DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNICATION
UNIT 1
TOPIC 1: Development Communication: Definition, Meaning
and Process

Definition
● The Term Development Communication was coined by Nora Quebral in December 10,

1971.
●  Development communication is an art and science of human communication applied to
speedy transformation of a country and a mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic
state of economic growth so as to achieve greater social equality – Nora Quebral

● It is a process of strategic intervention towards social change initiated by institutions

and communities – Wilkins and Moody (2001)

● Development is essentially maximizing the production of goods and services available in

a country. Lack of it is defined as underdevelopment. Going by the international
encyclopedia development may be described as “purposive changes undertaken in a
society to achieve what may be regarded generally as a different (improved) state of
social and economic affairs.” The notion of development is basic to development
communication.

DC
● Sociologists, psychologists, economists and communication experts are of the
opinion that the proper use of communication can foster the pace and process of
development. In general terms, communication means interaction between two
individuals or within a group or a community or a nation. The foundation of
communication is based upon four principal elements ----- communication source, a
message, a channel or medium and a receiver or audience. But in development
 

communication it becomes the process of affecting or influencing behavior of

individuals or groups towards certain desired goals and objectives, necessarily for
the benefit of the entire society. Thus, the receiver is expected to show the
behaviour desired by the source of communication.

●  Development communications are organized efforts to use communications

processes and media to bring social and economic improvements of an individual,

society or nation (generally in developing countries). It identifies wha
whatt mass media
can do directly or indirectly to improve the quality of life to both urban and rural
masses.

● The second half of the 20th century brought a tradition of communication research and
practice geared toward Third World development needs, an area known as development
communication (devcom).

● Research and projects addressing devcom flourished during the First Development
Decade in the 1960s.
● Development communication started getting recognised for its importance in
Socio-cultural, economic and political developments and utilization of its approaches.
● Development Communication has been subjected to intellectual scepticism and public
doubts and has been misinterpreted and misapplied.
●  The greatest challenge the communicator faces is the preparation and distribution of
development messages to millions of people in such a way that they are received and
understood, accepted and applied.
● These two perspectives suggest certain prerequisites for development for
communication

(i) human and localized approach to communication rather than abstract and centralized

(ii) credibility and role of communication links

(iii) access to communication

PROCESS
1. Establ
Establishing
ishing ai
aims
ms and obje
objectives
ctives : D
Definin
efining
g the purpo
purpose
se and comm
common on objec
objectives
tives
2. Define Ta
Target
rget audi
audience:
ence: def
defining
ining and se
selecti
lecting
ng target au
audience
dience is n
necessa
ecessary
ry to
identify the com channel to be used and the startegies to be made according to
needs of the target audience
 

3. Design K Key
ey –Mes
–Messages
sages De
Design
sign Mes
Messages
sages as per req
requireme
uirement nt of th
the
e channe
channel.l.
Identify language in which messages has to be transcribed
4. Choose Co Communi
mmunication
cation Ch
Channels:
annels: TTarget
arget audi
audience,
ence, obobjecti
jective,
ve, type
typess of messag
messages
es
will determine comm channel. Prioritize key channels: Oral or Written.
5. Work Out Two –Wa –Wayy commu
communicati
nication
on Proc
Process
ess : It helps in g gatheri
athering
ng ideas
ideas,,
suggestions and feedback so that programmes could be fixed to fix people's
needs.
6. Fix Time F Frame:
rame: TiTime
me fram
framee shoul
shouldd be work
worked
ed out foforr all the stages o off
programme.
7. Plan Budg
Budgetet : Plan a bbudget
udget acaccordi
cording
ng to the need and tthe he targe
targett audien
audience ce Need
to be more strategic about investment in expensive communication methods
such as mass media. Many methods are expensive such as meetings, posters ,
leaflets and charts etc.
8. Implem
Implementati
entation
on : Aft
After
er this tthe
he devel
development
opment plan has tto o execut
executeded and the
message has to be shared.
9. Monito
Monitoring
ring the Fe
Feedback:
edback: Mo
Monitor
nitoring
ing of IEC m
material
aterialss refers tto o the revi
reviewew and
supervision of distribution and usage activities. Findings are used to improve
distribution systems, the use of materials, and the future design of
materials.Monitoring is a tool to identify and correct problems early enough
to make changes and maximize the impact of development communication.
 

TOPIC 2:

A. GDP/GNP

GDP
● The gross domestic product (GDP) is one the primary indicators used to gauge the
health of a country's economy.
● GDP measures all of the sales of final goods and services domestically — within a
country's borders — plus exports and minus imports.
● The calculation can be done in one of the two ways:
● Either by adding up what everyone earned in a year (income approach), or by adding up
what everyone spent (expenditure method). The expenditure method is the more
common approach and is calculated by adding total consumption, investment,
government spending and net exports.

GNP
● Gross national Product is a measurement of a country’s income. It includes all the
income earned by a country's residents and businesses, including any income earned
abroad. Income is defined as all employee compensation plus investment profits. It
includes earnings from foreign sources.
● It does not count income earned by foreigners located in the country.
● It also does not include the shadow or black economy.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GDP AND GNI

● GNI measures all income of a country's residents and businesses, regardless of where
it's produced.

● Gross Domestic Product, on the other hand, measures the income of anyone within a
country's boundaries. It doesn't matter who produces it. It includes anything earned by
foreigners, including foreign businesses, while they are in the country. GDP measures
production while GNP measures income.

● GDP is calculated via three methods namely: Output Method, Income Method, and
Expenditure Method. GNP is calculated via GDP plus net income earned by residents
from abroad - net income earned by foreign residents in the country.
 

● GDP is used to measure the strength of a country’s domestic economy while GNP is
used to measure how the national of a country are contributing economically.

● GDP per capita is used to check the per capita income of an individual in the country.

● For example, China’s GDP is $300 Billion greater than its GNP due to the large number of

foreign companies operating within its borders. Similarly, the US’ GNP is $250 million
greater than its GDP due to the amount of american owned production that occurs
beyond its borders.

● Similarly, the shoes made in a Nike plant in Korea will be counted in U.S. GNP, but not
GDP. That's because the profits from those shoes will boost Nike's earnings and stock
prices, contributing to higher national income. It doesn't stimulate economic growth in
the United States because those manufacturing jobs were outsourced. It's Korean
workers who will boost their country's economy and GDP by buying local goods and
services.

B. Human Development Index

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key
dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a
decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the
three dimensions.

The Human Development Index (HDI) was first published in 1990, under the guidance of
Mahbub ul Haq, a former finance minister of Pakistan, with technical assistance from the Nobel
laureate economist Amartya Sen. The HDI appears in the Statistical Annex of the United
Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) annual flagship publication, the Human
Development Report.

The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate
criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. The HDI can
also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level
of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. These contrasts
can stimulate debate about government policy priorities.
 

Indicators
1. Longevity: It is measured by life expectancy at birth. It is defined as the average number
of years that a newborn could expect to live if he or she were able to pass through life
subject to the age- specific mortality rates of a given period.
2. Education or Knowledge: It is measured by the weighted average of adult literacy and
mean years of schooling. For this 2/3rd weight is given to adult literacy and 1/3rd weight
is given to the mean years of schooling.
3. Standard of Living: It is measured by GNI per capita income of a country at purchasing
power parity (PPP).

● The indicators of the three dimensions are calibrated and combined to generate an HDI
score between zero and one. Countries are grouped into four human development categories
or quartiles: very high, high, medium and low.
● India’s HDI value for 2017 is 0.640, which put the country in the medium human development
category. Between 1990 and 2017, India’s HDI value increased from 0.427 to 0.640, an
increase of nearly 50 percent – and an indicator of the country’s remarkable achievement in
lifting millions of people out of poverty.
● The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an Inequality-adjusted Human
Development Index (IHDI). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the
actual level of human development (accounting for inequality)", and "the HDI can be viewed
as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum IHDI that could be achieved if
there were no inequality)".

C. HAPPINESS INDEX.
The World Happiness Report is an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable
Development Solutions Network which contains rankings of national happiness and analysis of
the data from various perspectives.

The first World Happiness Report was released on April 1, 2012

The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness. The World
Happiness Report 2018, ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the
happiness of their immigrants.

The main focus of this year’s report, in addition to its usual ranking of the levels and changes in
happiness around the world, is on migration within and between countries.
 

This report is based on international surveys in which thousands of respondents were asked to
imagine a ladder with steps numbered 0 to 10 and say where they felt they stood.

The report cites six significant factors which contribute to happiness:

1. Le
Leve
vels
ls of GDP
GDP
2. He
Heal
alth
thyy life
life exp
expececta
tanc
ncy,
y,
3. So
Soci
cial
al supp
suppor ortt
4. Freedom,
5. Co
Corrrupt
ruptio
ion n
6. Ge
Gene
nero
rosi
sitty

Finland is top of the world for happiness, according to the World Happiness Report 2018,
closely followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Nordic countries take four out of the five top spots, and are well known to be stable, safe and
socially progressive. There is very little corruption, and the police and politicians are trusted.

John Helliwell, a co-editor of the World Happiness Report noted “The most striking finding of
the report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of immigrants and the locally
born,” Helliwell said. “Those who move to happier countries gain, while those who move to less
happy countries lose.”

From being on 122nd rank in 2017 to 133rd rank in 2018, India has slipped 11 places on the
'Word Happiness Index'.

Gross National Happiness

Gross National Happiness is a term coined by His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme
Singye Wangchuck in the 1970s. The concept implies that sustainable development should
take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to
non-economic aspects of wellbeing. The Gross National Happiness Index is a single number
index developed from 33 indicators categorized under nine domains.

The concept of GNH has often been explained by its four pillars:

1. go
good
od g
gov
over
erna
nanc
nce,
e,
2. sus
sustai
tainab
nable
le soc
socio-
io-eco
econom
nomic
ic dev
develo
elopme
pment,
nt,
3. cu
cult
ltur
ural
al prese
preserv
rvat
atio
ion,
n,
4. env
enviro
ironme
nmenta
ntall conser
conservat
vation
ion..
 

Lately, the four pillars have been further classified into nine domains in order to create
widespread understanding of GNH and to reflect the holistic range of GNH values.

The nine domains are:

1. Ps
Psyc
ycho
holo
logi
gica
call wel
welll bei
being
ng
2. Health
3. Edu
duccat
atiion
4. Time use
5. Cul
Cultur
tural
al di
diver
versit
sityy and res
resili
ilienc
encee
6. Go
Good
od ggov
overerna
nancnce e
7. Co
Comm
mmun unitityy vi
vita
talility
ty
8. Eco
Ecolog
logica
icall dive
diversi
rsityty and rresi
esilie
lience
nce
9. Li
Livi
ving
ng ssta
tand
ndarards
ds

INDICATOR  
D. HUMAN RIGHTS AS AN INDICATOR
● A human right is “a universal moral right, something which all men everywhere, at all
times ought to have, something of which no one may be deprived without a grave affront
to justice, something which is owing to every human being simply because he is human.”
●
Efforts are of
protection made all over
human the world to take adequate measures for the promotion and
rights.
● It is only through communication that people become aware and educated about their
rights, which they can exercise or have been granted to them.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on
10th December 1948, according to which all men and women are entitled to civil, political,
economic, social, cultural rights and freedom for the people of the world.

Every Development program should incorporate an aspect on human rights. Development

communicators must shoulder the responsibility of educating various target groups on how to

respect and exercise human rights. This requires democratization of communication, which
 

means an access to all existing media to the masses for sharing information and the facts
related to human rights without any discrimination.

Without freedom, other human rights cannot be exercised effectively either within National
borders or within the world community. The expansion of human rights, therefore, depends
largely on the success of expanding the flow of information everywhere.

The real challenge is to prepare a development communication strategy to highlight human

rights. So far media have not been successful in projecting an impressive and popular image of
human rights issue, which constitutes an integral part of life and activity of the average citizen.

The Human Right principles to guide development programming identified in this agreement
are:

1. Uni
Univer
versal
salityity and inalinaliena
ienabil
bility
ity
2. Indi
Indivi
visi
sibi
bilility
ty
3. Int
Interd
erdepen
ependen dence ce and int
interr
errela
elated
tednes
nesss
4. Equ
Equalit
alityy and non non-dis
-discri
crimin
minati
ation
on
5. Inc
Inclus
lusion
ion and par partic
ticipa
ipatio
tion
n
6. Ac
Acco
coununtatabi bilility
ty

TOPIC 3: Approaches to Development Communication:

Diffusion of Innovation; Magic Multiplier; Empathy:

Diffusion of Innovation 
Innovation 
Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed by E.M. Rogers in 1962, is one of the oldest
social science theories. It originated in communication to explain how, over time, an idea or
product gains momentum and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific population or social
system. The end result of this diffusion is that people, as part of a social system, adopt a new
idea, behaviour, or product.

Adoption of a new idea, behaviour, or product (i.e., "innovation") does not happen
simultaneously in a social system; rather it is a process whereby some people are more apt to
adopt the innovation than others. Researchers have found that people who adopt an

innovation early have different characteristics than people who adopt an innovation later.
 

10

When promoting an innovation, there are different strategies used to appeal to the different
adopter categories.

1. Innovators - These are the most eager members of the society to try new ideas and
adopt new practices. They are venturesome and interested in new ideas. These people
are very willing to take risks, and are often the first to develop new ideas. Usually they
belong to the cosmopolite category.
2. Early Adopters - These are people who represent opinion leaders. They enjoy leadership
roles, and embrace change opportunities. They had a higher social status, more
favourable financial status, engaged in more specialized operations and were equipped
with greater mental abilities. They used the data provided by the innovators in
implementation and confirmation of the innovation to make their own adoption
decision.They are already aware of the need to change and so are very comfortable
adopting new ideas. Strategies to appeal to this population include how-to manuals and
information sheets on implementation. They do not need information to convince them
to change.
3. Early Majority - These people are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas before the
average person. Strategies to appeal to this population include success stories and
evidence of the innovation's effectiveness.They become the reference groups for the
subsequent late adopters
4. Late Majority - These people are sceptical of change, and will only adopt an innovation
after it has been tried by the majority. Much of the social system does not have the
inclination or capability to acquire information of the most recent innovations. So they
trust the opinion leaders, since adoption of opinion leader is a good indicator that
innovation is going to be adopted by many also and other members will be encouraged
to adopt.
5. Laggards - These people are bound by tradition and very conservative. They are very
sceptical of change and are the hardest group to bring on board. The laggards are very
slow in adoption. If they are traditional, they are suspicious of innovations and often
interact with others who also have traditional values. If they are isolates, their lack of
social interaction decreases their awareness of an innovation’s demonstrated benefits. It
takes much longer than average for laggards to adopt innovations.

Stages
1. Awareness stage – there is broad exposure of the innovation, but the individual does not
have sufficient information. He is yet to get motivated either to seek further information
or to act upon it or know how it functions (Knowledge).
 

11

2. Interest stage – individual shows interest in the new idea, makes an effort to seek
additional information. However, the person is still undecided about its application.
Person forms a favourable/unfavourable attitude towards innovation (Persuasion).
3. Evaluation stage – The individual mentally applies the innovation to one’s own situation,
and then decides whether to try it or not. Person engages in activities that lead to a
choice to accept / reject the innovation (Decision).
4. Trial stage – individual uses the innovations on a pilot stage (limited scale) to decide
about its utility and relevance to one’s own situation. Observation is that people will not
adopt an innovation without trying (Implementation).
5. Adoption stage – It is the process through which the individual arrives at the decision to
adopt or reject the innovation from the time they first became aware of it. Individual
decides to continue the use of innovation. Adoption implies sustained or continuous use
(Confirmation).

Adoption stage – It is the p 

Diffusion of innovation research established the importance of communication, new ideas and
their practice is a crucial component of the modernization process. People change attitudes of
those whom they talk to, work with, or interact with. People will adopt an innovation if they
believe that it enhances their utility; it determines the extent of change in their normal
functioning increases compatibility with habits and values, and has cost-benefit analysis.

Multiplier  
Magic Multiplier
● Mass Media is called the magic multiplier as it can multiply the messages and reach a
number of people very fast and at one go. Its output does have great potential and
modernizing effect.
● Mass media are important in spreading awareness of new possibilities and practices,
but at the stage where decisions are being made about whether to adopt or not to adopt;
personal communication is far more likely to be influential.
● Wilbur Schramm (1964), in his book ‘Mass Media and National Development’ which was
produced for UNESCO became almost a blueprint (programme of action) for
development communication. Schramm stated that content is the key to their use in
development.

Arguments for Magic Multiplier

● For social change of great magnitude, people must be informed, educated, motivated
and persuaded. Information must flow, not only to them but also from them, so that their
 

12

needs can be known and they might participate in the acts and decisions of
nation-building.
● As the required amount of information and learning is vast so the targeted population.
Work should be organised and skills should be learnt at all levels of society for better
utilization of the resources of society.
● The available channels of communication like interpersonal, group-communication,
traditional media are incapable to undertake this task, as this will require a lot of time
and resources. For a developing country, it’s difficult to gather a large pool of resources
and wait for such a long time. Mass media with its magical reach can do this job in less
time and resources.

Analysis
● The audit found that the mass media succeeded in reaching a vast majority of
population in less time and resources
● Mass media as a magic multiplier did a commendable job in spreading awareness but it
could not give expected results in persuading and educating the targeted population.
● It was found that persuasion, motivation and education for/on something is best
achieved by close interactions which is possible in inter-personal,
group-communications

TOPIC 4: Communication and Social Change

A.GANDHIAN PERSPECTIVE ; PANCHAYATI RAJ 

LOCALISED APPROACH

This approach advocates that information transmitted through media must be locally and
functionally relevant to the audience is called localised approach. The development
programmes must be local to meet the local needs which vary widely in different regions and
sub-regions in a large country like India due to the diversity of climate, cultures and languages.

❖ Localised approach would enable communicators to design messages which will be

relevant in terms of utility, timeliness, applicability, specificity, etc.
❖ The approach would tailor message for local conditions
❖ The approach can overcome infrastructural difficulties
 

13

❖ Such an approach will allow greater involvement and participation of the audience in the
communication process
❖ As the needs of people vary widely in different regions and sub-regions
❖ In a large developing country like India, there is diversity of cultures and languages

● Mahatma Gandhi favoured the development of panchayats, and he had made panchayats a
part of his political programme since the Non-Cooperation Movement.The term for this
vision was “GRAM SWARAJ” which means village self governance.
●  But not all sections of the political leadership were equally enthusiastic about it Jawaharlal
Nehru and B.R. Ambedkar, for their own reasons, were not too keen about it. In fact the Draft
Constitution did not even mention it.
● After considerable procedural wrangles and more in deference to the wishes of Gandhiji, it
was finally incorporated in the Constitution and that too as a thing to be merely desired.
● The Constitution did not contain any provision for the exact form that local self-government
should take. It only stated as one of the Directive Principles; that states should take steps to
organise village panchayats and endow them with functions as units of self-government
(Article 40).
● Not unexpectedly, nothing had been done for establishing the Panchayati Raj in 1950s.
Central Government had directed its efforts for local development on the Community
Development Programme (CDP)
● High hopes were pinned on CDP, but when it seemed that it was not making any headway.
Government appointed Balwant Rai Mehta Committee to make recommendation for its
improvement.
● The Committee diagnosed the lack of democratic local bodies with real powers as the major
cause of the failure of CDP. The remedy suggested was the setting up of Panchayati Raj by
instituting three levels of representative bodies.
● The National Development Council accepted these recommendations in 1959. Rajasthan
was the first state to set up Panchayati Raj in Oct 1959, followed by Andhra Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu in the same year. Later the other States followed suit.

In the history of Panchayati Raj in India, on April 24, 1993, the constitutional Act (73rd
amendment) 1992,came into force to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj
Institutions.

The amendments were extended to Panchayats in the tribal areas of 8 states, Andhra Pradesh,

Gujarat,
December Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan beginning on
24, 1996.
 

14

Objectives of Panchayati Raj

i) Increasing agricultural production

(ii) Development of rural industry

(iii) Fostering co-operative institutions

(iv) Full utilisation of local manpower and other resources and the resources, physical and
financial, available to Panchayati Raj institutions

(v) Assisting the economically weaker sections of the village community

(vi) Progressive dispersal of authority and initiative, with special emphasis on the role of
voluntary organisations; and,

(vii) encouraging the spirit of self-help within the community

Organization: 
It is a three-tier system in each state:

(a) The Zila Parishad at the district level.

(b) Panchayat Samitis at the block level.

(c) Gram Panchayats at the village level.

The members of the Panchayats are directly elected by the people, whereas the members of
Panchayat Samitis will be elected by the Panchayats.

The members of Zila Parishad would consist of the Presidents of the Panchayat Samitis bodies
of MLAs, and MPs elected from that district. The Panchayat Samitis would undertake to look
after schemes, like (a) elementary education, (b) village roads, (r) public health.

Nyaya Panchayats or village courts which provide a speedy and inexpensive system of justice
to the villagers are functioning in some of the states. Panchayati Raj now covers all the states
except Meghalaya and Nagaland.

The panchayat, the cooperative and the school are the basic institutions at the village level for
carrying out programmes of rural development. The elected panchayat is responsible for many

development programmes within its territorial jurisdiction.

 

15

B. CASE STUDY: MGNREGA 

MGNREGA 

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA) is a social security scheme that
attempts to provide employment and livelihood to rural labourers in the country.

The Act covered 200 districts in its first phase, implemented on February 2, 2006, and was
extended to 130 additional districts in 2007- 2008. All the remaining rural areas have been
notified with effect from April 1, 2008

The scheme was designed to provide any adult who registers for rural employment a minimum
 job guarantee of 100 days each financial year. This includes non-skilled work, making it
one-of-its-kind across the world. It was later renamed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The MGNREGA is an entitlement to work that every
adult citizen holds. In case such employment is not provided within 15 days of registration, the
applicant becomes eligible for an unemployment allowance.

The Ministry is also continually reviewing the implementation of MGNREGA in LWE districts.

Salient Features of the Act

1. Right based Framework: For adult members of a rural household willing to do unskilled

manual work
2. Time bound Guarantee: 15 days for provision of employment, else unemployment
allowance
3. Up to 10
100
0 days in a ffinanci
inancial
al year pe
perr househ
household,
old, dep
depending
ending o
on
n the act
actual
ual deman
demand
d
4. Labour Intensive Works: 60:40 wage and material ratio for permissible works; no
contractors/machinery
5. Decentralized Planning : 
● Gram Sabhas to recommend works
●  At least 50% of works by Gram Panchayats for execution
●  Principal role of PRIs in planning, monitoring and implementation
6. Work site facilities : Crèche, drinking water, first aid and shade provided at worksites
7. Women empowerment: At least one-third of beneficiaries should be women
 

16

8. Transparency & Accountability: Proactive disclosure through Social Audits, Grievance

Redressal Mechanism
9. Implementation: Under Sec 3, States are responsible for providing work in accordance
with the Scheme. Under Sec 4, every state government is required to make a scheme for
providing not less than 100 days of guaranteed employment in a financial year, to those
who demand work
10.. Funding: Central Government -100% of wages for unskilled manual work, 75% of
10
material cost of the schemes including payment of wages to skilled and semi skilled
workers. State Government- 25% of material including payment of wages to skilled and
semi skilled workers cost. 100% of unemployment allowance by state government.

The performance and impact of MGNREGA

1. Increase in household income: In LWE areas of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and
Andhra Pradesh, income of rural labour households has gone up as a result of this
programme
2. Increase in agricultural wages: In LWE areas of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and
Andhra Pradesh, wages in various agricultural operations have gone up as a result of
implementation of MGNREGA. This has lead to an increase in fertilizer use, and quality
seeds
3. Reduction in distress migration: In village Besrapal, located in Bastar District of
Chattisgarh, village Nawagarh, located in Gumla District and village Mahel, located in Khunti
District of Jharkhand, the incidence of out-migration from the village to distant places for
manual works had come down as a result of MGNREGA works

SITE
India’s biggest experience in using mass media for the purpose of development was the SITE
SITE stands for Satellite Instructional Television Experiment was an experimental satellite
communication project launched in India in 1975.

The main objective of the SITE experiment was to educate the rural masses of India on
various issues via satellite broadcasting, and also to help India gain technical experience in
the field of satellite communications.

The Department
experiment with ofthe
Atomic Energy
satellite and India
received freeSpace Research
of cost for oneOrganization started
full year from the this
National
Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States.
 

17

The experiment ran for one year from 1 August 1975 to 31 July 1976, covering more than 2400
villages in 20 districts of six Indian states and territories (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan). This one year project was primarily undertaken to
telecast special development programmes produced by All India Radio and broadcast by
NASA's ATS-6 satellite stationed above India for the duration of the project.

The project was supported by various international agencies such as the UNDP,
UNESCO,UNICEF and ITU. The experiment was successful, as it played a major role in helping
develop India's own satellite program, INSAT. The project showed that India could use
advanced technology to fulfill the socio-economic needs of the country. SITE was followed by
similar experiments in various countries, which showed the important role satellite TV could
play in providing education.

Its objectives were to:

● Improve the rural primary education,

● Provide training to the teachers,
● Improve agriculture health and hygiene and nutritional practice and
● Contribute to family planning and national integration

As one of the aims of the experiment was to study the potential of TV as a medium of
development, the villages were chosen specifically for their backwardness. According to the
1971 census of India, the states having the most number of backward districts in the country
were Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal
and Karnataka. Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal were eventually left out, as they were slated to
get terrestrial television by the time SITE would end.

Two types of programmes were prepared for broadcasting: educational television (ETV) and
instructional television (ITV). ETV programmes were meant for school children and focussed
on interesting and creative educational programmes. The ITV programmes were meant for
adult audiences, mainly to those who were illiterate. The programmes covered health, hygiene,
family planning, nutrition, improved practices in agriculture and events of national importance.

IMPACT

Before SITE, the focus was on the use of terrestrial transmission for television signals. But SITE
showed that India could make use of advanced technology to fulfill the socio-economic needs
 

18

of the country. This led to an increased focus on satellite broadcasting in India. ISRO began
preparations for a country-wide satellite system. After conducting several technical
experiments, the Indian National Satellite System was launched by ISRO in 1982. The Indian
space program remained committed to the goal of using satellites for educational purposes. In
September 2004, India launched EDUSAT, which was the first satellite in the world built
exclusively to serve the educational sector. EDUSAT is used to meet the demand for an
interactive satellite-based distance education system for India.

After the completion of the project evaluation studies the results showed that exposure to
developmental messages though the television had contributed for the widening of
horizons of the villagers. Earth stations at Delhi & Ahmedabad telecasted the programs. They
were produced at AIR production Centre, upgraded at Doordarshan (Delhi), with the help
of Central & State govt representatives, experts & social workers.

KHEDA
Kheda is a small district in central Gujarat. A field laboratory in development and local
communication was conducted between 1975 and 1990 in Kheda district of Gujarat. This was
started as a part of Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), and over the years
evolved into a model rural oriented local TV station. It demonstrated how participatory, and
people oriented can a local TV system become.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) shared these experiences with the operational
agency through a series of training programmes. These efforts were followed by the
application of one way video two way aud
audio
io teleconferencing for Education and
Development Training. Over 600 community TV sets have been installed in 443 villages of
Kheda. They were kept in the buildings of the Milk Producers cooperative Society or the
Panchayat Ghar.

This network has found very effective application in training of Panchayati Raj (Village
Local Self-government) elected representatives, Anganwadi (crèche) workers, Primary
School Teachers, Daais (mid-wives), etc.

The Network is currently operational as the Training and Development Communication

Channel (TDCC) and is spreading out to several states and distance education agencies like
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), All India Management Association (AIMA),
Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) like Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and
Ahmedabad Women's Action Group (AWAG).
 

19

WATER HARVESTING MANAGEMENT

NRHM

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 12th
April 2005, to provide accessible, affordable and quality health care to the rural population,
especially the vulnerable groups. The Union Cabinet vide its decision dated 1st May 2013, has
approved the launch of National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a Sub-mission of an
over-arching National Health Mission (NHM), with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) being
the other Sub-mission of National Health Mission.

NRHM seeks to provide equitable, affordable and quality health care to the rural population,
especially the vulnerable groups. Under the NRHM, the Empowered Action Group (EAG) States
as well as North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have been given
special focus.
The thrust of the mission is on establishing a fully functional, community owned, decentralized
health delivery system with inter-sectoral convergence at all levels, to ensure simultaneous
action on a wide range of determinants of health such as water, sanitation, education, nutrition,
social and gender equality. Institutional integration within the fragmented health sector was
expected to provide a focus on outcomes, measured against Indian Public Health Standards for
all health facilities.

Concept of NRHM

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is a National effort at ensuring effective healthcare
through a range of interventions at individual, household, community, and most critically at the
health system levels. Despite considerable gains in health status over the past few decades in
terms of increased life expectancy, reductions in mortality and morbidity serious challenges
still remain. These challenges vary significantly from state to state and even within states.

There has been a progressive decline in budgetary allocation for public health in the country
from 1.3% of GDP in 1990 to 0.9% in 1999. Rising inequities are another area of concern.
Studies demonstrate that curative services favour the rich over the poor. Only one tenth of the
population is covered by any form of health insurance thereby exposing the large majority to
the risk of indebtedness in the event of a major illness in the family. Operational integration in
policy and programme between various vertical programmes within the health sector, and
between health and other related sectors such as drinking water, sanitation, and nutrition has
 

20

been limited, resulting in a lack of holistic approaches to health. A number of States particularly
in North, East and North Eastern parts of the country have stagnant health indicators and
continue to grapple with significant morbidity and mortality. The causes for this basically lie in
socio-economic factors, under performing health systems and weak institutional framework.

The National Common Minimum Programmer spells out the commitment of the Government to
enhance Budgetary Outlays for Public Health and to improve the capacity of the health system
to absorb the increased outlay so as to bring all round improvement in public health services.
This Mission seeks to provide effective health care to the rural population, especially the
disadvantaged groups including women and children, by improving access, enabling
community ownership and demand for services, strengthening public health systems for
efficient service delivery, enhancing equity and accountability and promoting decentralization.

The goals of NRHM are outlined below:

1. Reduct
Reduction
ion in Infan
Infantt Mortal
Mortality
ity Rate and Ma
Maternal
ternal Mo
Mortalit
rtalityy Ratio by at le
least
ast 50% fr
from
om
existing levels in next seven years
2. Univer
Universalize
salize ac access
cess to pupublic
blic heal
health
th servi
services
ces for W
Women’s
omen’s he
health,
alth, Ch
Child
ild health
health,, water,
hygiene, sanitation and nutrition
3. Preven
Prevention
tion and co control
ntrol of ccommun
ommunicable
icable an
and
d non-com
non-communica
municable
ble diseas
diseases,
es, incl
including
uding
locally endemic diseases
4. Acces
Accesss to integrated
integrated ccompre
omprehensive
hensive primar
primaryy heal
healthcare
thcare
5. Ensur
Ensuring
ing popu
population
lation sstabiliz
tabilization,
ation, gender anand
d demog
demographic
raphic b
balance
alance..
6. Revita
Revitalize
lize llocal
ocal health tradit
traditions
ions and mai
mainstrea
nstreamm AYU
AYUSH
SH
7. Pro
Promot
motionion of h healt
ealthy
hy life
lifesty
styles
les

C. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

In the year 2015, leaders from 193 countries of the world came together to face the future and
what they saw was daunting. Famines. Drought. Wars. Plagues. Poverty. Not just in some
faraway place, but in their own cities and towns and villages.

They knew things didn’t have to be this way. They knew we had enough food to feed the world,
but that it wasn’t getting shared. They knew there were medicines for HIV and other diseases,
but they cost a lot. They knew that earthquakes and floods were inevitable, but that the high
death tolls were not. They also knew that billions of people worldwide shared their hope for a
better future.
 

21

So leaders from these countries created a plan called the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). This set of 17 goals imagines a future just 15 years off that would be rid of poverty and
hunger, and safe from the worst effects of climate change

SDGs
1) NO POVERTY
END EXTREME POVERTY IN ALL FORMS BY 2030.

In 2000, the world committed to halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by the
year 2015 and we met this goal. However, More than 800 m million
illion people around the world still
live on less than $1.25 a day. that’s about the equivalent of the entire population of Europe
living in extreme poverty.

2) ZERO HUNGER 
END HUNGER, ACHIEVE FOOD SECURITY AND IMPROVED NUTRITION AND PROMOTE
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

In the past 20 years, hunger has dropped by almost half. Many countries that used to suffer
from famine and hunger can now meet the nutritional needs of their most vulnerable people.
The objective is to end hunger and malnutrition once and for all. That means doing things such
as promoting sustainable agriculture and supporting small farmers. It’s a tall order and needs
to be done for the sake of the nearly 1 out of every 9 people on earth who go to bed hungry

every night.
3) GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING
ENSURE HEALTHY LIVES AND PROMOTE WELL-BEING FOR ALL AT ALL AGES.

This is a Goal to make sure everyone has health coverage and access to safe and effective
medicines and vaccines. In the 25 years before the SDGs, the world has made big
strides—preventable child deaths dropped by more than half, and maternal mortality went down
by almost as much. And yet some other numbers remain tragically high, like the fact that 6
million children die every year before their fifth birthday, or that AIDS is the leading cause of

death for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

22

4) QUALITY EDUCATION
ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROMOTE LIFELONG
LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

Poverty, armed conflict and other emergencies keep many, many kids around the world out of
school. Since 2000, there has been enormous progress on the goal to provide primary
education to all children worldwide: the total enrolment rate in developing regions has reached
91%. By measures in any school, that’s a good grade. Now, let’s get an even better grade for all
kids, and achieve the goal of universal primary and secondary education, affordable vocational
training, access to higher education and more.

5) GENDER EQUALITY
ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS

In just about every way, women and girls lag behind. There are still gross inequalities in work
and wages, lots of unpaid “women’s work” such as child care and domestic work, and
discrimination in public decision-making. But there are grounds for hope. More girls are in
school now compared to in 2000. Most regions have reached gender parity in primary
education. The percentage of women getting paid for their work is on the rise. The Sustainable
Development Goals aim to build on these achievements to ensure that there is an end to
discrimination against women and girls everywhere.  

6) CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

ENSURE AVAILABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION FOR
ALL

Everyone on earth should have access to safe and affordable drinking water. That’s the goal for
2030. Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of people around the world, and that number
is projected to go even higher as a result of climate change. If we continue the path we’re on, by
2050 at least one in four people are likely to be affected by recurring water shortages. But we
can take a new path—more international cooperation, protecting wetlands and rivers, sharing
water-treatment technologies—that leads to accomplishing this Goal.

7) AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY 

ENSURE ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, SUSTAINABLE AND MODERN ENERGY FOR ALL
 

23

Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people with access to electricity increased by 1.7
billion. And yet as the world’s population continues to rise, still more people will need cheap
energy to light their homes and streets, use phones and computers, and do their everyday
business. How we get that energy is at issue; fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions are
making drastic changes in the climate, leading to big problems on every continent. Instead, we
can become more energy-efficient and invest in clean energy sources such as solar and wind.
That way we’ll meet electricity needs and protect the environment.

8) DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH 

PROMOTE SUSTAINED, INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH, FULL AND
PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND DECENT WORK FOR ALL

An important part of economic growth is that people have jobs that pay enough to support
themselves and their families. The good news is that the middle class is growing
worldwide—almost tripling in size in developing countries in the last 25 years, to more than a
third of the population. But today, job growth is not keeping pace with the growing labour force.
Things don’t have to be that way. We can promote policies that encourage entrepreneurship
and job creation. We can eradicate forced labour, slavery and human trafficking. And in the end
we can achieve the goal of decent work for all women and men by 2030.

9) INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE 

BUILD RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE, PROMOTE INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND FOSTER INNOVATION

Technological progress helps us address big global challenges such as creating jobs and
becoming more energy efficient. For example, the world is becoming ever more interconnected
and prosperous thanks to the internet. The more connected we are, the more we can all benefit
from the wisdom and contributions of people everywhere on earth. And yet four billion people
have no way of getting online, the vast majority of them in developing countries. The more we
invest in innovation and infrastructure, the better off we’ll all be. Bridging the digital divide,
promoting sustainable industries, and investing in scientific research and innovation are all
important ways to facilitate sustainable development.

10) REDUCED INEQUALITIES 

REDUCE INEQUALITY WITHIN AND AMONG COUNTRIES

 

24

It’s an old story: the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. The divide has never been starker.
We can and must adopt policies that create opportunity for everyone, regardless of who they
are or where they come from. Income inequality is a global problem that requires global
solutions. That means improving the regulation of financial markets and institutions, sending
development aid where it is most needed and helping people migrate safely so they can pursue
opportunities. Together, we can now change the direction of the old story of inequality.

11) SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES 

MAKE CITIES AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS INCLUSIVE, SAFE, RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE

More than half the world’s population now lives in cities, and that figure will go to about
two-thirds of humanity by the year 2050. A lot of people love cities; they’re centers of culture
and business and life. The thing is, they’re also often centers of extreme poverty. To make cities
sustainable for all, we can create good, affordable public housing. We can upgrade slum
settlements. We can invest in public transport, create green spaces, and get a broader range of
people involved in urban planning decisions. That way, we can keep the things we love about
cities, and change the things we don’t.

12) RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

ENSURE SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION PATTERNS

we can have a world where everybody gets what they need to survive and thrive. And we can
consume in a way that preserves our natural resources so that our children can enjoy them, and
their children and their children after that. The hard part is how to achieve that goal. We can
manage our natural resources more efficiently and dispose of toxic waste better. Cut per capita
food waste in half globally. Get businesses and consumers to reduce and recycle waste.

13) CLIMATE ACTION

TAKE URGENT ACTION TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS

Every country in the world is seeing the drastic effects of climate change, some more than
others. On average, the annual losses just from earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones and
flooding count in the hundreds of billions of dollars. We can reduce the loss of life and property
by helping more vulnerable regions—such as land-locked countries and island states—become
more resilient. It is still possible, with the political will and technological measures, to limit the
increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels— and
 

25

thus avoid the worst effects of climate change. The Sustainable Development Goals lay out a
way for countries to work together to meet this urgent challenge.

14) LIFE BELOW WATER

CONSERVE AND SUSTAINABLY USE THE OCEANS, SEAS AND MARINE RESOURCES FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The oceans make human life possible. For one thing, more than 3 billion people depend on
marine and coastal diversity for their livelihoods. But today we are seeing nearly a third of the
world’s fish stocks overexploited. Oceans absorb about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide that
humans produce; but we’re producing more carbon dioxide than ever before and that makes the
oceans more acidic—26% more, since the start of the industrial revolution. Our trash doesn’t
help either—13,000 pieces of plastic litter on every square kilometer of ocean. The Sustainable
Development Goals indicate targets for managing and protecting life below water.

15) LIFE ON LAND 

PROTECT, RESTORE AND PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE USE OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS,
SUSTAINABLY MANAGE FORESTS, COMBAT DESERTIFICATION, AND HALT AND REVERSE
LAND DEGRADATION AND HALT BIODIVERSITY LOSS

Humans and other animals rely on other forms of life on land for food, clean air, clean water,
and as a means of combating climate change. Plant life makes up 80% of the human diet.
Forests, which cover 30% of the Earth’s surface, help keep the air and water clean and the
Earth’s climate in balance. That’s not to mention they’re home to millions of animal species. But
the land and life on it are in trouble. Arable land is disappearing 30 to 35 times faster than it has

historically. Deserts are spreading. Animal breeds are going extinct. We can turn these trends
around. Fortunately, the Sustainable Development Goals aim to conserve and restore the use of
terrestrial ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, drylands and mountains by 2030.

16) PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS

PROMOTE PEACEFUL AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,
PROVIDE ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR ALL AND BUILD EFFECTIVE, ACCOUNTABLE AND
INCLUSIVE INSTITUTIONS AT ALL LEVELS

Some parts of the world enjoy relative peace and justice, and may come to take it for granted.

Other parts seem to be plagued by armed conflict, crime, torture and exploitation, all of which
hinders their development. The goal of peace and justice is one for all countries to strive
 

26

towards. The Sustainable Development Goals aim to reduce all forms of violence and propose
that governments and communities find lasting solutions to conflict and insecurity. That means
strengthening the rule of law, reducing the flow of illicit arms, and bringing developing countries
more into the center of institutions of global governance.

17) PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

STRENGTHEN THE MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION AND REVITALIZE THE GLOBAL
PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The world is more interconnected today than ever before, thanks to the internet, travel and
global institutions. There’s a growing consensus about the need to work together to stop
climate change. And the Sustainable Development Goals are no small matter either. 193
countries agreed on these goals. Pretty incredible, isn’t it? 193 countries agreeing on anything?
The final goal lays out a way for nations to work together to achieve all the other Goals.
 

27

UNIT 2

TOPIC 1: LINEAR MODEL

Rostow's model
At the end of the Second World War (1939-45) there was a renewal of interest in the subject of
development economics and the stages of growth once again preoccupied many scholars. As a
non-communist manifesto, W. W. Rostow’s stages of economic growth (1960, 1971) is a foray
into positioning the sweep of modern economic history under capitalism into neat and hopeful
epochs.

He argues that within a society sequential economic steps of modernization can be identified.
These steps are linear and towards an evolutionary higher development.

Rostow's model is a part of the Liberal School of Economics, laying emphasis on the efficacy of
modern concepts of free trade and the ideas of Adam Smith

Rostow's model summarises economic growth of countries into five different stages:

1. Traditional society
A traditional society is one of the simplest and primitive
primitive forms of social organisation. it is a
society based on primitive technology and primitive attitude towards the physical World.

(a) Per Capita: there is limit to attainable output per head. This limit arises due to the absence
of access to modern science and technology. there is a low ceiling per capita output.

(b) Employment in Agriculture: A high proportion of workforce (75% or more) are devoted in the
production of agricultural goods. High proportion of resources are also devoted in the
agricultural section.

(c) Social Mobility: A hierarchical, hereditary, status-oriented social structure in which there is
little possibility for vertical mobility.

(d) Political Power: The centre of gravity of political power was localistic, region-bound and
primarily based on land ownership.

The value system that prevails in such a society is what Rostow calls a long-run fatalism.
People of these societies think that not much economic progress is possible for them and for
their future generations.
 

28

2. Preconditions for take off

★ The covers a long period of a century or more during which the preconditions for take-off are
established. These conditions mainly comprise fundamental changes in the social, political and
economic fields; for example:

(a) A change in society’s attitudes towards science, risk-taking and profit-earning;

(b) The adaptability of the labour force;
(c) Political sovereignty;
(d) Development of a centralised tax system and financial institutions; and
(e) The construction of certain economic and social infrastructure like railways, ports,
power generation and educational institutions. India did some of these things in the First
Five Year plan period (1951-56).

★ It is evident from above that in this second stage of growth foundations for economic
transformation are laid. The people start using modern science and technology for increasing
productivity in both agriculture and industry and start producing not just for consumption but
for sale.

★ Further, there is a change in the attitude of the people who start viewing the world where there
are possibilities of future growth. A new class of entrepreneurs emerges in the society who
mobilise savings and undertake investment in new enterprises and bear risks and uncertainty.

★ The main focus of this stage is to ensure that investment levels are above 5% of the national
income depending on various sectors of the economy.

★  The pre-conditions of take-off closely track the historic stages of the (initially) British Industrial

Revolution

3. Take Off
★ The take-off stage marks the transition of the society from a backward one to one that is
on the verge of freeing itself from the elements that retard growth.This is the crucial
stage which covers a relatively brief period of two to three decades in which the
economy transforms itself in such a way that economic growth subsequently takes
place more or less automatically.

★ Thus, the term “take-off ” implies three things :

 

29

1) first the prproport

oportion
ion of invest
investment
ment to natio
national
nal incom
incomee must rise fro
from
m 5% to 10%
and more
2) second
secondly, ly, the per
period
iod must b
be
e relativ
relatively
ely shor
shortt so that it sh
should
ould show tthe
he
characteristics of an economic revolution; and
3) thirdl
thirdly,
y, it must culminate
culminate in self-susta
self-sustaining
ining and self-g
self-generati
enerating
ng econom
economic ic growth.

★ Thus, during the take-off stage, the desire to achieve economic growth to raise the living
standards dominates the society. Revolutionary changes occur in both agriculture and
industry and productivity levels sharply increase.

★ There is greater urbanisation and urban labour force increases. In a relatively short
period of a decade or two, both the basic structure of the economy and social and
political structure is changed So that a self-sustaining growth rate can be maintained.

★ It is worth noting that in the opinion of Rostow, the rise of new elite (i.e. new
entrepreneurial class) and establishment of a nation state are crucial for economic
development.

★ Development of One Leading Sector: Development of export industries has led to take
off in some countries. Example grains in USA, Canada and Russia, Timber in Sweden.
Sector or the sectors that led to take off were varied according to countries. However,
Rostow has concluded that any industry can play the role of leading sector in the take off
stage that to be met with

4. Drive to maturity

This stage of economic growth occurs when the economy becomes mature and is capable of
generating self-sustained growth. Generally, the Drive to Maturity starts about 60 years after
“Take Off”

The rates of saving and investment are of such a magnitude that economic development
becomes automatic. Overall capital per head increases as the economy matures. The structure
of the economy changes increasingly.

(1) Emergence of
of N
Ne
ew IIn
ndustries

The initial key industries which sparked the take-off decelerate. The average rate of growth is
maintained by a succession of new rapidly-growing sectors with a new set of leading sectors.
Industries like heavy engineering, iron and steel, chemicals, machine tools, agricultural
implements, automobiles etc. take the driver’s seat.
 

30

(2) Shift in the Occupational Distribution:

Work force composition in agriculture shifts from 75% of the working population to 20%. The
workers acquire greater skill and their wages increase in real terms.

Example: As during Industrial Revolution many industries established in Britain and the
countries of. Western Europe, the work force was shifted from agricultural sector to the
manufacturing sector. The proportion of the working force engaged in the agricultural sector
went down to 20% or less.

(3) More skilled workers

(4) The character of leadership changes significantly in the industries and a high degree of
professionalism is introduced

(5) Environmental and health cost of industrialization is recognized and policy changes are thus
made.

A prime example of a country in the Drive to Maturity stage is South Africa. It is developing a
world-class infrastructure- including a modern transport network, widely available energy, and
sophisticated telecommunications facilities. Additionally, the commercial farm sector shed
140,000 jobs, a decline of roughly 20%, in the eleven-year period from 1988 to 1998.

5. Age of high mass consumption 

● In this stage of development per capita income of country rises to such a high level that
consumption basket of the people increases beyond food, clothing and shelters to articles of
comforts and luxuries on a mass scale. Further, with progressive industrialisation and
urbanisation of the economy values of people change in favour of more consumption of
luxuries and high styles of living.

● New types of industries producing durable consumer goods come into existence which
satisfies the wants for more consumption. These new industries producing durable consumer
goods become the new leading sectors of economic growth.

● increase in employment in the service sectors and high incomes

● In this age of high mass consumption the society is able to choose between concentrating on

military and security issues, on equality and welfare issues or developing luxuries for its upper
class.
 

31

● Historically, the United States is said to have reached this stage first, followed by other western
European nations, and then Japan in the 1950s.

Criticism of the model

1. Rostow is historical in the sense that the end result is known at the outset and is derived
from the historical geography of a developed, bureaucratic society.

2. Rostow is mechanical in the sense that the underlying motor of change is not disclosed and
therefore the stages become little more than a classificatory system based on data from
developed countries.

3. His model is based on American and European history and defines the American norm of
high mass consumption as integral to the economic development process of all industrialized
societies.

4. His model assumes the inevitable adoption of Neoliberal trade policies which allow the
manufacturing base of a given advanced polity to be relocated to lower-wage regions.

5. Rostow's model does not apply to the Asian and the African countries as events in these
countries are not justified in any stage of his model. The stages are not identifiable properly as
the conditions of the take-off and pre take-off stage are very similar and also overlap.

6. According to Rostow growth becomes automatic by the time it reaches the maturity stage
but Kuznets asserts that no growth can be automatic there is need for push always.

TOPIC 2: Non-Linear: World System Theory, Neo-Marxist

Theory

WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY

Modernization theory claimed that once developing societies came into contact with western
European and North American societies, they would be impelled toward modernization and,
eventually, would achieve the economic, political, and social features characteristic of the
nations of western Europe and the United States. However, by the 1960s it was apparent that
the Third World was not passing through a stage of underdevelopment, as envisioned by
modernization theory, but remaining underdeveloped. Thus, a counterclaim was advanced—that
 

32

developing countries today are structurally different from the advanced countries and so will
have to develop along different lines.

This perspective formed the basis of what came to be known as dependency theory.
Dependency theory rejects the limited national focus of modernization theory and emphasizes
the importance of understanding the complexity of imperialism and its role in shaping
postcolonial states.
World systems theory is a response to the criticisms of Dependency Theory. World Systems
Theory was developed by Immanuel Wallerstein (1979).

Wallerstein accepts the fact ex-colonies are not doomed to be forever trapped in a state of
dependency; it is possible for them to climb the economic ladder of development, as many of
them have done. However, he also believes that the global capitalism system still requires
some countries, or at least regions within countries to be poor so they can be exploited by the
wealthy at the top.

One must look at the world system as a whole, rather than just at individual countries.
Dependency Theory tended to argue that countries are poor because they used to be exploited
by other countries. However focusing on countries (or governments/ nation states) is the
wrong level of analysis – government today have declined in power, whereas Corporations are
more powerful than ever. Global Corporations, and global capital, transcend national
boundaries, and nation states (even wealthy ones) are relatively powerless to control them, thus
in order to understand why countries are rich or poor, we should be looking at global economic
institutions and corporations rather than countries. Global Economic Institutions form what
Wallerstein calls a Modern World System, and all countries, rich and poor alike are caught up in
it.

According to the world’s system theory, the entire world at least since the 16th century, not
merely a collection of independent countries but as a single capitalist world economy based on
an international division of labour among a core that developed originally in northwestern
Europe (England, France, Holland), a periphery, and a semiperiphery consisting of core regions
in decline (e.g., Portugal and Spain) or peripheries attempting to improve their relative position
in the world economy (e.g., Italy, southern Germany, and southern France).

The division of labour among these regions determined their relationship to each other as well
as their type of labour conditions and political system.

According to the world systems theory, the world is divided into three types of countries or
areas: core, periphery, and semi-periphery.
 

33

Core Countries

Core countries are dominant capitalist countries that exploit peripheral countries for labor and
raw materials. They are strong in military power and not dependent on any one state or country.
They serve the interests of the economically powerful. They are focused on higher skill and
capital-intensive production. Core countries are powerful, and this power allows them to pay
lower prices for raw goods and exploit cheap labor, which constantly reinforces the unequal
status between core and peripheral countries.

The first core region was located in northwestern Europe and made up of England, France, and
Holland. Today, the United States is an example of a core country. The U.S. has large amounts
of capital, and its labor forces are relatively well paid.

Periphery Countries

Periphery countries fall on the other end of the economic scale. These countries lack a strong
central government and may be controlled by other states. These countries export raw
materials to the core countries, and they are dependent on core countries for capital and have
underdeveloped industry. These countries also have low-skill, labor-intensive production, or, in
other words, cheap labor. Periphery countries are commonly also referred to as third-world
countries.

Eastern Europe and Latin America were the first peripheral zones. An example from today is
Cape Verde, a chain of islands off the west coast of Africa. Foreign investors promote the
extraction of raw materials and the production of cash crops, which are all exported to core
countries.

Semi-Periphery Countries

Semi-periphery countries fall in the middle of the economic spectrum. These countries share
characteristics of both core and periphery countries. These are core regions in decline or
periphery regions attempting to improve their economic position. These countries are
sometimes exploited by core countries, but they also may exploit periphery countries
themselves. For example, India is largely dependent on core countries for capital, but India has
a growing technology industry and an emerging consumer market.

Dependency and world systems theories share a common emphasis on global analysis and
similar assumptions about the nature of the international system and its impact on national
development in different parts of the world, but they tend to emphasize different political
dynamics. Dependency theorists tend to focus on the power of transnational classes and class
 

34

structures in sustaining the global economy, whereas world systems analysts tended to focus
on the role of powerful states and the interstate system

TOPIC 3: Changing Paradigms of Development

An important change that happens when the usual way of thinking or doing something is
replaced by a new and different way. This discovery will bring about a paradigm shift in our
understanding. Paradigm: the way you see something, your point of view, frame of ref reference
erence
or belief.

The western model for development predominated in 1950s and 1960s. The modernization
paradigm arose soon after World War II, in 1949. It envisioned development as a challenge to
bring the "underdeveloped countries" out of their conditions of poverty by modernizing them
and by by ffree-market
ree-market approaches.

In this context, the modernization paradigm promoted by political scientists and scholars of
Western countries became so strong and so pervasive in every dimension of social life that it
became also known as the "dominant paradigm."

Modernization theory claimed that once developing societies came into contact with western
European and North American societies, they would be impelled toward modernization and,
eventually, would achieve the economic, political, and social features characteristic of the
nations of western Europe and the United States. However, by the 1960s it was apparent that
the Third World was not passing through a stage of underdevelopment, as envisioned by
modernization theory, but remaining underdeveloped. Thus, a counterclaim was advanced—that
developing countries today are structurally different from the advanced countries and so will
have to develop along different lines.

Modernisation paradigm failed to materialise, approach focusing on people’s participation

began to emerge. This participatory model is less oriented to the political-economic dimension
and more rooted in the cultural realities of development. The development focus has shifted
from economic growth to include other social dimensions needed to ensure meaningful results
in the long run The alternative paradigm emphasises not only material development but also
the development of values and cultures, grassroots participation reinforces the chances that
communities will adopt activities appropriate for them.

TOPIC 4 : Alternative Paradigms: Participatory, Think

Think

local/Act global -Think global/Act local

 

35

This approach adopted in the 1990s by the United Nations and otother
her development
organizations as key challenges to be addressed successfully. It is often presented as an
alternative to mainstream “top-down” development.

Participatory approach is a strategy that incorporates themes or content area that are of
interest to the stakeholders. • The Participatory Approach is used as a tool to provide solutions
to social problems that impact concerned in their daily lives development programs had failed
to motivate people. •

Since, they were interested in persuading them about the benefits of adopting certain
innovations. Development programs tried to bring foreign cconcepts,
oncepts, to feed information, to
force local populations to accept Western ideas and practices without considering whether
these practices fit existing cultures.

This suggested a human-centered approach that valued the importance of interpersonal

channels of communication in decision-making processes at the community level. •
PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION approach capable of facilitating people's involvement in
decision making about issues impacting their lives.

The basic Common features of this perspective are the emphasis on people, the endogenous
vision of development, and the attention to power and rights issues. Participatory approaches
require a shift in the way individuals are considered, from passive recipients to active agents of
development efforts. idea of such programs was an authoritarian concept.

In addition to poverty reduction, they include objectives in education, gender equality, and
health issues. Most development priorities are outlined within political frameworks based on
the adherence to good governance and democratic principles (for example, freedom and
human rights.

The participation is not an absolute concept, and that it can be applied in different degrees, is
part of the problem.

A typology that includes seven different types of participation as interpreted and applied by
various development organizations ,The full categorization, the least participatory,

1) pas
passiv
sivee par
partic
ticipat
ipation
ion,,
2) partic
participatio
ipation
n in infor
information
mation giving,

3) par
partic
ticipat
ipation
ion by consu
consulta
ltatio
tion,
n,
4) partic
participatio
ipation
n ffor
or material
material incent
incentives,
ives,
 

36

5) fun
functi
ctiona
onall parti
particip
cipatio
ation,
n,
6) int
intera
eracti
ctive
ve par
partic
ticipat
ipation
ion,, and
7) se
self
lf-m
-mob
obililiz
izat
atio
ion.
n.

(1) passive participation, when stakeholders attend meetings to be informed;

(2) participation
rests in the handsbyofconsultation,
the experts; when stakeholders are consulted but the decision making

(3) functional participation, when stakeholders are allowed to have some input, although not
necessarily from the beginning of the process and not in equal partnership; and

(4) empowered participation, when relevant stakeholders take part throughout the whole cycle
of the development initiative and have an equal influence on the decision-making process.

Information sharing and consultation are considered low-level forms of participation, while the
other two are considered high-level forms. These types are consistent with others, such as the
classification

In particular, participatory research methods allowed a growing role for local stakeholders and
indigenous knowledge in the problem-analysis and problem-solving processes of development
initiatives.

The process of raising questions and engaging in dialogue stimulates(inspires) “critical

consciousness,” which enables the shift to action (Freire, 1970).

This is a bottom-up approach, that involves extensive discussions, conversations, and

decision-making with the target community. This process is facilitated with information and
communication technology (ICT) with the goal of strengthening individual & social development

• This participatory content creation is an important tool for resolving problems and creating a
digitally advanced knowledge society • Public should be involved fully in the policy process in
that authorities seek public views and participation, instead of treating the public as simply
passive recipients of policy decisions.

Research conducted by several devt. agencies (World Bank, CIDA(Community & Individual
Development Association), USAID (US Agency for International development.), IRDP-Institute of
Rural development Planning) suggests that there are many benefits of PD. • Studies suggest --
PD projects may have high start up costs, but they will be less expensive & more sustainable in
the long run • PD projects are effective at addressing local needs & generally more relevant to
local populations than traditional development projects
 

37

UNIT 3

TOPIC 1: Role and performance of Mass Media in

Development

INTRODUCTION
● Communication is used for more than just passing on information from one person to
another. It is often used as a tool to facilitate the participation of people in
developmental activities. Such form of communication is known as development
communication. According to Everett Rogers “Development communication refers to the
uses to which communication are put in order to further development.”

● Sociologists, psychologists, economists and communication experts are of the

opinion that the proper use of communication can foster the pace and process of
development. In general terms, communication means interaction between two
individuals or within a group or a community or a nation. The foundation of
communication is based upon four principal elements ----- communication source, a
message, a channel or medium and a receiver or audience. But in development
communication it becomes the process of affecting or influencing behavior of
individuals or groups towards certain desired goals and objectives, necessarily for
the benefit of the entire society. Thus, the receiver is expected to show the
behaviour desired by the source of communication.

●  Development communications are organized efforts to use communications

processes and media to bring social and economic improvements of an individual,

society or nation (generally in developing countries). It identifies wha
whatt mass media
can do directly or indirectly to improve the quality of life to both urban and rural
masses.

● Development communication has two primary roles, i.e. Transforming role, as it steps
social change in the direction of the hygiene taste of today’s generation in this
competitive market and a socializing role by seeking to maintain some of the
established values of the society.

● The role can be discussed as following:

 

38

1) Develo
Development
pment com
communica
munication
tion is used for tr
transfor
ansforming
ming role by bri
bringing
nging in soci
social
al
change in a way that will bring a higher quality of life. Here communication acts
as an instrument to achieve these objectives.
2) Develo
Development
pment com
communica
munication
tion also tri
tries
es to maintai
maintain
n the establi
established
shed values of tthe
he
society by playing a socializing role. In playing these roles, development
communication seeks to create an atmosphere for change as well as providing
innovation through which society may change

ROLE OF MASS MEDIA

The mass media are the vehicles that carry messages to large audiences .They are so
pervasive in modern life that many people do not even notice their influence.

According to Wilbur Schramm, the role of media in development can be divided into three parts

i.e. (i) to inform (ii) to instruct and (iii) to participate.

1) To inform: for the development of the society, correct social, political and economic
influence is the main criteria. This information should be both national and international.
People should be aware of the areas or facts which hamper the development process.
2) To instruct: Mass literacy is an essential criteria to development. This is possible by
imbibing basic skills among the people. Mass media plays an important role in this.
Mass media can instruct people and educate them. Projects like Educational Television
and Gyan Darshan are few such examples where media is used to instruct people,
educate them and teach them basic skills. These basic skills help people to develop their
standard of living.
3) To participate: Voluntary and steady participation of the citizen of the country is
necessary for its overall development. Such participation is possible in a liberal society.
Such awareness is possible through debate, conflict and discussion. Discussions and
debate helps people to know current issues, participate in developmental programme
and bring a change in the standard of living of the society.

The mass media are essential for democracy. By keeping people on top of current issues, the
media enable people to participate intelligently in public policy discussion and
decision-making. In a democracy the principal role of the media is to act as a check on the
state and fearlessly expose abuses of official authorities. This watchdog role is said to

override in importance all other functions of the media and dictate the fform
orm in which the
media system should be organized.
 

39

The mass media also transmit values among contemporary communities and societies,
sometimes causing changes that otherwise would not occur. Anthropologists have
documented that mass communication can change society. Thus, the phenomenon
diffusion of innovations occurs when ideas move through the mass media into the
society bringing social change.

Media in developing and under developed countries strive to bring in developmental change,
through its message to the mass. Mass media through interpretation, analysis and discussion
point out the drawbacks of the society and core areas of development. The message should be
such that it should create an urge for change and development among the common men. The
media in its aim to developmental changes shall function as a decision maker and teacher.  

ROLE IN INDIA,

India’s process of development since 1947 has been accompanied by significant social
changes and an increasing awareness about issues affecting the poor, the women and

the children in India. This period has also seen the burgeoning of the voluntary
movement in India and the establishment of several non-governmental organizations to
protect and promote the interests of women and children. The Government has made
constant attempts to promote values like democracy, freedom from discrimination,
self-reliance and independence
inde pendence of thought. It has also tried to improve the lot of the
poor and weaker sections of society. Women and children have figured prominently in the
government’s agenda of social reforms and initiatives. Today, India is working towards a
society where the poor, marginalized and underprivileged have equal opportunities in all
spheres of life. Mass media in this regard has played a very important role by acting as a
mediator between the government and the people along with the collective action by the

voluntary agencies, government and other like-minded institutions and individuals.

Kheda Communication Project (KCP, (1975-89):

★ SITE demonstrated that the centralization, inherent in the technology of direct broadcasting,
was a limitation, hence the idea of ‗limited rebroadcast‘ was conceived, giving birth to the
KCP.
★ This project was launched in 1975. 607 community television sets have been installed in 443
villages of Kheda district of Gujrat. Doordarshan and space application centre produces
programme for one hour everyday. The programmes mainly concentrate on and discussed
the problem of the poorer classes.

★ Evaluation of Kheda project revealed that women in particular gained knowledge from TV
viewing. The serials generated self-confidence, realization of equality etc.
 

40

★ Education is a vital instrument of social transformation and important input in development

effort. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) is being used to provide Educational TV (ETV),
services for primary school children in six states. University Grants Commission (UGC) is
using this for its countrywide classroom programme on higher education (college sector).
INSAT is also used by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for distance
education programmes and Doordarshan for Science Channel programmes.

TOPIC 2: Development Support Communications: Social

Audit, Grass-root Activism, Whistleblowers

Social Audit
★ Social audit term was used around
around 1950. • Howard R Bowen deve
developed
loped social audit conce
concept
pt in
USA in 50’s. There has been a lot of activity and interest in the last seven to eight years in
India.

★ Governments are facing an ever -growing demand to be more accountable and socially

responsible and the people are becoming more confident about their right to be informed and to
influence governments’ decision-making processes.

★ Faced with these vociferous demands, the executive and the legislature are looking for new
ways to evaluate their performance. Civil society organisations are also undertaking ʺSocial
ʺ
 Audits   to monitor and ve
verify
rify the social performan
performance
ce claims of the organisations and
institutions.

★ Social Audit is a tool with which government departments can plan, manage and measure non - 
financial activities and monitor both internal and external consequences of the
department/organisation’s social and commercial operations.

★ Social Audit may be defined as an in-depth scrutiny and analysis of the working of any public
utility vis-à-vis its social relevance. Social Audit gained significance especially after the 73rd
 Amendment of the Constitution relating to Panchayat Raj Institutions.

PURPOSE

★ The purpose of conducting Social Audit is not to find fault with the individual functionaries but to

assess the performance in terms of social, environmental and community goals of the
organisation.
 

41

★ It is a way of measuring the extent to which an organisation lives up to the shared values and
objectives it has committed itself to.
★  It provides an assessment of the impact of an organisation s non-financial objectives through
ʹ

systematic and regular monitoring, based on the views of its stakeholders.

★ Findings is shared with all the stakeholders.
★ They can be undertaken independently or by community based organisations or jointly with the
government. They often begin as civil society initiatives.

SALIENT FEATURES 

1. Multi-Perspective/Polyvoca
Perspective/Polyvocal:
l: Aims to reflect the views (voices) of all those people
(stakeholders) involved with or affected by the organisation/department/prog
organisation/department/programme.
ramme.

2. Compr
Comprehen
ehensive:
sive: Aim
Aims
s to (eventu
(eventually)
ally) repo
report
rt on all aspect
aspects
s of the organis
organisation ʹ
ation s work and
performance.

3. Partic
Participato
ipatory:
ry: Encou
Encourages
rages par
participa
ticipation
tion of stakeh
stakeholder
olders
s and sharing of their valu
values.
es.

4. Multid
Multidirect
irectional
ional:: Stakeho
Stakeholders
lders sh
share
are and give fee
feedbac
dback
k on multiple as
aspect
pects.
s.

5. Regu
Regular:
lar: Aims to prod
produce
uce soc
social
ial acco
accounts
unts on a regula
regularr basis so that the con
concept
cept and the
practice become embedded in the culture of the organisation covering all the activities.

6. Comparative: P
Provides
rovides a means, whe
whereby,
reby, the organisation c
can
an compa
compare
re its own performanc
performance
e
each year and against appropriate external norms or benchmarks; and provide for comparisons
with organisations doing similar work and reporting in similar fashion.

7. Verification: Ensu
Ensures
res that the socia
sociall accounts are audited by a suitably ex
experienced
perienced p
person
erson or
agency with no vested interest in the organisation.

8. Disclosure: E
Ensures
nsures that the audited accounts are disclose
disclosed
d to stakeholders and the wider
community in the interests of accountability and transparency.
 

42

GRASSROOT ACTIVISM 
 At its most basic level, grassroots activism
activism is a group of people who feel
feel strongly enough about
an issue to actively campaign to make a difference. Grassroots activism relies on the
t he basic
rights to freedom of speech and expression by individuals when it comes to ttrying
rying to make a
change to a particular issue. This type of activism is not controlled by any particular political
party. They are an independent group of people who feel strongly about a certain issue and are
willing to put in the effort to
t o affect a change on the issue they are concerned about.

When it comes to campaigning for a change, it can be difficult to create the momentum needed
to make a difference. Unless we are fortunate enough to be in a position of power or influence,
we can struggle to make ourselves heard or to see any real progress towards our goal.

Grassroots activism is about mobilizing a group of people, who are passionate about a cause
and harnessing the power of their conviction to push for a different outcome. This kind of
movement relies on individuals who are willing to drive the change that they are concerned
about from the ground-up. Often, the cause is something very personal and takes place in
i n the
activist’s own community.

This type of advocacy has many challenges. Organisations can struggle to collate support from
diverse donor sources. The activists in question may be geographically distributed, or have skill
gaps that are difficult to fill. Despite these challenges, campaigns are surprisingly effective. In
political history, we have seen grassroots successes within the American civil rights movement,
and the 1980s German peace movement, among countless others.

Grassroots movements utilize a variety of strategies from fundraising and registering voters, to
simply encouraging political conversation. Goals of specific movements vary, but the
movements are consistent in their focus on increasing mass participation in politics.[3] These
political movements may begin as small and at the local level, but grassroots politics as Cornel
West contends are necessary in shaping progressive politics as they bring public attention to
regional political concerns.

Process of Grassroots Activism

Activism • Once a grassroots camp
campaign
aign starts to pick up momentum it
can be very effective for making a change. • A successful campaign can begin with one or two
activists that can soon turn into hundreds
hundreds or more. • If the media picks up on the camp
campaign
aign
then this can make a real difference
difference to the cause. • If the cause has significant su
support
pport it can
effectively change government
government policies and laws. • Recent protests have inc
included
luded marches

against the war in Iraq to campaigns in London, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Bhumi Uchhed
Pratirodh Committee in India...
 

43

The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan was a forest

f orest conservation movement where people
embraced the trees to prevent them from being cut. It began in April 1973 in Reni village of
Chamoli district, Uttarakhand and went on to become a rallying point for many future

environmental movements all over the world.It created a precedent for starting of nonviolent
protest in India,[1] and its success meant that the world immediately took notice of this
non-violent movement, which was to inspire in time many such eco-groups by helping to slow
down the rapid deforestation, expose vested interests, increase ecological awareness, and
demonstrate the viability of people power. Above all, it stirred up the existing civil society in
India, which began to address the issues
i ssues of tribal and marginalized people.The chipko
aandolan is a movement that practised methods of Satyagraha where both male and female
activists from Uttarakhand played vital roles,

TOPIC 3: Role of NGOs in Development

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) is any association having a definite cultural,
economic, educational, religious or social cause or any non-profit voluntary citizens group
which is organised around specific issues, such as education, environmental conservation,
social welfare, rural development sanitation, healthcare or human rights, on a local, national or
international level.

The World Bank defines NGOs as "private organisations that pursue activities to relieve
suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provides basic social
services, or undertake community development. NGOs include an array of groups and
institutions that are entirely or largely independent of government and characterised primarily
by humanitarian or cooperative, rather than commercial objectives".

NGOs are increasingly being used as vehicles for development. NGOs are either registered
with the Home ministry under the Foreign Currency Regulation Act (FCRA) or registered as
societies under the Societies Regulation Act, 1860.

TYPES OF NGOS ON THE BASIS OF ORIENTATION:

1. Operational or Grassroots NGOs: Grassroots NGOs work directly with the oppressed

sections of society. Some NGOs are big, while some are small. These NGOs could be

either local based, working in a single and small project location or be working in
 

44

multiple project areas in different districts, states and regions covering a larger
population.

The approach and orientation of grassroots NGOs are also differ.

● Charity and Welfare NGOs focus on providing charity and welfare to the poor.

● Development NGOs focus on implementation of concrete development activities.

● Social action groups focus on mobilizing marginalized section around specific issues
which challenge the distribution of power and resources in society.
● Empowerment NGOs combine development activities with issue based struggles.
2. Support NGOs: Support NGOs provide services that would strengthen the capacities of
grassroots NGOs, Panchayati Raj Institutions, co-operatives and others to function more
effectively.
3. Umbrella or Network NGOs: Network NGOs are formal associations or informal groups
of grassroots and / or support NGOs which meet periodically on particular concerns. E.g.
FEVORD-K (Federation of Voluntary Organizations in Karnataka). They act as a forum to

share experiences, carry out joint development endeavors as well as engage in lobbying
and advocacy.
4. Funding NGOs: The primary activity of these NGOs is funding grassroots NGOs, Support
NGOs or peoples organizations. Most funding NGOs in India generate a major part of
their resources from foreign sources; through there is an effort by some to raise funds
from within India.

TYPES OF NGOS BASED ON THE LEVEL OF ORIENTATION

1. Community-based Organizations (CBOs) arise out of people's own initiatives. These can
include sports clubs, women's organizations, neighbourhood organizations, religious or

educational organizations. There are a large variety of these, some supported by NGOs,
national or international NGOs, or bilateral or international agencies, and others
independent of outside help. Some are devoted to rising the consciousness of the urban
poor or helping them to understand their rights in gaining access to needed services
while others are involved in providing such services.
2. Citywide Organizations include organizations such as the Rotary or lion's Club,
chambers of commerce and industry, coalitions of business, ethnic or educational
groups and associations of community organizations. Some exist for other purposes,
and become involved in helping the poor as one of many activities, while others are
created for the specific purpose of helping the poor.

3. National NGOs include organizations such as the Red Cross, YMCAs/YWCAs,

professional organizations etc. Some of these have state and city branches and assist
local NGOs.
 

45

4. International NGOs range from secular agencies such as Redda BArna and Save the
Children organizations, OXFAM, CARE, Ford and Rockefeller Foundations to religiously
motivated groups. Their activities vary from mainly funding local NGOs, institutions and
projects, to implementing the projects themselves.

Role Of Ngos in Development

“The NGOs are generally in better position to both comprehend people’s perspective at the local
level and share with people the changing perspective at the global level. In this sense, they act
locally and think globally.” ‘

They are becoming a measure of a citizen’s participation. They work on issues of poverty,
literacy, health, population, women empowerment and so on.

Globalization has offered many challenges for developing new models for development,

participation and approaching the common problems. The planning for development was
done by the govt., but then it was realized that the govt. system were too rigid to solve
the problems as it is highly bureaucratic in nature and complex in m
mechanism.
echanism. A credible NGO
with appropriate and adequate professional inputs and training can plan and execute a
govt. program. Thus, govt allocates a large sum of money to NGOs.

The strength of the NGOs lays in their approach and methods for motivating people to
participate in developmental process. When govt. works for development it has target
oriented approaches, and works as consultant. It is least concerned about needs and
problems of people whereas NGOs work with a friendly and informal approach. They
motivate people to participate in all stages of the programmes. NGOs are purposeful,
role-bound, social units. They are group of people who allocate tasks between
themselves to contribute to a common goal. They are self-motivated, value-driven,
committed, adaptable, authentic and feel empowered to work like co-owners of the
organization.

Positive Role of NGOs in the Process of Development

1. They work m
more
ore prof
profession
essionally
ally than po
politic
litical
al partie
partiess and press
pressure
ure group
groupss as they are
more concerned with delivery of services than power and politics.
2. They have pr
proved
oved the
themselve
mselvess a number of ttimes.
imes. Am
Amnesty
nesty Int
Internati
ernational
onal and The Red
Cross have in the past won Nobel Peace Prize for their good work.
 

46

3. The Unit
United
ed Nation
Nationss has also allo
allowed
wed vario
various
us NGOs to pa
partici
rticipate
pate in vari
various
ous agenc
agencies
ies and
organizations of the world body. It has recognized their ability to reach more and more
people in order to spread awareness.
4. In the LPG erera,
a, the gove
government
rnment hhas
as outso
outsourced
urced a numb
number
er of welf
welfare
are and devel
developmen
opmental
tal
activities to the NGOs in order to narrow down its fiscal deficit. As a result, they receive

contributions from the Central Government and foreign donors like the World Bank.
5. This wil
willl provi
provide
de emplo
employment
yment oopport
pportunitie
unitiess to a larg
largee numbe
numberr of peo
people.
ple.
6. These NG
NGOs Os work as agen
agents
ts at the gra
grassroot
ssrootss level in neg
negotiati
otiating
ng with the Go
Governm
vernment
ent
when the victims of say, land acquisition, do not have the time or resources to seek
redress.
7. They also wowork
rk as the agent
agentss of voice
voiceless
less peop
peoplele like pro
prostitu
stitutes,
tes, LGB
LGBT,
T, HIV vic
victims,
tims,
victims of custodial torture etc to fight for their rights. Usually NGO offices have a
‘Gender- desk’ while government offices do not have it.

Emphasis on the role of NGOs 

In five years plans After Independence, India was declared as a welfare state and relevant
provisions were included in the Constitution of India. Social welfare was included as part
of the Five Year Plans. The major responsibility of organizing social welfare services
continued with the voluntary organizations. The GOI during the sixth Five year plan with its
famous”GARIBI HATAO” slogan did recognize the importance of NGOs in the development
process of India. In the seventh FYP, it gave a task of developing “self-reliance communities” to
NGOs for promoting rural development. Later in the eighth FYP, government sought to promote
nationwide network of NGOs. In its ninth FYP, it envisaged the primary role of in promoting

PPPS in the country. The tenth FYP envisaged the need and importance of NGOS in developing
agricultural sector by promoting awareness among the farmers about various modern farm
techniques and government initiatives for their benefit. Moreover, government has also been
promoting the development of NGOs through financial aid and assistance programmes through
Self Help Organizations.

The widespread belief that NGOs are more successful in reaching the poor in poverty
reduction also resulted in rapid growth of funding for NGOs by government and external
donors. As far as the government funding is concerned, there are over 200 government

schemes initiated by the central and state governments through which NGOs can have
direct access to resources for rural development.
 

47

In recent times, many Non Governmental organisations have been concentrating social
mobilization on contemporary issues of importance such a ass women empowerment,
human rights, and implementation of various central and state government development
programmes. The NGOs in India have contributed handsomely towards social mobilization
and social activism through their intensive campaigns, people’s mobilization programmes
and effective networks. The NGO as a social force facilitates collective action and people
mobilization for the purpose of achieving the desired objectives. The NGOs are deploying
various people-oriented as well as people-centred str
strategies,
ategies, and these organizations build
rapport with the people and mobilize them. The NGOs play in making the people
environmentally aware and sensitive to take part in the development process

Top 5 NGO’s in India

1. Samman Foundat
Foundation-
ion- They woworkrk for the ri
rickshaw
ckshaw puller
pullerss by pr
providin
oviding g oppo
opportunit
rtunities
ies to
live their normal livelihood.
2. Goo
Goonj-
nj- wo
works
rks fo
forr the flo
flood
od rel
relief
ief me
measu
asures
res..
3. Akshay
Akshaya a Trust - They woworkrk for the he
helpless
lpless,, forsa
forsaken,
ken, ment
mentally
ally ill, o
old
ld and sick and road
road
side destitute living in Madurai.
4. Smile Fo
Foundatio
undation-They
n-They prprovide
ovide hea
healthcar
lthcaree services
services to the und
underer privi
privileged
leged cla
class
ss of the
society .
5. Udaan W Welfare
elfare Foundat
Foundation-
ion- Wo
Workrk for Childre
Children n and de
destitut
stitutee women
women..

The number of homeless people suffering every winter due to lack of shelter, water and
sanitation has reached close to a million in India. A large proportion of homeless people die
every year, not due to lack of food, but due to lack of proper clothing to protect them from
extreme conditions in winter. A large number of deaths are reported due to lack of hygienic
and comfortable clothing in India.

GOONJ: A recipient of the “NGO of the Year” award in 2007 at the India NGO Awards, this NGO
aims at solving the clothing problems of the downtrodden. Goonj also provides relief during
Rahat floods in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar.

As part of the clothes for work programme, the villagers are encouraged to take up tasks to
benefit their villages and are paid in return through clothes. For instance, a well was built in the
Khandwa region, in the north west of India, for zero cost. Recently, a bridge that was 200ft long
was built in one of the rural areas in Bihar for just 2,250 rupees (46 dollars) through the efforts
 

48

of the villagers. By making them work for the clothes, Goonj.. is able to create sustainable
impact in the communities.

Through its efforts, Goonj.. is also creating awareness so that other organisations can
participate in solving the issue.

By working closely with organisations spread across the country, Goonj.. runs a nationwide
network to collect and distribute clothes, minimising the cost per item to less than 1 rupee (2
cents).

TOPIC 4: Cyber media and Development: e-governance,

digital democracy & e-chaupal

E-Governance

E-governance, expands to electronic governance, is the integration of Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) in all the processes, with the aim of enhancing government
ability to address the needs of the general public. The basic purpose of e-governance is to
simplify processes for all, i.e. government, citizens, businesses, etc. at National, State and local
levels.

The new technology, in fact is being increasingly used for governance (Electronic
governance) and during emergencies. On a broader aspect, e-governance it involves an
effort by the government to lead society from an industrial to an information age.

E-governance refers to the delivery of national or local government information and services
via the Internet or other digital means to citizens or other governmental agencies.
E-government is a one-stop Internet gateway to major government services.

What is e-Governance

Electronic Governance is the application of Information Technology to the processes of

Government functioning in order to bring about ----- (SMART) Governance

S-Simple

M-Moral
A-Accountable
R-Responsive
T-Transparent.
 

49

It also involves transformation from being a passive information and service provider to active
citizen involvement.

Evolution of E-Governance requires hardware, networking, software and re-engineering of

the procedures for better delivery of services.

e-Governance Services

e-Governance may include very broad range of services for almost all segments of
society. The most common areas of E-Governance applications are:

1) Elect
Electronic
ronic comm
commerce
erce aand
nd bus
business
iness regulat
regulations
ions
2) Ta
Taxat
xatio
ionn and re
reve
venue
nue
3) Law Enf
Enforc
orceme
ement
nt a
and
nd Cour
Courts
ts
4) Di
Digi
gital
tal dem
democ ocra
racy
cy
5) Ag
Agri
ricu
cult
ltur
uree
6) Edu
duccat
atio
ion
n
7) Health
8) Tr
Tran
ansp
sporortt

e-Governance in India

As part of the increased trust on e-Governance, Ministry of Communications &

Information Technology, Department of Information
Information Technology, GoI (Govt of India) has set up
a Centre for e-Governance (CEG) in New Delhi in 2000. The Centre, first of its kind in the
country, showcases the best practices in the area of e-Governance, conducts programs
for creating awareness among decision makers in the Centre and State Governments and
provides technical consultation etc.
Benefits of e-Governance
e-Governance sees the people in government, business and citizens working together
for the benefit of all. If properly implemented, the benefits of e-Governance are
enormous. Some of its obvious benefits are:
1. Integrated Information and services: e-Governance targets to use a government-wide
electronic information infrastructure to simplify service delivery, reduce duplication, and
improve the level and speed of service to clients at a lower cost. Different types of services
offered by different government departments like collecting taxes, granting licenses,

administering regulations, paying grants and benefits, can be availed at one place.
2. Cost Reduction – Most of the Government expenditure is appropriated towards the cost of
 

50

stationary. Paper-based communication needs lots of stationary, printers, computers, etc.

which calls for continuous heavy expenditure. Internet and Phones makes communication
cheaper saving valuable money for the Government.

3. Anywhere Services: Provision of fully interactive on-line services by e-Governance

gives public access to government services with quicker responses at convenient times.
4. This on-line accessibility of stored information from remote locations allows
government officials to serve any citizen from a government office located in any part of
the state or country.

Successful e-Governance projects in states:

1. BHOOMI o off Karnata
Karnataka:
ka: The firs
firstt e-gove
e-governance
rnance prproject
oject on L Land
and Recor
Records
ds Compu
Computeriza
terization
tion
System.
2. WARANA o off Maharash
Maharashtra:
tra: ‘Wi
‘Wired
red Villa
Village’
ge’ conc
concept
ept at Wara
Warana na cooper
cooperative
ative com
complex
plex in
Kolhapur and Sangli districts in Maharashtra.
3. RASI (Ru
(Rural
ral Acces
Accesss to Service
Services s throug
throughh Intern
Internet):
et): Rur
Rural
al IT infr
infrastruc
astructure
ture in Tam
Tamil il Nadu.
4. E-SEV
E-SEVA A of Andhra Pr
Pradesh:
adesh: PrProvides
ovides seservices
rvices rrelatin
elating
g to paymen
paymentt of Utili
Utility
ty Bills
Bills,,
Certificates, Permits / licenses, reservation etc.
Case Study: Project GYANDOOT, Location – Dhar, Madhya Pradesh

Dha
harr is  a tr
trib
ibal
al do
dom
min
inat
ated
ed and
and a dr drou
ough
ghtt pro
prone didist
stri
ricct of Ma
Madh
dhya
ya Pr
Prad
ades
esh.
h. Mo
Morre than
than ha
half
lf of
the population  of the district is tribal and around two-fifth are living below poverty line.
Gyan
Gy andodoot
ot is  a lo
low
w co
cost
st ru
rura
rall in
inttra
rane
nett proj
projec
ectt ba
base
sedd on e-go
e-gove
vern
rnan
ancce star
starte
ted
d in the ye
year
ar 20
2000
00..
The mai ainn  aim of Gyandoot is to harness Inf nfoormatatiion and
and Communic nicati
ation Tec
echhnologies to
improve governance at village, block and district levels.

The projec ectt  has linked araro

ound 35 kiosks in the district with the district headq
adquarters of the
lo
loca
call gove
governrnme
mentnt.. Th
The
e ki
kios
osks
ks in
incl
clud
ude
e a ne
netw
twor
orke
ked
d co
comp
mput
uter
er an
andd pr
prin
inte
ter.
r. Th
This
is set
set up ha
hass be
been
en
enabled by  the State government. Software working in Hindi language and touch screen
appl
ap plic
icat
atio
ions
ns ha hass  be
been
en de
desi
sign
gned
ed to en
enco
cour
urag
age
e ma
maxi
xim
mum util
utiliz
izat
atio
ion
n an
andd ac
acce
cess
ss by po
poor
or rural
ural
farmers.

Gyando
dooot provides  mananyy information ser
ervvices to the far
arm
mers like best pract
actices related
ated to
agriculture, prices  of agricultural produce in different markets, online registration and
provision of  land records, rural email facility, information regarding government (rural
development) programs,  Ask the Expert, Avedan Patra (application formats for rural
development schemes).
.
The facility  for auction site gives the farmers a new way of selling their lands, agricultural
 

51

machin
mach iner
ery,
y, bu
bulllloc
ocks
ks  an
and
d eq equiuipm
pmen
ents
ts.. Us
Usua
ualllly,
y, in th
this is kind
kind of bu
buyi
ying
ng in se
sellllin
ing,
g, midd
middle leme
men n ar
are
e
in
invo
volv
lved
ed.. The
The  on
onliline
ne fa
faci
cilility
ty elim
elimin
inat
ates
es ththe
e po
poss ssib
ibililit
ityy of the
the mi
midd
ddleleme
men n an
and d thei
theirr co
comm
mmisissi
sion
on
and dictated  prices. „Ask the expert‟ facil acilit
ityy an
answ
swer erss the
the que
uerries
ies of the farmfarmererss rega
regarrdi
ding
ng
agriculture, animal husbandry, health, etc.

Digital democracy
Digital democracy incorporates 21st-century information and communications technology to
promote democracy. It is a form of government in which all adult citizens are presumed to be
eligible to participate equally in the proposal, development, and creation of laws.

Stages of Digital Democracy

Both in developed and developing countries, a four stage model of digital democracy is
accepted and practiced. The stages are:

● information disclosure,
● listening/consultation,
● online deliberation, and
● online decision-making.

Digital democracy develops from lower-level stage of information disclosure to

higher-level stage of online decision-making. These stages are ordered according to the extent
of citizen participation by means of the Internet. In the stage of information disclosure, public
agencies provide useful information a about
bout policy matters on the Internet so that can
read and form opinions. In the stage of listening/consultation, public agencies receive
feedback or opinions from citizens through government Web sites. In the stage of online
deliberation, citizens and public officials discuss policy issues online. In the stage of online
decision-making, citizens participate in decision-making online - making it genuine computer
supported cooperative work.

In a democracy, major power vests with the people. It enhances the accountability of elected
representatives. After casting one?s vote, one need not be a passive spectator to the whims
and fancies of the ruling regime until the next election crops up. It bypasses the army of
bureaucrats that stands between the Government and citizen, thereby reducing scope of
corruption. People can express their views directly to the government.

e-Democracy helps in dissemination of political information and enhancement of

communication and participation in the governing process. Participants of e-Democracy would
include civil society, administration, politicians and the economy. It also empowers citizens in
 

52

the process of making major national decisions. eDemocracy initiatives could be e-forums,
e-town hall meetings, e-consultations, e-referenda, e-voting, e-rule making and other forms of
e-Participation

Amongst the most debated topics of implementing governmental and democratic processes
using electronic systems is the electronic voting. Voting through online mode constitutes just a
small part of the effort to establish electronic communication between citizens and
governmental functions (G2C and C2G). The ultimate goal is to provide access to information
and to open up decision-making processes to citizens (e-participation) to encourage a
grass-roots engagement of citizens with democratic processes.

The success story of e-Democracy is patchy and disparate. There is no direct correlation
between broadband access to the internet and a strong record in e-Governance followed
by e-Democracy. For example, United States of America which has high level of broadband
access has not done much while Canada and Scandinavian countries have done lot for
e-Democracy. In Central and Eastern Europe where adoption of Internet was very recent,

elements of e-Democracy have been successfully adopted.

In United Kingdom, BBC launched a project by name iCan i Can which was an offshoot of the
previous year’s General Election report. It is an interactive service designed to help people
participate in democracy and civic life. The goals of iCan are Information provision,
Information sharing by users and providing Campaigning tools. W Within
ithin a year of launch during
November 2003, the audience grew to 100000 unique users per month with 6500 registered
users. iCan eventually achieved its purpose of acting as a forum for addressing issues in civic
life.

On 26th July 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched MyGov with the vision to take

forward Jan-Bhagidari for the development of the nation. Since then, MyGov has been working
towards “Creating a participatory digital democracy, leveraging technology to enable every
citizen to contribute ideas and efforts for nation-building, transforming these ideas into action
and recognizing individual contributions.”

MyGov platform has become a key part of the policy and decision making process of the
country. Where the platform has been able to provide the citizens a voice in the governance
process of the country and create grounds for the citizens to become stakeholders not only in
policy formulation and recommendation bit but also implementation through actionable tasks.
Given the importance of this platform in transformation of India through participatory
governance, the platform has been constantly undergoing upgrades to ensure an enhanced
level of user experience. The major attributes of MyGov includes Discussion, Tasks, Talks, Polls
and Blogs on various groups based on the diverse governance and public policy issues.
 

53

CRITIQUES

Looking at the other aspect of this virtual participatory form of democracy, there are some
serious threats which can be called the technical pathogens. It means they will eat up the very
source from where they evolved

For example, the kind of legitimacy that has been given to private players like Facebook and
Twitter by the present NDA government is unprecedented. And in the wake of the
Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, it has come to the fore how private information of
more than 50 million Facebook users have been harvested for election campaigns by various
nations and political parties.

Indian Facebook users are also suspected to be a victim of the data breach. That mainstream
political parties are going more and more digital in their election management instead of going
directly to the people, also says a lot about the dangers, not to mention the vulnerability of the
EVM machines.

Voters can no longer be sure if their mandate has been manipulated or not. They can no longer
be sure that technological intervention in the process of election and democracy is safe.

E-Chaupal
Agriculture provides livelihood to about 65% of the population in India. Still India has not been
able to achieve the world level of productivity. The immense potential of Indian
agriculture is waiting to be unleashed.

Chaupal Concept:  In Hindi, the word choupal means a meeting place. Chaupal constitutes

an informal
could assembly,
be shared a forum
and captured. that
One villagersaspect
important call their own,culture
of Indian a placeforwhere knowledge
the Indian farmers is
the chaupal meeting which is like an informal gathering of farmers in the evening on their way
home from their fields to discuss the news of the day.

e-chaupal concept E-choupal is a virtual market place where farmers can transact directly with
a processor and can realize better price for their produce. e-Chaupal makes use of the;
physical transmission capabilities of current intermediaries & aggregation, logistics,
counter-party risk and bridge financing.

History E-Choupal is an initiative of the International Business Division (IBD) of one of India’s

leading private companies, ITC Ltd. Beginning in 2000, ITC set up a network of ICT kiosks
around the country, called e-Choupal (an open meeting place in a village).
 

54

Every e-Choupal centre is equipped with a computer, Internet connectivity through satellite
technology and solar power. In addition, it provides access to a web portal with current
agriculture commodity prices at the village level for produce transactions. Additionally,
e-Choupal supports best practices in farming through training sessions, provides information
on weather conditions, and supplies quality agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilisers.

E-choupal assuring supply forfor the company while cutting costs through improving the
efficiency of the procurement value chain, which also results in better margins for the farmer.
Apart from buying agricultural produce, other services, including informational services, are
provided with the help of this ICT backbone.

In May 1999, Mr.Sivakumar, Chief Executive of ITC, anchor

anchored
ed a brainstorming session of the
ITC management team. The team knew that in order to reduce the cost inefficiencies
incurred in the supply chain, i.e. from the village to mandi to factory the cycle had to be
broken. The idea of digital technologies came in handy. Indeed the team worked to develop a
business model that incorporated “e” into the age old tradition of village chaupals to
facilitate the reorganization of the channel. Knowledge shared and an d captured in the
traditional chaupal could be extraordinarily useful to the farmers, but it had traditionally
been limited to the verbal communication. Farmers not knowing market prices ahead of
harvest were not able to plan and create secure financial base but instead had a an
n
existence based on day- to-day survival.

E-Choupal Model

In the e-Choupal model, ITC sets up a backup physical service support at the village
level called choupal through sanchalak, a lead farmer who acts as an interface between the
computer and the farmer. ITC accumulates information regarding weather, modern farming
practices, market prices from sources like Meteorological Department, Agricultural
Universities, mandis (regional markets), etc. and uploads all information
information on the e-chaupal
website. All information is customized according to the local farmer’s requirements and
provided into local language through computer set up by ITC in Sanchalak’s house.
Sanchalak access this information and disseminates it to the farmers. Information
regarding weather and scientific farming help farmers to select the right crop and improve the
productivity of their farms. Availability of market information helps farmers to become market
oriented.

They know what price ITC is quoting and the price prevalent in the local market, thereby helping
better price realization by farmers. If farmer decides to sell to ITC, Sanchalak works as the
aggregator of small farmers. Sanchalak aggregates farmers purchase orders for various
 

55

items like seeds, pesticides and place them directly with the suppliers through internet and
facilitate supply of high quality farm inputs as well as purchase of farm produce at the
farmer’s doorstep with the help of intermediaries. he sanchalak gets a fixed commission set by
ITC for every transaction from his village that is realised through the ITC procurement hub.

An upsanchalak serves as a link between the e-Choupal village and surrounding villages. The
upsanchalak communicates daily prices received from the sanchalak to farmers in his village.
This further reduces the ttime
ime spent on finding agricultural prices by ffarmers
armers in non-e-Choupal
villages. The sanchalaks and upsanchalaks negotiate a sharing of the ITC commission
amongst themselves

UNIT 4

TOPIC 2: Corporate Social Responsibility:

Re sponsibility: case studies in
India

Jamshedji Tata,
people as far as the pioneer
possible of social
must go backresponsibility
to people.” itinisIndia, said,the
against “Wealth that comes
background of thisfrom the
philosophy, the concept of corporate social responsibility began in India st Jamshedpur, Bihar

The changing corporate world has also increased the importance of CSR.

Every organization has to confront with a global economy; a technological revolution, an

information revolution and proliferation of sources of information; emergence of large
companies with international business; mergers and acquisitions, and signs of increasing
environmental damages. Reputation are either strengthened or damaged as the information is
flowing with lightning speed. As a result, the concept of corporate citizenship and corporate

social responsibility is growing in the modern world

Definitions
 

56

Bowen (1953) defined it as the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies to make
those decisions or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives
and values of our society.

Keith Davis (1960), defined CSR as businessmen’s decisions and actions taken for reasons at

least partially beyond the firm’s direct economic or technical interest.

Features of CSR

★ The CSR approach is holistic and integrated with the core business strategy for addressing
social and environmental impacts of business.
★ CSR needs to address the well-being of all stakeholders and not just the company’s
shareholders
★ Philanthropic activities are only a part of CSR, which otherwise constitutes a much larger set
of activities entailing strategic business benefits.

Recognizing how important social responsibility is to their customers, many companies now
focus on and practice a few broad categories of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Broad Categories of CSR

1. Environmental efforts:- One primary focus of CSR Businesses regardless of size have a large
carbon footprint. (measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of
the amount of greenhouse
greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide). Any steps
they can take to reduce those footprints are considered both good for the company and society
as a whole. European companies have really led the way on environment efforts, such as green
energy usage, eco-friendly office and travel policies etc.

2. Philanthropy: Businesses also practice social responsibility by donating to national and local
charities Businesses have a lot of resources that can benefit charities and local community
programs.

3. Ethical labor practices:  By treating employees fairly and ethically, companies can also
demonstrate their corporate social responsibility. This is especially true of businesses that
operate in national & international locations with labor laws.

4.Volunteering (performs a service willingly & w without

ithout pay ):--  Attending volunteering events
):--
says a lot about a company's sincerity. By doing good deeds without expecting anything in
return, companies are able to express their concern for specific issues and support for certain
organizations. • Examples:--Mahindra & Mahindra is one such company that decided in its 60th
year to donate 1% of profits after tax (around Rs 1.3 crore as per figures shown) into CSR. • Its
 

57

activities include the K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, which promotes education at various
levels.

CSR in India 

India is the first country in the world to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory,
following an amendment to The Company Act, 2013 in April 2014. Businesses can invest their
profits in areas such as education, poverty, gender equality, and hunger.

The CSR provision within the Act is applicable to companies with an annual turnover of 1,000
crore INR and more, or a net worth of 500 crore INR and more or more during a financial year,
shall earmark 2 percent of average net profits of three years towards CSR. The companies are
required to set up a CSR committee consisting of their board members, including at least one
independent director. It is also mandatory that company boards should have at least one
female member.

CSR in India, still remains within the philanthropic space, but has moved from institutional
building (education, research and cultural) to community building through various projects.
With the global influences and with communities becoming more active and demanding, there
appears to be a discernible trend that while CSR remains largely restricted to community
development, it is getting more strategic in nature. A large number of companies are reporting
the activities they are undertaking in this space in their official websites, annual reports,
sustainability reports and even publishing CSR reports.

CASE STUDIES

ITC Group

ITC Group, a conglomerate with business interests across hotels, FMCG, agriculture, IT, and
packaging sectors has been focusing on creating sustainable livelihood and environment
protection programs. The company has been able to generate sustainable livelihood
opportunities for six million people through its CSR activities. Their e-Choupal program, which
aims to connect rural farmers through the internet for procuring agriculture products, covers
40,000 villages and over four million farmers. Its social and farm forestry program assists
farmers in converting wasteland to pulpwood plantations. Social empowerment programs
through micro-enterprises or loans have created sustainable livelihoods for over 40,000 rural
women.

Coca - Cola

This case is about Coca-Cola's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in India. It details
the activities taken up by Coca-Cola India's management and employees to contribute to the
 

58

society and community in which the company operates.Coca-Cola India being one of the
largest beverage companies in India, realized that CSR had to be an integral part of its
corporate agenda. According to the company, it was aware of the environmental, social, and
economic impact caused by a business of its scale and therefore it had decided to implement a
wide range of initiatives to improve the quality of life of its customers, the workforce, and

society at large.
However, the company came in for severe criticism from activists and environmental experts
who charged it with depleting groundwater resources in the areas in which its bottling plants
were located, thereby affecting the livelihood of poor farmers, dumping toxic and hazardous
waste materials near its bottling facilities, and discharging waste water into the agricultural
lands of farmers. Moreover, its allegedly unethical business practices in developing countries
led to its becoming one of the most boycotted companies in the world.

Notwithstanding the criticisms, the company continued to champion various initiatives such as
rainwater harvesting, restoring groundwater resources, going in for sustainable packaging and
recycling, and serving the communities where it operated. Coca-Cola planned to become water
neutral in India by 2009 as part of its global strategy of achieving water neutrality. Coca-Cola
gradually changed its strategy to include damage-control measures that addressed the Indian
communities’ grievances. In 2008 the company published its first environmental performance
report on operations in India, which covered activities from 2004 to 2007.

It also created the Coca-Cola India Foundation, Anandana, which works with local communities
and NGOs to address local water problems.

But perhaps the most outstanding change of strategy by Coca-Cola consisted of launching
various community water projects in India. An example is the rainwater harvesting project,
where Coca-Cola’s operations partnered with the Central Ground Water Authority, the State
Ground Water Boards, NGOs and communities to address water scarcity and depleting
groundwater levels through rainwater harvesting techniques across 17 states in India.

By returning to the ecosystem the water used in its operations in India through water
harvesting, the company expected that this project could eventually turn the company into a
‘net zero’ user of groundwater by 2009. In the 2012 Water Stewardship and Replenish Report,
Coca-Cola stated that its operations in India have ‘achieved full balance between groundwater
used in beverage production and that replenished to nature and communities – ahead of the
global target’
 

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Mahindra & Mahindra

Indian automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) established the K. C. Mahindra
Education Trust in 1954, followed by Mahindra Foundation in 1969 with the purpose of
promoting education. The company primarily focuses on education programs to assist

economically and socially disadvantaged communities. CSR programs invest in scholarships

and grants, livelihood training, healthcare for remote areas, water conservation, and disaster
relief programs. M&M runs programs such as Nanhi Kali focusing on girl education, Mahindra
Pride Schools for industrial training, and Lifeline Express for healthcare services in remote
areas.

TOPIC 3 : Social change Campaign in India (Case studies)

According to Bigcommerce.com, “A social media campaign is a coordinated marketing effort to
reinforce or assist the business goal using one or more social media platforms. Campaigns
differ from everyday social media efforts because of their increased focus, targeting and
measurability.”

A social media campaign will work if it is in:

A prolonged, sustained, two-way conversation across multiple channels that enables

both parties to feel as though they have contributed and they have been heard.

Social networks are beginning to have a bigger role in building community and catalysing
neighbourhood co-operation and social action. The recent post-riot clean-up Twitter campaign
was one example of how social media can be used to inspire people to get involved in
community life.

This was just one of the examples discussed at a round table event last week exploring the
crossover of local communities and social media. Organised by Right Move Places and Civic
Voices, it brought together some of the leading lights in hyperlocal online communities to
discuss what role social media can play in supporting and mobilising communities.
 

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India is in a transitional phase of development with the spread of Cyber Culture, Technology
and Social Networking Sites. A new global culture i.e. a Consumer culture, with a panorama of
goods and services, transnational fashions and cosmopolitan personal relationships has
emerged. People redefine culture itself as a source of both individual and social identities, as
computer networks circulate ideas, information and images throughout the world. Bill Gates
(1995)22 .As more and more citizens gain access to broadband technologies in Indian society,
an increasing number seeks social connectivity through the net. Social networking sites enable
families and friends to converse in a way as if they are in the same place .

The public has re-conceptualize the notion of a community after the introduction of social
networking sites. These sites serve as platforms for political-social organization and are not
simply used for personal interests. They are not simple sources of entertainment but are vital
tools of communication and collaboration. Social networking sites indeed provides a visible
stage in new ways and means that street protests and rallies cannot provide speakers and
protestors.

For instance, the significant role of social media in Gang Rape case in Delhi, the capital of India
in December 2012 cannot be undermined. Facebook reached out to millions to join the
movement against culprits. It was a huge platform for the Indian citizens to vent their outrage
against the heinous crime. An online petition platform change.org received more than 65,000
signatures for an appeal seeking the intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee and Chief
Justice of India Altamas Kabir on the issue. A lot of web pages related to social issues like
rape, murder,girls education, female foeticide, corruption etc. are created on various social
networking sites. One such page is created by name ‘India against Corruption’ which has
earned a widespread popularity. The chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi effectively used
the social media to connect with netizens. Youth, who certainly are more attuned to digital
culture are attracted by his political gimmicks. His proactive presence on social media helped
him to win the assembly election.

Anna Hazare, effectively used the social media to mobilize the youth and other segments of
society, in his agitation on the Jan Lokpal Bill. His effective use of social media not only made it
more global, but also garnered huge support in his campaign. Finally,in December 2013 Lokpal
bill was enacted and the role of social media cannot be undermined in this historic event. It is
also important to make a note of famous ‘Aarushi Murder Case’ in which role of social media
 

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cannot be under estimated. The case was discussed on blogs and various social networking
sites through which justice was demanded by netizens .

It indicates that social networking sites are forces of integration for all the regions of the

country including various castes, groups, cultures and minority groups.

In addition to common people, many bureaucrats ,politicians and social activists are making
their mark on social media. Social networking sites have brought changes in the thinking of
Indian population who relied only on traditional media for awareness

Even corporate organizations have integrated social media with internal communication to
create a collaborative work environment. Social media-savvy organizations in India conduct
campaigns on a regular basis where social media is the leading component.

Companies use social media to frame strategies for new markets, address consumer
grievances and communicate directly with target groups. However, the darker side of social
networking sites has emerged in the form of Cyber crimes. Cyber crimes have become
prominent on Social Networking Sites because of the simple fact that people reveal a lot about
themselves on these sites.