Page 385 - DECO502_INDIAN_ECONOMIC_POLICY_ENGLISH

Unit 30: Implementation of Economic Policies: Role of Panchayats and Pressure Groups

• For our purpose, people’s participation in the development process means active cooperation Notes
and involvement of the general masses in the process of development administration. People’s
active interest, enthusiasm and cooperation in planning, implementation and evaluation of
development programmes at all levels, particularly at the grass-root level is required. India’s
participatory local self-governance has a feasible and institutional status that can be harnessed
to implement people’s programmes at the grass root.
• It may be noted that transparency and people’s participation in regulatory and development
administration is very important not only in bridging the gap between the administration and
the public but also in nation-building, by way of reducing the corruption and complaints against
the system.
• To address different aspects of rural poverty, the Government has brought poverty alleviation
programmes. Micro-credit-linked programmes provide a package of services including credit
and subsidy to set up micro-enterprises.
• The PRIs should report their progress and Central/State level co-ordinators should use this
feedback to analyse the problems/short comings to suggest necessary policy-changes which
means the flow of information should be two-ways.
• We should make project planning more scientific and simplified, properly understood and
implemented at GP level.
• It may be noted that a participatory and result-oriented bureaucracy interacting with an aware
and educated population would interact fruitfully to produce a self-reliant village entity in the
right spirit of democratic decentralisation for rural development.
• Pressure groups are voluntary agencies which have a long history of active involvement in the
promotion of human welfare and well-being. Lord Beveridge called voluntary agencies “aprivate
enterprise for social progress”.
• The term pressure group is a very wide definition that does not clearly distinguish between the
groups that fall under the term. The aim of all pressure groups is to influence the people who
actually have the power to make decisions.
• It may be noted that voluntary agencies help in the programme implementation, collaboration
and co-ordination with other activities.
• With the use of the latest internet technology, Milestone Consultants provides advanced web
communication channels to professional associations, societies, trade unions and clubs to
collaborate and share information. Associations can inform and update their members about
news and events through emails, newsletters, blogs, discussion forums, wiki’s, and various
community sites.
• The term is usually used by Governments to refer to entities that have no Government status. In
the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by Governments, the NGO maintains
its non-Governmental status by excluding Government representatives from membership in
the organisation.
• Despite the above reasons, NGOs can contribute considerably in building the Membership Based
Organisations which in turn need a great deal of financial and moral support for capacity
building.
• MBOs Networks are formed through alliances between MBOs or federations of trade unions,
co-operatives and savings and credit groups and organisations.
• NGOs - Society for Technology and Development (STD) takes up economic activity through
collective organisation of marginalised sections.
• Many improvements are needed in voluntary organisations to make them effective for
implementation of socio-economic programmes of the country.
• Thus, the role of voluntary organisations vis-a-vis the support of Government for social welfare
and development must be defined clearly.

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