Public Administration Mains 2017 : Model Question and Answer - 43
Public Administration Mains 2017 : Model Question and Answer
(Public Administration Paper I / Chapter: Development Dynamics)
(Important) Question : Do
you think the difference between development and anti-development activities of
government is unrealistic ? (30 Marks/350 Words)
Model Answer :
Development Administration has evolved over the years adapting to the environment in which it is embedded. With an increase in capitalist ideologies and the fall of Communist USSR, there has been predominance of a macro economic growth driven development model. This model propagates a trickle down effect of the fruits of development and has had little concerns on the ecological thresholds and considerations of equity.
The anti-development school tries to envision a paradigm shift with more emphasis on bioshperical egalitarianism, diversity and symbiosis, harnessing complexity, local autonomy and decentralization. It aims at a syncretistic society. It glorifies indigenous knowledge and plural governing systems.
However, to look at the anti-development approach as something exclusive of the conventional development approach would be naive. Mainstream development has also evolved taking into cognizance a more people centered approach which has adopted a balanced outlook towards nature and natural resources, it emphasizes on goals of Human Development than on Economic development, and greater egalitarianism across class, caste and gender.
Even the Bretton Woods Institutions such as World Bank promote such models of Development through their mandate on Good Governance and encouragement of Ecological Economics : The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Global Initiative (TEEB) and the United Nations System of Environmental and Economics Accounting as a development to the Gross Domestic Product. India has also taken some concrete steps with the launch of the Green GDP in 2015 under the chairmanship of Dr. Partha Das Gupta.
There have been several benefits of the conventional development model whether its be in health, education or access to technology and it must not be disregarded. There is a need to integrate with the existing development model to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The existing institutions must be designed to cater to the plurality and diversity in a country and a disaggregated development model should be adopted that understands the carrying capacity of ecological zones and hence designs development interventions. Therefore an antagonistic view is not the call of the hour but rather a collaborative one. (Total Words- 338
(Linkages : Developmental and Anti-Developmental Activities, Developmental Model and Trickle Down Effect Theory, Anti-Developmental Model and Plural Governing Systems)