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) to the 1992 ‘Earth
Summit’ in Rio de Janeiro, and various strategies, such as the World
Conservation Strategy (IUCN, 1980), the widely cited Brundtland Report,
Our Common Future (WCED, 1987) and the Rio ‘Agenda 21’ have all
worked towards the same objective. The goal was to give topmost priority
to envi ronmental concerns in most public and private sector organisations.
In some cases, such strategies have been incorporated in global
development policies. This has resulted in the publication of Agenda 21
as an important sustainability goal.
The UN Confe rence on Environment and Development was held in
Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and later came to be known as the Earth Summit. It
focused on two key issues: the first issue dealt with the link between
environment and development. The second issue was regarding th e
practical problems surrounding the promotion of sustainable development.
Sustainable development aims towards introducing policies that strive to
balance environmental protection with social and economic concerns,
especially in the third world. One of the most significant agreementsmunotes.in
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78reached at the Rio Earth Summit, 1992 was the Agenda 21, the action plan
for achieving sustainability based on the involvement of local
communities using a bottom -up approach. The second Earth Summit,
1997 (Rio+5) held five years later noted the increasing reliance of some
developing countries on tourism.
Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) has the dual objectives of democratic
governance and on enhancing popular participation. LA 21 is a
participatory, multistakeholder process. It aims to achieve the goals of
Agenda 21 by implementation of a long -term, strategic plan which treats
sustainable development concerns on a priority basis. Agenda 21 is a
global action plan endorsed by the 1992 Rio Summit in Brazil and
reaffirmed at the Wo rld Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. It sets out the priorities for
sustainable development in the 21stcentury.
One of the main areas of action outlined in Agenda 21, Section III,
is strengthening the role of major groups. It aims to strengthen the
interlinkages between various groups such as governmental agents, social
groups and the business community. In effect it ensures the participation
of all stakeholders especially women, youth, indigenous pe oples, NGOs,
local authorities, workers and trade unions, business and industry, the
scientific community and farmers in action and coordination of various
activities.
Check your progress :
1.Can you explain sustainable Development?
7.3ORGANIC FARMING, ECO FRIENDLY PRACTICES
-ANKOLI (SOLAPUR)
7.3.1 Organic Farming
Conventional farming methods have been associated with a host of
problems including health related diseases like cancer, pollution,
degradation of soil and water and impact o n domestic animals. Organic
farming is a technique in which plants and animal rearing is done in
natural ways. It is a production system which favours maximum use of
organic material such as; crop residue, animal excreta, legumes and on and
off farm orga nic wastes, growth regulators and biopesticides, etc. Itmunotes.in
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79discourages the use of synthetically produced agro -inputs for maintenance
of soil productivity and fertility. Pest management techniques are natural,
sustainable and contribute to a healthy environm ent.
The practices of organic farming has the following characteristics:
1) tillage that minimizes soil erosion, even if it costly, 2) Minimal use of
inorganic fertilizers, with maximum dependence on animal and green
manures, 3) Integrated pest managem ent, 4) Crop rotations that help
control weeds, diseases and increase fertility of soil, 5) No genetically
modified organisms are permitted.
ANKOLI –WATER COLLECTIVE
One of the regions, Ankoli in Maharashtra is known for its
ecofriendly practices and org anic farming. It fulfills this task through
collective water management through water banks.
7.3.2 Historical background
Ankoli was infamous for intense sunshine, barren land, scarcity of
water. Added to this was the problem of fund shortage. Despite these
challenges, the villagers of Ankoli began working with limited resources
in 2002. But eight years later, they have a water bank of 500m
circumference with lush green plantations on its sides. Agro -scientist
Arun Deshpande, ably supported by his wi fe, Sumangala, a Science
communicator has helped the village to convert a dry watershed into a
water bank that has the capacity to store five crore litres of water at Ankoli
village in the district of Solapur, Maharashtra. Water audit helped
immensely in this transformation.
The Bhopal gas tragedy was the turning point in the life of
Deshpande. After having witnessed the tragedy and its aftermath from
close quarters, as the head of People for Science movement, he and
thousands of other scientists decide d to stop aiding multinational
corporations. Instead, they began to use their knowledge management for
the benefit of their own country.
Deshpande decided to return to his village in Ankoli in 1986. He
was shocked to see that all wells in the region wer e dry, despite being dug
300 ft down. The villagers had to depend on government tankers for their
daily supply of water. Over two decades of use of bore wells and
hazardous submersible pumps had taken its toll on the village.
To arrest this problem, it was necessary to initiate scientific
plantations. This was done by studying and applying principles and
technology developed in the world. The first step was to stop the winds
from the Western side that were drying up the water in the watershed. By
using every drop of water, they began planting drought -resistant trees such
as Babul, Neem, Ber and Subabul on the western side. It took five years
for the trees to grow into thick plantations. They facilitated in stopping
hot desiccating winds from the west ern side of the watershed and providedmunotes.in
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80it protection. Thus, each drop of water was conserved and remained in the
well.
The ecological and social impact of this endeavour was immense.
The leaves that fall on the earth formed a layer called the mulch. T his
layer significantly contributes to the rejuvenation of the soil. This layer
insulates and saves the soil from the effects of the scorching sun and keeps
its temperature below 30 degrees, thus reducing the amount of water
evaporating from the soil. Gradually inch by inch, the whole region was
covered with plantations which protected the water. Around this time, the
village received another blow. In 1998 the village was affected by a
drought. It ruined the efforts of all the years. With water scar city starting
large, 900 able -bodied people out of a total population of 5000 left for the
nearby cities. The plantation dried up and cattle that were shifted to the
cattle camps could not survive.
7.3.3 The idea of Water Audit and Water Bank
With uncertainty looming large, the villagers began to rethink the
water audit. That is when the bitter truth unfolded. Deshpande said, “by
exporting the crops and selling them in the market, they were virtually
exporting the water content in the form of products to the cities.” The
audit threw up some disturbing facts. When they exported one liter of
milk to the cities, they were exporting 10,000 lts. of water that was used
for cattle, fodder, etc. The export of one egg meant 600 lts. of water, one
kilogram of mutton required 35,000 lts of water, one kg of sugar need
4000 lts, one kg wheat needed 6000 lts, one kg rice took 11,000 lts, one
kg. of paper required 35000 lts and 1.5 kg beef meant 50 tonnes of water.
The villagers realized that a huge amoun t of water indirectly and virtually
was being exported to the cities.
The idea of the water bank was decided upon in 2002. A special
plastic “Geomembrane” of Ecoplast having multilayered thermal lining
was attached inside the oval -shaped nano water bank . This was followed
by further plantation of drought -resistant trees. With plantation the
velocity of winds could be changed, which in turn controlled the rate of
evaporation of water. It took Deshpande six years to convince all families
to go in for a single water bank. By adopting Continuous Contour
Trenches (CCTs) technique, every inch of water could be collected and
saved. Collective water and soil management has its own advantages.
7.3.4 The working of the Water Bank
People deposited water in the Water bank and withdrew from it.
The bank works on the simple principles of banking. However, there is no
overdraft facility and nobody is allowed to withdraw more than the
amount that has been deposited. The nano watershed on the Bhima -Seena
river ba sin, measures 50 acres, with a capacity of five crore litres of water.
Thirty crore litres of water is taken as deposit from all the families from
their wells throughout the year and then dispersed daily and as per themunotes.in
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81demands of the situation. The water is deposited by the members by using
their own pumps and pipelines.
The water is kept clean through the method of artificial aeration.
The water is allowed to fall into the shed from a height so that it carries air
with it. Evaloc chemical spray (an organic product of mustard oil) is
sprayed on the water surface to stop evaporation of water. Every drop of
water is measured. It is computerized and people have been trained to
work out the figures. This water is not for export, it is reserved for self
sustenance. Whatever water is left after consumption is saved or
deposited in the water bank.
7.3.5 The Story of Reverse Migration
So far banks and the government have sanctioned 25 water banks.
Ten women can come together to form a Paani Panchayat. T he local
women’s self -help group can take a loan from nationalized banks while
the government’s agriculture department will extend subsidies to them.
However, these water banks are meant strictly for Revere Migration.
They are meant for farm house societ ies of the working class that stay in
slums in nearby cities and are a part of the unorganized labour force which
wants to return to the village. This water will not be allowed to be
exported or used for organic farming or producing anything for the citie s.
Deshpande is serious about pulling villagers back from the cities
(reverse migration). The village will be self -sustained and will not depend
on the market. The villagers intend to produce their own electricity by
bicycle and dynamo generator. One hour of cycling will be sufficient to
produce electrification, lighting and even computerization.
7.4 CONCLUSION
Several changes in our socio -economic environment have meant
that new strategies and structures of water storage, renewal and
transmission are required. In recent years, there is an increasing demand
for water for domestic and commercial purposes. Towards this end,
innovative and ‘out -of-the-box’ solutions need to be increasingly exploited
to meet the challenge of promoting sustainable deve lopment.
7.5 SUMMARY
There has been severe criticism about the mainstream growth -
oriented development models especially in the early 1970s. The dominant
model of development is based on market liberalization and commercial
globalization.
Gradually, alternative development theories/models have emerged
to avoid the challenges and weaknesses of earlier models. The alternativemunotes.in
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82model emphasized on participatory decision making, endogenous
approach, involvement of women and indigenous groups.
Sustainable Development is ‘development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own’.
Organic farming is a technique in which plants and animal rearing
is done in natural ways.
Ankoli in Maharashtra i s a case study in managing water through
water audits and water banks.
This novel initiative has been able to reverse migration in the
village.
7.6 QUESTIONS
1.Discuss the key elements of the alternative development approach.
2.What is sustainable developm ent?
3.Discuss collective water management system with reference to Ankoli
in Solapur.
4.Discuss the functioning of water banks.
7.7 REFERENCES
Collective Water Management Through Water Banks. In Environmental
profession, July, 1, 2020
https://www.cleanindiajournal.com/collective_water_management_throug
h_water_banks/
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838
PEOPLE -CENTRIC DEVELOPMENT –
MENDHA LEKHA (GADCHIROLI),
‘ADARSH GAON’ –HIWARE BAZAAR
(AHMEDNAGAR)
Unit Structure :
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Hiware Bazaar (Ahmednagar)
8.2.1 Historical background:
8.2.2 Implementing the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS)
8.2.3 Miracle of water
8.2.4 Water, Jobs and Soil
8.2.5 Conclusion
8.3 Mendha Lekha -Gadchiroli
8.3.1 Experiments in Community Conservation
8.3.2 Leadership
8.3.3 Village institutions
8.3.4 Social Impacts of participatory decision making
8.4 Conclusion
8.5 Summary
8.6 Questions
8.7 References
8.0 OBJECTIVES
●To understand the concept of people -centric approach
●To examine the cases of participatory decision making
8.1 INTRODUCTION
The Human Development Report 1990 specifies that human
development means both, the proc ess of widening people’s choices and
the level of their achieved well -being. Human development is incomplete
without freedom and democracy. Development, in other words, is the
process of ‘enlarging people’s choices’. People centric development is
when p eople are placed at the centre of development programmes. Formunotes.in
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84sustainable growth, people at the bottom of the pyramid must be the focus
of reforms. The current development model focuses solely on economic
growth, which is unsustainable and inequitable. The people -centric
development approach is a strategy that incorporates the values of justice,
sustainability and inclusiveness.
There are a number of outstanding cases of alternative
developmental initiatives which are well documented and thoroughly
studied such as, Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar and Mendha -Lekha in
Gadchiroli. Organisations such as Kalpvriksh and Down to Earth are in
the forefront of investigating and publishing such cases while numerous
other cases remain underreported.
8.2 HIWARE BAZAAR (AHMEDNAGAR)
Hiware Bazar, is a village in Maharashtra’s drought -prone
Ahmednagar district which was prone to the vagaries of nature resulting in
environmental degradation. But in less than a decade it turned itself
around into one of the most pro sperous villages of the country. It used
funds from government schemes, to rejuvenate its natural resources -
forests, watershed and soil –led by a strong village body. It modeled
itself on Ralegan Siddhi, the village which performed a miraculous U -turn
under the leadership of Anna Hazare. Today, Hiware Bazar serves as an
example for the whole Ahmednagar district, in lessons on conservation
and prosperity.
8.2.1 Historical background:
Hiware Bazar is famous for its champion Hind Kesari wrestlers. In
the 1970s it witnessed the worst ecological degradation. With just 400
mm of annual rainfall, the village needed to protect the forests in the
surrounding hills which acted as its catchment areas. A series of problems
pursued. As the hills got denuded, the runoff from the hills ruined the
fields. Agriculture, which was the mainstay of the region, became
unrewarding. Drought was chronic and acute –a slight drop in rainfall
resulted in crop failure. The village faced an acute water crisis as its
traditi onal water storage systems were in ruins.
In 1989 -90, hardly 12 percent of the cultivable land could be
farmed. The village's wells used to have water only during the monsoon.
Families began to shift out, first seasonally, then permanently. Those left
behind further cleared the dwindling forests for survival. "Even
government officials shifted out and soon Hiware Bazar became a
punishment posting," recalls Maruti Thange, a 56 -year-old farmer.
Today, a fourth of the village's 216 families are millionaire s.
Hiware Bazar's sarpanch , Popat Rao Pawar, says just over 50 families
have an annual income over Rs 10 lakh. The per capita income of the
village is twice the average of the top 10 per cent in rural areas nationwidemunotes.in
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85(Rs 890 per month). In the past 15 years, average income has risen 20
times.
8.2.2 Implementing the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS)
Hiware Bazar was able to achieve the impossible feat by using
funds to regenerate the village’s land and water resources, by creating
productive ass ets like water conservation structures and forests. This
effort got an impetus with the panchayat elections of 1989, in which
Pawar who won unopposed, immediately started work for water
conservation.
Later the district was brought under the Joint Forest Management
programme in 1992. In 1993, the district social forestry department
helped the village regenerate the completely degraded 70 ha of village
forest and the catchments of the village wells. With donations from labour
the panchayat built 40,000 c ontour trenches around the hills to conserve
rainwater and recharge groundwater. Plantation and forest regeneration
activities were taken up by the villagers. All these efforts ensured that
after the monsoon, many well and villages were able to collect eno ugh
water to help irrigation activities.
In 1994, 12 agencies were approached by the gram sabha to
implement watershed works under EGS. The village prepared its own
five-year plan for 1995 -2000 for ecological revival. The EGS was
implemented according to this plan. It ensured that all departments
implementing projects in the village had an integrated plan.
Another favourable development was that the Maharashtra
government brought Hiware Bazar under the Adarsh Gaon Yojana (AGY)
in 1994. AGY was base d on five principles: 1) ban on liquor, 2) ban on
cutting trees, 3) ban on free grazing, 4) family planning and 5)
contributing village labour for development work. The first task it took up
was planting trees on forestland and people were persuaded to s top
grazing there. To implement this, the village created another five -year
plan. An integrated model of development with water conservation as its
core was adopted. The village worked in collaboration with an NGO, The
Yashwant Agriculture, Village and W atershed Development Trust which
acted as the implementing agency for development works under AGY.
8.2.3 Miracle of water
The efforts of the village have borne fruit. The number of wells
have increased from 97 to 217. Irrigated land has gone up from 1 20 ha. In
1999 to 260 ha in 2006. Earlier overgrazing had made grass scare,
however now the grass production has gone up from 100 tonnes in 2000 to
6,000 tonnes in 2004. With more grass available, milch livestock numbers
have gone up from 20 in 1998 to 3 40 in 2003 according to a government
livestock census. Subsequently, milk production rose from 150 litres per
day in the mid -1990s to 4,000 litres now.munotes.in
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86The success has impacted household incomes in a positive way.
According to a 1995 survey, 168 families out of 180 were below the
poverty line. The number fell to 53 in a 1998 survey. The village has
witnessed a 73% reduction in poverty, due to profits f rom dairying and
cash crops. The village has also developed its own BPL indicators.
Access to two meals a day, capacity to enroll at least two children in
school; and expenditure on health are considered as important indicators.
Families who cannot spen d Rs. 10,000 a year under these heads are
considered below the poverty line in Hiware Bazar. This is around three
times higher than the official poverty line. The villagers no longer depend
on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) for
provi ding work.
Hiware Bazar’s strong participatory institutional set -up has
facilitated success. The gram sabha has the power to decide on a range of
issues, which include: identifying sites for water harvesting structures,
sharing water and types of crops to be cultivated. The implementation of
any programme is done in consultation with the village voluntary body.
The village’s biggest innovation is its water budget. The village’s
second five -year plan (2000 -2005) focused on sustainable uses of the
regenerated wealth. The village gram sabha plays a pivotal role in
spreading literacy about its experiment in watershed development. The
gram sabha makes decisions in which the greatest environmental planners
are the villagers themselves.
Ahmednagar distr ict lies in the Maharashtra plateau, with flat
agricultural land on undulating terrain. Farmers survive mainly
groundwater and levels are declining. In the past 15 years, many years the
rains have almost totally failed, and even when rains have been bounti ful
there has been scarcity of water. The region witnessed its worst drought
and devastation from 2001 to 2003.
8.2.4 Water, Jobs and Soil
The drought period was a lesson in learning. In Ahmednagar, there
was a clear correlation between the intensity of drought and EGS spending
on watershed work and soil conservation. A substantial amount of 106
crore was spent towards making 201 farm ponds, doing 20,000 ha of
continuous contour trenching, another 3,400 ha of compartment bunding
and building over 1,000 ch eck dam -like structures in different streams and
drains to improve water harvesting. In this period the district built over
70,000 water -harvesting structures.
The impact of this effort was tangible. First there was a drastic
decline in the demand for employment in the last few average and high
rainfall years. Secondly, there was an increase in the area under crops and
farmers moved to cash crops with rising yields. Agriculture was now
considered to be productive and lucrative. Third and most importan t, is
there has been an improvement in the water table of the district because of
soil and water conservation.munotes.in
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87Since 2002, Hiware Bazar has been doing an annual budgeting of
water assisted by the Ahmednagar districts’ groundwater department. The
total amo unt of water available in the village is measured, uses of water
are estimated, and depending on this the agricultural cropping to be taken
up is prescribed. All this is done through the village council, the gram
sabha whose decisions are final and bindin g. Water for drinking purposes
for humans and animals and for other daily uses is given top priority. 70%
of remaining water is set aside for irrigation. The remaining 30% is kept
for future use and for percolating and recharging groundwater. A yearly
audit is carried out to examine and assess the availability of water and
accordingly adjust its use.
8.2.5 Conclusion
Hiware Bazar is an example of partnership between the
government and the village. It shows that a strong village community can
make bes t use of the available resources with a vision, institutional set up
and efficient management. Hiware gave people a stake in the work and
enabled the synergy between ecosystem services, governance and
economics to work for its people. The watershed devel opment
programmes in the State and the country have used Hiware as its role
model and used this approach to regenerate resources by advocating an
integrated, decentralized, bottom -top development model.
8.3 MENDHA LEKHA -GADCHIROLI
Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra state in India is known for its
biodiverse, dry deciduous forests as well as for its tribal communities.
Mendha -Lekha is located 30 km. from the district headquarters and is
spread over two small and closely situated ham lets. Nearly 80% of this
area is forested. There are approximately 400 inhabitants of the village
composed of the Gond tribe, which has ruled the surrounding forests since
time immemorial. The village depends on subsistence farming and on the
forests, w hich provide a range of food, fuel, timber and fodder. The major
source of income is from the collection of non -timber forest produce
(NTFP) and daily wages from labour work with government and private
agencies.
The village has faced problems of unemployment, drunkenness,
corruption by government officials and exploitation at the hands of traders
and moneylenders.
8.3.1 Experiments in Community Conservation
In the late 1970s the Indian government proposed an ambitious
hydroelectric project in the adjoining state of Madhya Pradesh. The
proposed project would lead to displacement from their traditional homes,
disruption of social life, and destruction of livelihood. This awareness led
to a strong tribal opposition to the project. The tribals of these areas
organized themselves under the banner of Jungle Bachao, Manav Bachao
Andola (Save Forest, Save Humans Movement) and held public rallies andmunotes.in
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88agitations against the dams. In 1985, after prolonged and determined
tribal resistance, the government shelved the project.
The success of the anti -dam struggle increased the determination
of the tribal people to take decisions at local levels for activities directly
affecting their lives. This led to a strong movement towards self -rule in
the region, ba sed on the revival of tribal cultural identity and greater
control over land and resources.
Prior to 1950 the forests in the region were controlled and
managed by local tribals as common property, with the overall
responsibility with the tribal landlords . A strong system of community
management governing the use of the common lands existed. Post 1950,
after independence, the Indian government abolished the tribal system and
all lands were vested with the government and subject to the Indian Forest
Act o f 1927. The customary rights over common property that people had
enjoyed for several generations were not accepted, and the region was
declared protected forests.
8.3.2 Leadership
While conducting a study on ‘People and Forest’, Mohan Hirabai
Hiralal, a staunch Gandhian was on the lookout for villages with an
autonomous decision making structure. It was during this period that he
first came across Mendha Lekha. In the year 1984, interactions with the
villagers, as well as Mohan’s own belief in “Peopl e Power”, motivated
him to establish ‘Vrikshamitra’, an organization whose objective was to
propagate the interlinkage between environment, forest livelihood and
self-rule.
The tribal were made aware about their traditional ‘Nistar’ rights,
or their righ ts to use forest produce for domestic consumption. This helped
in popularizing the concept of participatory forest management at the
local, state as well as national levels. One result of the participatory
movement was that it led to the conferment of Comm unity Forest Rights
by the government to the village of Mendha Lekha and Marda in 2009
under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, popularly known as the Forest
Rights Act.
He introduced and popularized the concept of Gram Swaraj. The
villagers recognized him as a ‘Sahyogi Mitra’ or ‘Companion in
Development’ and under his guidance and support, the residents of
Mendha Lekha succeeded in making the Gram Sabha more inclusive,
participatory, act ive and democratic in the true sense.
8.3.3 Village institutions
In Mendha, three important village institutions were created in the
late 1980s as a result of the movement towards self -rule and protection of
the surrounding forests.munotes.in
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89a) The Gram Sabha (GS )
The village council for Mendha is called the Gram Sabha (GS).
The GS is responsible for all village -level decisions including those
related to natural resource use and management. A consensus method was
adopted for decision making and that these decisio ns would prevail over
any government or other decisions.
The GS is responsible for decisions about forest related activities
such as watershed development, formulating forest protection rules,
selecting representatives for the Van Suraksha Samiti, and ha ndling NTFP
extraction and trade -related issues.
b) The Mahila Mandal (MM)
All women in the village are members of the MM. Often the GS
meetings also work as MM meetings. MM carry out various forest related
activities such as, regular monitoring of the forests and punishing those
who breach forest protection rules.
c) The Abhyas Gat (AG)
Abhyas Gat is a study circle which operates as an informal
gathering of people. Meetings are organized as per need and on any issue
deserving attention. The brainstorming that occurs in the AG leads to more
awareness and helps in informed decision making by the participants.
8.3.4 Social Impacts of participatory decision making
Following are some important social impacts of the village
initiative towards self -rule.
Increased Empowerment : The villagers have achieved the capacity and
confidence to assert their rights and reach a stage where the village is
respected even in official circles.
Inclusion in decision making process : All villagers irrespective of class
and gender have a stake in decision making.
Established reputation : The village has earn ed a reliable reputation of
effective partners in development and forest protection. Through non -
violent methods Mendha has established strong and good relationships
with many government officials, who in turn help them in crucial
moments.
Democratic pr ocess: The village has managed to establish informal yet
strong institutional bodies. The village has initiated a democratic and
transparent process of informed decision -making and implementation.
This helps in providing clarity in understanding and col laboration in
community effort.
Stronger equity : Each villager is an equal participant in the process of
decision making, including women and the poor.munotes.in
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90Inspiration to others: The village has set an example for many
surrounding villages. Many villages w hich have witnessed the success of
Mendha Lekha have begun to work towards the same model of fostering
self-reliance.
Financial management: The village manages its financial transactions
with confidence. The GS has its own bank account which is managed b y
its people.
Strengthened Livelihood : The GS has ensured basic economic security
to all villagers through access to forest resources or employment
opportunities, including forest based industry like hone and other activities
such as collection of NTFP.
Fostered inter -departmental collaboration : The villages have
succeeded in strengthening inter -departmental coordination and
cooperation among various government agencies. The GS regularly
organizes joint meetings of representatives. These meetings facili tate face -
to-face dialogue with the agencies and help in mobilizing otherwise
segregated resources.
8.4 CONCLUSION
Mendha Lekha is an outstanding example of experiment in ‘self -
rule’ without any interference from the government bodies and self -
reliance in regard to funding to carry out developmental activities.
Mendha is referred to as a model in grass -roots democracy through
ordinary people’s initiatives and participation long before Panchayati Raj
got an impetus with the 74thamendment in 1996.
8.5 SU MMARY
The people -centric development approach is a strategy that
incorporates the values of justice, sustainability and inclusiveness.
Hiware Bazar, is a village in Maharashtra’s drought -prone
Ahmednagar district which has in less than a decade turned itself around
into one of the most prosperous villages of the country.
It utilized the funds generated from the EGGS and implemented
the Joint Forest Management programme to regenerate the forests as well
groundwater.
With innovative practices like the water budget, the village has
been able to control the impact of droughts in the region.
Hiware Bazar is a model of partnership between the government
and the village.munotes.in
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91Mendha Lekha village in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra has
battled problems of unem ployment, drunkenness, corruption by
government officials and exploitation at the hands of traders and
moneylenders.
The tribals of these areas organized themselves under the banner of
Jungle Bachao, Manav Bachao Andola (Save Forest, Save Humans
Movement) and held public rallies and agitations against the dams.
Under the leadership of Mohan Hirabai Hiralal, a staunch
Gandhian, the villagers established ‘Vrikshamitra’, an organization whose
objective was to propogate the interlinkage between environment, f orest
livelihood and self -rule.
In Mendha, three important village institutions were created in the
late 1980s as a result of the movement towards self -rule and protection of
the surrounding forests; the gram sabha, the mahila mandal and the abhyas
gat.
Mendha Lekha is an outstanding example of experiment in ‘self -
rule’ without any interference from the government bodies and self -
reliance in regard to funding to carry out developmental activities.
8.6 QUESTIONS
1)What is a people -centric approach to d evelopment? Discuss the
historical background of Hiware Bazar in the context of participatory
planning.
2)‘People centric -development is about situating people at the centre of
development’. Discuss the statement in the context of development of
Hiwar eB a z a r .
3)‘Mendha Lekha is an experiment in community conservation’.
Discuss
4)Discuss the social impacts of participatory decision -making in the
context of Mendha Lekha.
8.7 REFERENCES
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/hiware -bazar --a-village -
with-54-millionaires -4039 retrieved on 29 November2019
http://kalpavriksh.org/m endha -lekha -village/ retrieved on 8
December, 2019
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92Question Paper Pattern
1. All Questions are Compulsory (100 Marks)
2. All Questions Carry Equal Marks
3. Figures to the right indicates marks to a sub -question
Q1. Attempt Any 2 of the following Questions (Module I) 20 Marks
a.
b.
c.
Q2. Attemp t Any 2 of the following Questions (Module II) 20 Marks
a.
b.
c.
Q3. Attempt Any 2 of the following Questions (Module III) 20 Marks
a.
b.
c.
Q4. Attempt Any 2 of the following Questions (Module IV) 20 Marks
a.
b.
c.
Q5. Write Short Notes on Any 2 20 Marks
a.
b.
c.
d.
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