Project Appraisal

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Traditional Indian concept of time and its

economic consequences

Arunoday Saha

To cite this article: Arunoday Saha (1990) Traditional Indian concept of time and its economic
consequences, Project Appraisal, 5:2, 113-120, DOI: 10.1080/02688867.1990.9726758

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BojectAppraisal, volume 5, number 2, June 1990, pages 113-120, Beech Tree Publishing 10 Watford Close. Guildford, Surrey, GUl ZEP, England.
Cultural effects
Traditional Indian concept of time and its
economic consequences
Arunoday Saha
Values and judgements about time tend to agree
with the local culture’s major ideologicalpremises,
its normativefiamework, and the level of local tech-
nological development. In contrast to the essentially
historical nature of European civilisation, Indian
classical tradition denigrates time as mere illusion,
emphasising the timeless nature of reality.
This attitude, with the idea of rebirth, seems to
have contributed to the difiseness and devaluation
of ideas of time in modern India. It lea& to lethargic
habits in the workforce, low industrialproductivity,
regular delays in completing commercial projects
and, above all, to slow macro-economicgrowth.
Keywords: time; project managcmcnl; economic development
Professor Arunoday Saha is at the National Institute for Training
in Industrial Engineering, Vihar Lake, Bombay 400 087, India.
Project Appraisal June 1990 0268-8867/90/020113-8 US$03.00 (8 Beech Tree Publishing 1990
LL HUMAN ACTIVITIES involve a dimen-
G sion of time. Usually, the accomplishment of a
tated task in a shorter time-scale, other things
being equal, implies superior performance. The fac-
tor of time is particularly important in economic en-
deavours. Thus, in manufacturing situations,
functions such as forecasting, goal-setting, planning,
scheduling, evaluation and control become sig-
nificant. The efficiency with which these tasks are
accomplished, to an extent, determines the perfor-
mance of the firm.
Similarly, the time taken to complete a commercial
project acquires importance. If an undertaking is
unduly delayed, goods and services produced by it
may turn out to be less economical because of cost
escalations.
A cultural concept
In the context of economic performance, people’s
attitude towards time is important. The production
of goods and services demands a definite temporal
orientation for efficiency. As Salz observes:l
“Modern industry holds certain expectations
regarding a number of seemingly distinct
qualities: it rcfers to them as ‘punctuality’,
‘regularity’of appearance at work, ‘reliability’ of
at tendance, ‘steadiness’, ‘sobriety’,
‘perseverance’ on the job and assigned tasks,
observation of working schedules ctc. It is ap-
parent that when reduced to a common
denominator all these discretely enumerated
qualities have to do with time ... with the prob-
113
Indian concept of time
lem of time in social life, and with allied
categories namely ‘work‘ and ‘leisure’ as distinct
cultural conceptions.”
Not all cultures have the same viewpoint regarding
time. Anthropological literature reveals that, in the
same way as ideas about morality. proper food and
numerous other categories conditioning daily life,
temporal attitudes and judgements differ from one
society to another. Here the emphasis is on what may
be called ‘subjective time’ which refers to a person’s
specific evaluation of the timing of events, as distinct
from time measured by the clock.* ‘Subjective time’
falls in the realm of psychology, being a component
of personality. Though an individual affair, it is
derived, in large measure, from the culture to which
t h e person belongs.
The experience of time takes two forms - se-
quence and duration. From the standpoint of se-
quence, events are seen as located in a particular
order along a moving continuum. The perception of
duration derives from the relative span of events and
of intervals between them, whereas the interlocking
of order and duration defines the process of ~ h a n g e . ~
The passage of time is sometimes compared to the
linear flow of water in a river, and sometimes to the
cycle of the seasons or of the Although all
cultures have some system of time reckoning, both as
to sequence and duration, the mode of reckoning
clearly varies.
The term ‘culture’ as used in the present discussion
must be understood in its widest anthropological
sense as ‘the way of life of a social group’, a complex
whole which includes ideas, tools and techniques, and
norms of b e h a v i o ~ r .A~ combination of these three
parameters forms a total system recognisably dif-
ferent from other systems, even when there are ele-
ments in common.
Values and judgements about time constitute an
important ideological premise of any culture. And
since the component parts of any system must main-
tain an overall homeostasis, temporal concepts tend
to be in agreement with the culture’s other ideological
postulates, as well as with technology and norms. In
particular, attitudes toward time and work are inter-
related. A culture with a high regard for work must
necessarily value time and vice versa. Ideas regarding
change are similarly linked to a temporal framework.
Since the judgement pattern about duration
prevalent in a group tends to be in conformity with its
Since the component parts of any
system must maintain an overall
homeostasis, temporal concepts tend to
be in agreement with the culture’s
other ideological postulates
114
social and economic structures, transformations of
technology and economic systems are accompanied
by changes in ideas regarding time. On the other
hand, existing temporal concepts also bring about
alterations in techno-economic parameters. This is
particularly evident in the expericnce of developing
countries borrowing technology and allied systems
from the West, having entirely different ideological
assumptions.
Occidental civilisation
During the Middle Ages, the idea of time in Europe
had religious significance. According to the
paramount institution of the period, the Church, time
‘belonged to God’ and was ‘dominated by Him’. It was
in fact a gift of God to man,6 a viewpoint which gave
rise to the notion of the worth of time. As wasting the
divine beneficence came to be seen as a ‘serious sin’,
preachers exhorted people to avoid wasting their
time, urging upon them the duty to preserve and take
account of the precious resource: an idler became the
object of severe censure.
Deriving directly from temporal perceptions was
the attitude toward work. The ancient contempt for
manual labour as the preserve of slaves and serfs gave
way, during the Middle Ages, to a new regard for
work, conceived of as an antidote to the evil of idle-
ness. It became respectable, and monks in
monasteries included physical work, along with
prayer, as part of their daily schedule.
The mode of time-reckoning adopted by the
Church was basically historical. Originating in Crea-
tion (a supposedly past event), the passage of time
corresponded to a linear movement, approaching a
definite end, the Last Judgement. Within this limited
span, the most important happening was the life of
Christ, to which all other events must relate.’ The
individual partook of this finite, linear time in a finite,
linear manner. At the end o f a person’s earthly exis-
tence, theologians offered no hope of a second
chance in the form of rebirth. The urge to live and
utilise every moment at one’s disposal was therefore
considerable.
This situation was reinforced by the time of the
bourgeoisie who, from the 12th century onwards,
became increasingly prominent in European socie ty.
For the merchant involved in far-llung operations,
duration assumed a fresh importance. The time
taken for a sea voyage, for a journey by land, the
problem of prices which rose and fell in the course of
a commercial transaction, the working hours of
craftsmen (since the merchant was almost always an
employer), all made increasing claims on his atten-
tion. For mcrchants, time became an object of meas-
urement, and public clocks installed by thcm in
commercial towns guided the tolling of church bells,
controlling the economic life of the community.
The Renaissance saw the beginning of the
secularisation of time: from being a property of God
Project Appraisal June 1990

it became a propertv of man. The scientific dis-
coveries of the ‘17th and 18th centuries and the
rationalistic mood these fostered further removed
temporal concepts from their religious moorings,
rendering notions of Creation and finite time archaic.
But the perception of duration as something intrinsi-
cally valuable -whose origins lay in a more religious
epoch -persisted.
With the enormous expansion of commerce and
growing power and influence wielded by the bourge-
oisie, emphasis on time’s value increased: it became
synonymous with money. Punctuality, meeting
schedules, undertaking prompt action on anything
demanding attention, all acquired the nature of
secular virtues.
Another related concept, introduced by the 18th
century Enlightenment, was the idea of progress or
the belief that the human condition moves con-
tinuously from a state of lesser to one of greater
perfection. And the principle means by which man’s
state on earth could be infinitely bettered were the
tools ofrered by modern science and technology.
The Industrial Revolution caused a massive trans-
fer of people from agriculture to the factory, changing
their hitherto somewhat easy-going lifestyle into one
ruled by the clock. The initial decades of the factory
system still allowed some freedom to the worker.
Since the second half of the 19th century, however,
techniques of time and motion study have sought to
control and standardise even the minute movements
of factory operatives with the help of the stop-watch.
Indian tradition
The time conccpt found in Indian tradition varies
considerably from that of the West, conforming as it
does to the entirely different ideological presump-
tionsof Indian civilisation. In contrast to Christianity,
which conceives of God as separate from man and the
rest of the non-human universe, the sacred in Hin-
duism permeates the world as well as lying beyond it.
All things in nature, including human bcings, possess
clcments of the ‘Universal Sell‘.
From this mystical viewpoint, originally contained
in the ancient religious books called the Upanishads
(also known as the Vedanta), there developed the
idea that all objective phenomena are illusory (rndyd),
and that ‘reality’ lies essentially beyond perception.8
The unique notion of the physical universe as decep-
tive to the senses came to affect conceptions about
duration. Along with other perceptual objects, time
and change in this thinking acquired the character of
illusion, with ‘reality’ existing ‘beyond time’. Conse-
quently, in Indian classical literature there is a con-
tcmptuous rejection o f common-sense time.
Since ordinary perceptual time did not have
respec‘tability, there was little effort at quantifying
duration in pre-modern India; temporal differences
ncccssary for expressing specific events in experience
failed to receive attention. Chronology too was ig-
Project Appraisal June 1990
Indian concept of time
The Indian absence of interest in
recording significant events in
experience sprang from the idea of
reality or truth as eternal, as
independent of time
nored. The vast bulk of ancient and mediaeval litera-
ture displays a singular disregard of history. India
knew no historical writing; the past was conceived of
almost entirely in mythological terms without concern
for dates, for precedence-subsequence relationships
and for elapsed intervals between events. The only
firm dates. in Indian history are those preserved by
foreign visitors.
The absence of interest in recording significant
events in experience sprang from the idea of reality
or truth as eternal, as independent of time. In tradi-
tional Hindu reckoning happenings in the
phenomenal world, because unreal, were not worth
documenting. Indian thought processes as a result
came to acquire a predominantly static quality. In-
stead of comprehending action through its transform-
ing aspects, Indians considered action to be ‘‘an
unchanging aspect or only an attribute of
phenomenal existence”.
For the pre-modern Indian, social and economic
order too was eternal. Change accordingly wasviewed
with intense disapproval. Hinduism, to quote Max
Weber, “is characterized by a dread of the magical evil
of i n n o ~ a t i o n ” . ~
The caste system which pervaded socio-economic
relations in the past, and which still has substantial
influence, prescribed at birth the individual’s role in
life, prohibiting change of occupation or introduction
of new technology. Placing as it did traders and
manufacturers at the lower rungs of the social esteem
ladder, dominated by priests and administrators,
economic life came to be permanently devalued; and,
though traders sometimes became wealthy, notions
regarding the worth of time which high-status mer-
chants helped foster in Europe could not possibly
emerge from such a social system. As far as is known,
techno-economic conditions in India have remained
static during all periods of history, except the most
recent.
Corresponding to the static world view was the idea
of the vastness of total available time. Indian theories
about the birth and death of the universe (though
they come near to the position o f modern science)
derive from fantasy, the preponderance of the absurd
that characterises much of old literature.
Indian tradition envisages the beginning and
destruction of the universe as occurring in cycles of
immense duration. Each cycle comprises four ages,
arranged in the order of progressive deterioration,
with each age consisting of hundreds of thousands of
years. The four ages. lasting 4,320,000 years, make
115
Indian concept of time
one mahdyuga. O n e thousand mahiyugas constitute
a single day of the god, Brahma, whose life spans 100
years. And then creation begins anew.
The average individual partakes of this frighten-
ingly vast time by being born again and again. A
person thus has virtually limitless quantities of time at
his disposal. No experience for him is really unique,
for such events have occurred in past incarnations and
are likely to reoccur in future ones. No lost oppor-
tunity or wasted time is really gone forever, as there
will always be many more chances when the loss can
be made up. Such ideas, it is postulated, have con-
tributed to produce in India a state of mind which is
careless and unconcerned about time.
As mentioned earlier, mental orientations regard-
ing time tend to be in agreement with attitudes con-
cerning work. Not unexpectedly, the timeless,
quiescent condition esteemed in Indian classical
tradition also emphasised ‘absence of work‘ (nakkar-
mya) as an ideal worth striving for. And those who
managed to attain this state commanded popular
respect.
The theory of Karma, fundamental to Hinduism,
further servcd to alienate the average Indian from a
life of exertion. According to the Karma doctrine,
any action inescapably involves consequences for the
doer in the form of either pleasure or pain, which may
be experienced in the present or in a future existence.
Since the prescribed goal of every individual is to seek
release from repeated incarnations, the dominant
ideological strain of Indian culture stressed
withdrawal from all activity.
The modern era
From the foregoing discussion it is evident that no-
tions regarding time and work in India developed in
a unique direction in conformity with the culture’s
major ideological premises. Instead of fashioning
primitive meteorological time into greater specificity
and worth, Indian civilisation had the effect of devalu-
ing and further diffusing temporal conceptions.
Moreover, primitive conservatism and reluctance to
change were reinforccd by ingenuous theoretical jus-
tifications.
The arrival in India oE western experimental
science and technology did not substantially alter
people’s thinking patterns. Though a few elements
of tradition, such as regard for learning, aided the
industrialisation process, the bulk of indigenous cul-
ture was opposed to it.
The majority of Indian opinion leaders
have upheld the country’s spiritual
heritage as an antidote to the supposed
ill-effects of western materialism
116
Not only did Indians fail to realise the need for a
break with their past with its ethos antagonistic to
modern machinery, but, since the middle of the 19th
century, the majority of opinion leaders have upheld
the country’s spiritual (Vedantic) heritage as an an-
tidote to the supposed ill-cffects of western
materialism.10
Following independence in 1947, the state, wishing
to promote industrialisation, sought to achieve a
balance between the country’s traditional values and
modern science and technology. The two were for
that reason stressed in the Education Commission
Report (1964-66) which set out the guidelines to be
followed in schools throughout the country.” Partly
as a result of formal education and partly due to the
process of natural inculcation (including the in-
fluence wielded by such modern means as the printing
press, radio and television), the vast majority of
workers, engineers, scientists and administrators in
present-day India possess a fairly strong allegiance to
the nation’s Hindu cultural heritage and its associated
values.
As a result, the implanting of modern technology
and institutions rooted in a civilisation with an entire-
ly different time perspective, have naturally given rise
to problems of mismatch. The practical imperatives
of factory and office work have of course brought
about certain changes in the outlook of employees.
But persistence of old modes of thinking and be-
haviour continues to impair the functioning of the
industrial system, slowing down the pace of develop-
ment. Especially, culturally induced widespread in-
difference regarding time’s worth underpins low
productivity and utilisation in virtually every field of
economic activity.
Effect in the factory
On account of its early association with Grcat Britain,
India was one of the first non-western countries to
industrialise. Comparcd with other Third World na-
tions, India not only possessed easier access to
western machincry, but British finance, technical ex-
pertise and entreprcneurial abilities were also avail-
able. By the end of the 19th century, the number of
manufacturing enterprises using electricity was fairly
substantial.
The first industries to be established werc the tex-
tile mills located mostly in westcrn India. Morris, who
studied the working of these early (from 1854 on-
wards) mills, found a striking lack of time conscious-
ness among the work force. Prior to 1891 when the
Factory Commission introduced certain regulations,
there were no clocks in the mills. Employees gradual-
ly drifted into work after the gates opened, and they
gradually drifted out “when shadows began to darken
the workplace”.
The opening and closing times varied substantially
with the seasons and, to a certain extcnt, from day to
day. There were no midday breaks for lunch, and
Project Appraisal June 1990

employees snatched their meals at whatever time they
wis‘hed. No regulations required the operators to be
at their machines during working hours. At any time,
a certain proportion -in some mills as large as half
the work force - were idle or were seen loitering
around. A spokesman of the Factory Commission
commented: “The Indian operatives do not work
against their customs or their natural inclinations or
their traditional habits”.12
This remark would seem to hold good even a cen-
tury later. Though clocks are common in any modern
manufacturing establishment and the working day is
better scheduled, the arrival of employees 30 minutes
or so late does not attract attention. Also, machines
in many factories come to a halt considerably before
quitting time as employees start preparing to depart.
The practice of leaving the workplace and loitering
within the premises continues to be endemic in most
Indian manufacturing concerns. Work sampling
studies have shown the working time to be between
35 and 40% of the total available time.
Partly in response to employee absenteeism,
managers usually recruit more than the required
number of people, thereby contributing to the over-
staffing of facilities. The refusal of workmen to do
anything beyond their specified tasks adds to the
problem, and chores such as cleaning, associated with
low caste status, tend to be avoided or performed
negligently, with adverse consequences for main-
tenance and general appearance.
Machine downtime in Indian enterprises hardly
constitutes a matter of concern, since few firms keep
accurate records of equipmcnt operation. The
production managers of Indian firms -especially the
more traditional ones -are more inclined to accept
downtime as an unfortunate but unavoidable fact of
industrial life, and many expend little or no effort to
eliminate or reduce it. In addition to worker absen-
teeism, lack of orders, poor maintenance practices
and shortages of raw materials and power input ac-
count for unanticipated machine stoppages.
As is evident to any visitor in an Indian factory, the
movements of operatives at work are considerably
slower than those of their counterparts in the West.
In western industrial engineering practice the award
of incentive bonus usually commences when produc-
tive efficiency, defined as the ratio of actual produc-
tion to standard production, exceeds 100%. But pre-
incentive productive efficiency in India is generally so
low that a scheme with a starting point beyond 50%
has little chance of success and most start at around
35%.
As might be expected, Indian labour productivity
compares unfavourably with that of other countries,
both advanced and developing. Value-added per
employee in manufacturing in India averages around
one-tenth that of western nations. More than lack of
technological sophistication of plant and equipment,
the working habits of workers (as well as failure of
management) must be held responsible for this. Low
labour productivity often offsets the advantage of
Project Appraisal June I990
Indian concept of time
Delays in completion of commercial
ventures constitute the norm rather
than the exception, even though the
schedules are extended compared with
other countries
cheap wage rates.
Richman and Copen mention the case of a US
multi-national chemical and drugs company having
three plants: o n e in India, the second in the USAand
the third in Argentina, all comparable in terms of size,
product lines and technology. Whereas wage rates
were lowest in the Indian facility, its total labour cost
per unit output exceeded those of the other two
c~untries.’~
Project implementation
Perhaps no sphere of economic activity reflects the
impact of traditional apathy toward time and mental
orientations associated with it more vividly than does
the implementation of projects. In India, delays in
completion of commercial ventures constitute the
norm rather than the exception, even though the
schedules (from which delay is measured) are spread
over a longer period than in other countries. Many
delayed undertakings, particularly in the state sector,
become economically unviable even before opera-
tions begin, on account of cost escalations and process
obsolescence.
Failure to meet schedules affects projects both in
the public and in the private sector. A substantial
proportion of delays occurring in the organised non-
government sector may be attributed to state licens-
ing procedures and controls. Raj Krishna estimates
that a medium sized industrial unit has to obtain as
many as 28 clearances (several of them being sequen-
tial) from the government, before it could begin
0perati0ns.l~ A major investment in the chemical
engineering industry, according to Thomas, takes
about seven years from the date of planning to the
date of actual commercial production, out of which
four years must be spent interactingwithvarious state
and central government department^.'^
Despite its drawbacks in terms of wasted time and
effort, licensing finds favour with many private sector
industrialists who have a vested interest in the system
which they can manipulate to keep out competitors.
Bureaucrats, too, wish to preserve state controls, the
source of much of their power and (often illegal)
gratification.
Licensing procedures have contributed to the high
concentration of ownership in Indian industry and
slow technological progress. In the mid-1980s restric-
tions in certain industrial sectors were relaxed -with
beneficial results - but liberalisation was not pur-
117
Indian concept of time
sued further, and the system of licenses and controls
remains substantially in place.
For projects in the public sector (where total in-
vestment is many times higher) procedures are more
elaborate and delays greater in magnitude. Realising
eventually the seriousness of the situation, the
government in 1985 created a new Ministry of
Programme Implementation in an effort to expedite
delayed ventures.
According to a document prepared by this ministry,
290 major central government projects (the state
governments have their own enterprises) were being
implemented in the middle of 1987. Of these, 162
were behind schedule. For the rest, either the com-
pletion date had not been reached or information was
lacking. The anticipated total cost overrun for all the
units was 50.1%. Increase in prices of input materials
and equipment as well as wages and salaries ac-
counted for most of the increased expenditure. The
estimates, however, did not include opportunity cost
incurred by society for loss of goods and services the
delayed projects would otherwise have produced.
The anticipated aggregate time overrun was 43%.
Quite a few undertakings were more than ten years
behind schedule.
Causes of delays
The causes of delays may be divided into three broad
categories: procedural, financial and technical. Any
public project involves almost continuous interaction
among numerous government departments at various
administrative levels, and extensive provision for
review exists at nearly every stage of operation.
These requirements may be attributed to:
attempts at ensuring conformity of individual
enterprises with overall financial and sectoral
plans,
0 lack of confidence in the capabilities of managers
on site, and
0 desire by ministries located in the capital for
greater control.
The result is a time-consuming process of delibera-
tion, clarification, revision and review by a multiplicity
of agencies. Changes in norms and improper com-
munication between project authorities and approv-
ing ministries add to delays.
Responsibility for decisions remains extremely
broad. Officials drawn from a wide variety of back-
grounds - administrators, accountants, purchase of-
ficers, engineers -all exercise some influence on the
final outcome. Yet, as Repetto has pointed out, in-
dividual decisions can become overwhelmingly
dominant.16 Interventions by powerful persons are
capable of overriding most procedural requirements.
More important, no mechanism exists for assigning
accountability in case of failure. The system plainly
encourages carelessness and inefficiency, and is open
118
to manipulation by interested parties.
The dominance of generalist administrators, par-
ticularly those belonging to the Indian Administrative
Services (IAS), constitutes another drawback in
public sector project management. Members of the
apex approving body, the Public Investment Board
and also many project chiefexecu tives are drawn from
this service.
The IAS is a sequel to the Clite Indian Civil Service
(ICS) created during colonial rule for the purpose of
revenue administration and maintenance of law and
order. Following independence, the government of
India adopted the ICS structure virtually unchanged,
and after 1957, with the commencement of the
Second Five Year Plan (which emphasised heavy
industries and large-scale projects), entrusted the
IAS with directing the nation’s developmental
efforts.
Under the probable influence of culturally in-
grained habits of viewing the future merely as an
attribute of a static past, the post-independence
political leadership did not realise that a service in-
tended for social system maintenance would be ill-
equipped to handle intrinsically change-oriented as-
signments, often of a highly technological nature. As
a result many heads of public undertakings, lacking
specialised training, emphasise procedural aspects.
And what is of greater significance, project manage-
ment techniques of PERT/CPM fail to receive ade-
qua te at ten tion.
In the government it is not uncommon for large
investments to be run with relatively unsophisticated
management tools. Generalist managers are also
likely to move from one undertaking to another at
short intervals. Many public projects have suffered
on account of frequent change of chief executives.
In addition to procedural aspects, issues of a finan-
cial nature contribute to delays. Even though the
entire investment has been approved, the
government’s funding policies stipulate that money
for projects be provided on a year-to-year basis, re-
quiring fresh annual sanctions.
This procedure, apparently designed to ensure
continued control by the ministries and financial
departments, enhances the difficulties of managers
on site, restricting their freedom of action. It further
renders target completion dates and considerations
of total cost unimportant. Certain parties such as
contractors acquire vested interest in procrastination,
since ‘more time means more money’. The con-
centration of financial power in the hands of mini-
stcrial functionaries enables them to regulate the flow
of project funds to serve political ends, whenever
desired.
Technical aspects
Mistakes in technical judgements - on account of
carelessness or lack of knowledge - are more dif-
ficult to rcctify than administrative decisions, and
Project Appraisal June 1990

Mistakes in technical judgements are
more difficult to rectify than
administrative decisions and have a
stalling effect on project completion
dates
have a stalling effect on project completion dates, as
discovery at a later stage usually makes redesign and
reconstruction necessary. According to one estimate,
approximately 40% of total cost overruns for public
projects are attributable to technical factors.17
A government report states’?
“It has been noticed that on many occasions
even after a project has been accepted by the
Government and the detailed project report ap-
proved there are abnormal delays in completion
of projects, and costs are virtually in all cases
escalated. In some cases civil works in respect
of the project had started without adequate site
investigation and preparation of detailed plants,
designs and estimates conforming to the
prescribed norms and standards. It has also
come to notice that quite often project
authorities are not able to keep up rapid changes
in design and engineering technology.”
Unfortunately, the public sector does not employ the
best engineering talent available, despite its elevated
place in the economy. Persistence of the old ad-
ministrative ethos - relegating technical personnel
to inferior positions with respect to remuneration,
power and prestige - has been largely responsible
for this. Not surprisingly then, technical work
produced is often of indifferent quality.
The more challenging tasks, of course, are handled
by overseas technicians as part of foreign collabora-
tion agreements, which nearly all major projects in-
clude. In particular, delays incurred by specialised
machinery ma nu fact urers, whose activities mostly in-
volve construction from foreign designs, have caused
setbacks to many projects.
The case of the Moonidih Coal Mining Project in
the eastern state of Bihar is an example. The project
report was prepared in 1965with completion date set
at 1972. In 1968 orders were placed with the public
sector Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation
(MAMC) for supply of mining equipment. But they
failed to deliver on schedule, and the items ordered
did not reach Moonidih until 1976.
In the meantime a major technological change had
occurred in the industry with the introduction of
shearers, hydraulic clock shields and armoured chain
conveyors into longdwall mining operations. The
project report for Moonidih was therefore revised
and the completion date re-scheduled to 1985. Or-
ders were once again placed with the MAh4C for
Project Appraisal June 1990
Indian concept of time
supply of the necessary equipment - with predic-
table results.19
Regular delays in completing commercial ventures
lead to the conclusion that a project, by its nature
associated with commitment to change, development
and innovation as well as willingness to meet challen-
ges, both technical and organisational, contradicts the
dominant strain of Indian tradition, disposed in
favour of system maintenance.
Indifference on the part of all concerned with
meeting schedules, and unlimited tolerance for the
lethargic habits of the work-force seems to reflect the
traditional cultural apathy towards time, transferred
to modern economic activity. The origins of manage-
ment practices that neither encourage performance
nor punish failure may be traced to the fact that,
although rewards for successful implementation of
new ideas and threat of penalty for failure to innovate
are major agents of change, Indian institutional struc-
ture seek.. to discourage both.
0ther factors
In the macro-economic sphere, the policy of prohibit-
ing imports of finished consumer items and the opera-
tion of a multiplicity of state controls, severely inhibit
competition, aiding the preservation of status quo.
Particularly, public sector enterprises, enjoying
monopolies or near-monopolies in a number of im-
portant industries and in banking, insurance and
transport, experience no compulsion to improve per-
formance.
Furthermore, organisation structures remain inert
in response to altering techno-economic require-
ments. The persistence of a colonial administrative
pattern in state enterprises has already been noted.
In private firms, family-owners retain effective con-
trol over top management in spite of the formal adop-
tion of a joint-stock company framework. Unlike the
West and Japan, corporate control mechanisms in
India have not evolved into separation of ownership
and management, and the same family business
houses which flourished under British rule continue
to dominate private economic activity outside the
government.
Another factor distinguishing Indian industry is its
almost complete dependence o n foreign technologi-
cal assistance. For new products and processes and
for adding to existing facilities, the overwhelming
trend in both the public and private sectors is to opt
for collaboration with well-established, foreign firms.
The terms of technology-transfer agreements fre-
quently require the handing-over of facilities to the
Indian partners only after complete installation and
operation for a limited period. This enables Indian
investors to minimise risk, experimentation and in-
novation - forces of change inevitably associated
with the development (or successful absorption) of
new technology. Very little R & D effort exists within
individual manufacturing enterprises, and although a
119
Indian concept of time
Very little R&D effort exists within
manufacturing enterprises, and
although a number of
government-supported establishments
conduct industrial research, their work
finds few takers
fairly large number of government-supported estab-
lishments conduct industrial research, their work
finds few takers.
As mentioned earlier India’s industrialisation com-
menced fairly early, and its education system too is
among the oldest outside the West, the first univer-
sities having been established in 1857. Unlike most
other developing states, India is therefore not defi-
cient in technically trained personnel. On the con-
trary she is said to possess the third largest pool of
scientific and technical manpower in the world.20
However, India’s industrial performance leaves
much to be desired, despite the availability of techni-
cally qualified people, ample experience with
mechanised production methods, relative abundance
of material resources and a fair degree of political
stability. Among the nations of the world, India ranks
20th in terms of volume of industrial production. If
output were to be measured on a per capita basis,
India’s position would be among the least developed
states.21
T h e country lags behind other developing nations
in industrial growth. From 1970 to 1984 value-added
in manufacturing increased by 84% in India whereas
in the rest of the Third World (including China) it
rose by 143%.n
The cumulative effect of project delays and low
productivity is manifested in the sluggish pace of
macro-economic progress. The ‘Hindu rate of
growth’, an epigram of uncertain authorship, refers to
the 3.9% annual rate of increase of gross national
product achieved from 1960 to 1985. This may be
contrasted with the 5.3% average growth rate over
the same interval by 93 non-oil exporting countries,
classified by the World Bank as developing.
India’s per capita growth rate has been 1.5% per
year as against 2.9% in the Third World as a whole.
In the nine decades prior to 1960 the pace of growth
was below 0.5%
Perhaps more important is that economic gains
have had little impact on poverty in the country.
Although famines occur less frequently than in the
past, the proportion of poor people who are under-
fed, according to one report, has stayed approximate-
lyconstant at 40% of the population over the last 100
years.23
1 20
Conclusion
India’s indifferent economic performance is in no
small measure attributable to her cultural traditions,
particularly that component dealing with the concept
of time. Nevertheless, because of the deep emotion
with which most Indians hold their home-grown tradi-
tions, its linkage with economic paramet& is usually
ignored, sometimes even denied. But silence in the
matter has evidently proved costly in t p s of wasted
resources and slow progress.
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Project Appraisal June I990