Collaborative Strategic Planning at Panchayat Level is Essential to Get to a Developed India
Som Karamchetty [1]
Abstract
Strategic planning is the key to assuring citizens that their elected leaders are working on a defined path. This calls for the development of a series of congruent strategic plans from the national to state to local level. These plans should dovetail at various levels and complement one another. Local planning gives ownership of the plan to local people, takes local inputs, tunes to the environment, allows close monitoring, responds to feedback, facilitates support, ensures sharing of sacrifices and results, and leads to success in plan execution. When several thousand panchayats undertake planning, there is need for an information technology tool that guides local planners by providing templates/formats and guidance on how to generate information and data for the plan. In the next stage, a format processor integrates the information and data in appropriate ways to create plans for the district, state, and national levels. For a successful national effort, such a plan development project should be web based. The process of creating the infrastructure and tools necessary for plan development is described in this paper.
List of Tables
Table 1: Contributions by various
sectors to the US Gross Domestic Product (2005 data).
Table 2: Employees (both
full time and part time) in various industries in the US
Table 3: Projection of
Indian employment by industry in a developed
India
Table 4: Projecting Employment in Andhra
Pradesh State
and Vizianagaram District in a Developed India.
Table 5: Projected Employment in a Typical Panchayat in Andhra Pradesh State in a Developed India.
Table 6: Illustrative Example of NAICS Codes and Titles.
Table 7: Employed US persons by
Major Occupation, average for year 2000 (in Thousands).
Table 8: Percent distribution of all hours worked by
men in the private business sector by years of completed schooling in 1999.
Table 9: Mean hourly earnings for
selected occupations, all workers, all industries, selected areas, April
2000.
Table 10: Strategic
Goals in Physiological Needs
(Illustrative list only).
Table 11: Strategic Goals in Safety and Security needs
(Illustrative list only).
Table 12: Strategic Goals in Social
or Affiliation Needs (Illustrative list only).
Table 13: Strategic Goals in Esteem
and Recognition Needs (Illustrative list only).
Table
14: Strategic Goals in creating an environment
to enable as many people as those who wish to satisfy their Self Actualization
Needs.
Table 15: A Typical Set of Categories for Background of a
Panchayat.
Table 16: A Typical Set of Categories for Situational Analysis.
Table 17: Example of a Means Plan.
List of Figures
Figure 1: Businesses cater to human
needs.
Figure 2: Maslow’s Need Hierarchy.
Figure 3: GDP grows by 10% annually
to reach about $40 Trillion in forty years.
Figure 4: Agricultural or Farm Labor has to decline every year.
Figure 5: Schematic of a process for developing the subgoals.
Figure 6: Provider
Pyramid: Basic Needs are satisfied by various
industries and businesses.
Figure 7: Provider
Pyramid: Basic needs and the industries that satisfy them.
Figure 8: Generic
and specific models showing how businesses satisfy human needs.
Figure 9: Responsibility for Need
satisfaction shifts with development.
Figure 10: System undergoing a
change through a process.
Part
1: India
Introduction
While
Indian leaders have been talking of visions [2] of India
Business
leaders, political leaders, workers, managers, and citizens are the key
stakeholders in national development. Businesses create wealth, provide jobs,
and generate incomes for the citizens of countries. These incomes enable
citizens to buy goods and services to satisfy their basic needs and some or all
of their wants. Figure 1 shows this simple connection. Thus, a close coupling
exists between social development and business health. Smart political and business strategies take advantage of all
available avenues and opportunities for rapid economic and social development.
Political leadership is responsible to devise policies that allow the entire population
to get equal opportunity to benefit from the national economic development in
the long term. Through global
information flow, the historically suppressed people have become aware of their
human rights and have been pressuring the political leaders in emerging and
evolving democracies to fulfill the broad pronouncements of the political
leaders and promises of expeditious social development.
Figure 1: Businesses Cater to Human
Needs.
Social Development
Abraham Maslow [5] presents a hierarchy of
human needs. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy (or Ladder) consists
of five types of human needs, 1) Physiological needs, 2) Safety and
security needs, 3) Social or
affiliation needs, 4) Esteem and recognition needs, and 5) Self actualization, as
shown in Figure 2.
At the bottom of the hierarchy or pyramid are the
physiological needs ¾ the most
basic needs essential for survival ¾ include the needs for food, liquid, shelter, sex, sleep, and oxygen.
Safety and security needs emerge once the physiological needs are satisfied. The
belongingness and love needs emerge as an individual hungers for affectionate
relations from people in general, for a place in his or her group. In the middle of the ladder is the need for affiliation, association, to
love, and to be loved. The esteem needs fall into
two categories, self-respect and esteem from other people. Esteem and recognition are at a higher echelon on the ladder. Finally, self-actualization need is the desire to become more and more what one is,
to become everything that one is capable of becoming. According to Maslow,
"Human needs arrange themselves in hierarchies of prepotency," and,
"No need or drive can be treated as if it were isolated or discrete; every
drive is related to the state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of other
drives."
Figure 2: Maslow’s Need Hierarchy.
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy forms an excellent framework for a discussion of human needs and social development. The hierarchy helps in an analysis of how one can achieve economic development, peace, and harmony in the world since such a framework is based on people's needs. [6] The excellent economic results of the developed countries should convince one to believe in the relevance of Maslow’s need hierarchy in a discussion of developmental needs. Most people in the developed countries have their needs at the bottom two levels of the hierarchy satisfied. This statement does not mean that the developed countries have installed perpetual production machines that yield goods and services without continued hard work from people and smart policies on the part of their leadership. By and large, most people in these countries have moved into the middle of the pyramid.
According to India's first Social Development Report, [7], “26 per cent or about 260 million (193 million in rural areas and 67 million in urban areas) — of Indians are still below the poverty line.” These people have their basic needs unmet. Consequently, Indian political leaders campaign on the catchy slogan, “Roti, Kapda, and Makan” [8] (bread, clothing, and shelter) because that slogan is a sure vote getter. After they gain political power, these leaders lay emphasis exclusively on farm sector for employment of a vast majority of people, perhaps with a sincere belief that the farm sector will solve or alleviate the problems of the malnourished, half-clad, and homeless. As we will see in later sections, this policy may only be trapping these millions in the vicious cycle of poverty at the bottom of the pyramid.
Azim Premji said to Asiaweek, [13] “The power of the mind is the critical resource in the information age. This is where we as a nation have a major competitive advantage.” He further added, “Government must take bold visionary steps, as we have nothing to lose but our poverty. If we win, we will create immense national wealth to be shared by everyone.” Again from the perspective of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy, the information age implies the moving of people to the middle of the ladder. I will discuss this theme further in later sections.
Quoting Narendra Modi, Tavleen Singh wrote of the need to invent the concept of ‘ruburbs’ or areas that would remain rural but have the public services that urbanization brings and that the fight against poverty will in the end only be won if we empower the poor to join the fight. [9] In another writing, Tavleen Singh said, “Instead of spending thousands and thousands of crores every year on schemes that work marginally at best, what we need to do is invest that money on skills training programmes, better schools and better public services in general. In rural parts, it is not just schools that exist mostly on paper, but hospitals, public transport, electricity, drinking water and almost everything else.” [10] She further stated, “… grandiose centrally planned schemes of this kind have never worked in the past. The problem with centrally planned poverty alleviation in a country the size of a continent is that it is that they fail the implementability test.” [11]
Yoginder K. Alagh writes, “ … the more interesting ideas for agriculture in the budget are in the education, health and social security programme. The Rs 30,000 insurance scheme for unorganised workers, many in the agricultural sector, the 24x7 primary health centres, the schools and colleges in rural areas, particularly for poor children and girls, have great possibilities. Also, the knowledge networks, if scaled to village needs and implemented in a manner that the villages can maintain them, with models already available, can all play a role.” [12] Panchayat planning allows them a greater opportunity to participate.
Impact of
Farming and Business Sector on Social Development
Millenniums ago, vast stretches of land supported small populations of nomads. But, as populations grew and land resources became limited, people had to move into a developed state or perish. [14] In the US, Canada, and Australia, deployment of highly technical knowledge, machinery, and optimization of inputs, while employing only a small amount of human labor, resulted in the production of great quantities of food needed to support billions of people all over the world. In the last several decades, by providing subsidies to farmers not to grow food grains, these governments have been reducing the less productive farming enterprises. Now with increased farm productivity, the small number of agricultural entrepreneurs (farmer business people) in these developed countries provides enough food for the entire populations while enjoying good living standards themselves.In a broader sense, businesses are the only organizations that produce goods and services and satisfy people’s needs and demands. As described in the previous paragraph, Western agricultural businesses (both family farmers and farm conglomerates) produce food products and make them available to people to satiate their hunger. Being preoccupied with the hunger problem, the Third World has now rightly placed emphasis on food production. But by combining this primary objective of adequate food production with the additional objective of providing employment to the teeming millions as agricultural laborers, leaders of the Third World are actually preventing their enterprising farmers from achieving high productivity. These leaders should follow the strategies employed by the developed world and move the surplus manpower away from agricultural fields into industrial and commercial businesses. I will discuss more on this item in a later section.
Growing India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Dr. Abdul Kalam, a past president of India, has been advocating the vision of a developed India in twenty to thirty years. [15] It is important to analyze the implications of that goal explicitly and quantitatively. We may start an analysis with the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council’s estimate of India's gross domestic product at $902 billion, (2006-07) as the basis. [16] If India grows its GDP by 13.8 times, it brings the country to the year 2005 US GDP level of $12.4 trillion (in about 30 years). Since Indian population is about three times that of the US, Indian GDP has to grow to $37 trillion (41.4 times its 2006-07 level) so that Indians reach the per capita level of the US (2005). [17] Since the US is the leader of the developed world, this GDP target will be highly likely to be accepted as an excellent measure of development. Of course, Indian political leaders will definitely point to the wide disparities in income distribution in the
When India India India
DominicWilson and Roopa Purushothaman [18]
in the Goldman Sachs Global Economic Paper #99 of 1st October 2003 estimate
that “India has the potential to show the fastest growth over the next
30 and 50 years.”
Tushar
Poddar and Eva Yi [19] in the Goldman Sachs Global
Economics Paper No: 152 of January 22, 2007 predict, “India’s high growth rate since 2003 represents a
structural increase rather than simply a cyclical upturn.” These authors
project India India India India
At a 10 percent compounded annual growth rate, it takes nearly
forty years to accomplish a growth of 41.4 times. See Figure 3. That is indeed stupendous
progress! Of course, it takes 49 years (i.e. just eight more years) to
get about 41.4 times growth at 8 percent rate in stead of the 10 percent rate. Using the
Goldman Sachs reports, India Daily [21] summarized, “If the recent growth of productivity level
will be maintained it would help India to sustain the 8% growth
until 2020.
By that year, India India
Figure 3: GDP Growth by 10% annually takes it to about $40
Trillion in Forty Years.
Figure 4: Projected Decline of
Indian Agricultural or Farm Labor as India Becomes a Developed Country.
According to a report on a web site [24] data released for the year 2006-2007, India's GDP grew at an impressive 9.2 per cent. The share of different sectors of the economy in India's GDP is as follows: Agriculture - 18.5 per cent, Industry - 26.4 per cent, and Services - 55.1 per cent. The fact that the service sector now accounts for more than half the GDP is a milestone in India's economic history and takes it closer to the fundamentals of a developed economy. At the time of independence, agriculture occupied the major share of GDP while the contribution of services was relatively very less.
Laveesh Bhandari [25] writes, “There were 141.1 million hectares of net sown area as per the Ministry of Agriculture in 2000-01. There were 127.3 million cultivators and 106.8 million agriculture labourers as per the Census of India.” The number of cultivators has to decrease to about 4 million in a developed India. The rest of the 123 million cultivators and most of the 106 million agriculture laborers would have to move out of the land and into knowledge professions. With a $37 trillion dollar economy in a developed India, and with a 1% share by agriculture (i.e. $0.37 trillion), the 4 million agricultural entrepreneurs will have average annual earnings of nearly $100,000.
A McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) study [26] titled "The 'Bird of Gold' predicts that by 2025 the “middle class in India will have grown almost 12 times, from 50 million today to 583 million. Over 23 million Indians will become the country's wealthiest citizens.” The overall economic growth will lead to a decline in the deprived segment from 54 per cent of the population in 2005 to 22 percent by 2025 benefiting India's poorest people. The report shows that 291 million people will move out of poverty during a period while 322 million people will be added to the country's population. In effect, India will have 465 million fewer poor people by 2025 if the poverty rate remains at 2005 levels.
While inaugurating the campus of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [27] said, “Industrialisation is vital for economic development and the broader social transformation of India even if it throws up challenges like the alienation of working class, environment damage and displacement of people.” "It is only through rapid industrialisation that we can find meaningful solution to the problem of mass unemployment, underdevelopment," the prime minister said.
Education is Key to Development
A developed India India
The 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System was developed
in response to a growing need for a universal occupational classification
system in the US. [29] “Such a classification system allows government agencies
and private industry to produce comparable data. Users of occupational data
include government program managers, industrial and labor relations
practitioners, students considering career training, job seekers, vocational
training schools, and employers wishing to set salary scales or locate a new
plant. It is used by federal agencies collecting occupational data, providing a
means to compare occupational data across agencies. It is designed to cover all
occupations in which work is performed for pay or profit, reflecting the
current occupational structure in the United States
Most Indians recognize the value
of education as seen in the 61st National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) [32],
which reported that the expenditure on tuition and other educational fee rose
to nearly three times over its 1999-2000 level and in urban areas reached 2.5
times its earlier period. The reliance on private tutors and coaching centers
has also increased. This is a strong indicator that people are ready to forsake
unskilled avocations in preference to knowledge based and skill intensive jobs
for their children.
Plan Horizon
The possibility that India India India
Using US Economic Sectoral
Distributions as Guide to Development in India
Table 1: Contributions by various sectors to the US Gross Domestic Product (2005 data) [33]
Contribution by Sector
|
Billions of US Dollars
|
Percent of National GDP
|
Agriculture,
forestry, and fishing
|
119
|
0.96
|
Mining
|
214
|
1.73
|
Utilities
|
239
|
1.93
|
Construction
|
594
|
4.79
|
Durable Goods,
Manufacturing
|
868
|
7.00
|
Nondurable
goods, manufacturing
|
628
|
5.06
|
Wholesale
trade
|
733
|
5.91
|
Retail
trade
|
829
|
6.69
|
Transportation
and warehousing
|
362
|
2.92
|
Information
|
578
|
4.66
|
Finance
and Insurance
|
1,012
|
8.16
|
Real
estate, rental, leasing
|
1,563
|
12.60
|
Professional
and technical services
|
862
|
6.95
|
Management
of companies
|
231
|
1.86
|
Administrative
and waste services
|
375
|
3.02
|
Educational
services
|
113
|
0.91
|
Healthcare
and social assistance
|
864
|
6.97
|
Arts,
entertainment and recreation
|
118
|
0.95
|
Accommodation
and food services
|
338
|
2.73
|
Other
services
|
295
|
2.38
|
Government
|
1,475
|
11.90
|
TOTAL US
GDP (2005)
|
12,400
|
100
|
In order to reinforce these points, the distribution
of US US
Table 2: Employees (both full time and part
time) in various industries in the US
Industry Title
|
Thousands
|
Percent
|
All industries
|
141,218
|
100.00
|
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and
hunting
|
1,473
|
1.04
|
Mining
|
564
|
0.40
|
Utilities
|
554
|
0.39
|
Construction
|
7,567
|
5.36
|
Manufacturing
|
14,328
|
10.15
|
Wholesale trade
|
5,850
|
4.14
|
Retail trade
|
15,763
|
11.16
|
Transportation and warehousing
|
4,379
|
3.10
|
Information
|
3,079
|
2.18
|
Finance and insurance
|
6,101
|
4.32
|
Real estate and rental and leasing
|
2,207
|
1.56
|
Professional and business services
|
17,384
|
12.31
|
Educational services
|
2,911
|
2.06
|
Health care and social assistance
|
15,021
|
10.64
|
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
|
1,981
|
1.40
|
Accommodation and food services
|
11,027
|
7.81
|
Other services, except government
|
6,901
|
4.89
|
Government
|
24,128
|
17.09
|
Since its population is about three times
as large as that of the US India
Table 3: Projection of Indian employment by
industry in a developed India
Industry Title
|
Thousands
|
Percent
|
All industries
|
423,654
|
100.00
|
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and
hunting
|
4,419
|
1.04
|
Mining
|
1,692
|
0.40
|
Utilities
|
1,662
|
0.39
|
Construction
|
22,701
|
5.36
|
Manufacturing
|
42,984
|
10.15
|
Wholesale trade
|
17,550
|
4.14
|
Retail trade
|
47,289
|
11.16
|
Transportation and warehousing
|
13,137
|
3.10
|
Information
|
9,237
|
2.18
|
Finance and insurance
|
18,303
|
4.32
|
Real estate and rental and leasing
|
6,621
|
1.56
|
Professional and business services
|
52,152
|
12.31
|
Educational services
|
8,733
|
2.06
|
Health care and social assistance
|
45,063
|
10.64
|
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
|
5,943
|
1.40
|
Accommodation and food services
|
33,081
|
7.81
|
Other services, except government
|
20,703
|
4.89
|
Government
|
72,384
|
17.09
|
This shift in the economy in its stride
will also address the needs for safety and security -
the second basic need in Maslow’s Hierarchy - almost as a byproduct. When, unlike the
case now, the deep divide between those who can satisfy their basic needs and
those who cannot, is bridged by equipping citizens with knowledge and skills. Internal
peace and security can be maintained relatively easily as the numbers of
dispossessed get smaller. (The number of unemployed people available for
demonstrations, bus burnings, dharnas,
bandhs, and rasta rokos will be small!) Here again, the experience of the
developed countries provides justification for this inference.
Common People Need Opportunities to Move up the Ladder
TheGoal State
Once the nation produces enough food for
its population (and some more for storage and possible export), there is not a
great deal of room in the agricultural and food sectors as the elasticity of
demand for food is limited. Once hunger is satisfied, people cannot consume
twice or thrice as much food. People will use their additional incomes to
satisfy their higher level needs some of which have a higher elasticity of
demand.
Indian Express [36] in an editorial said,
“What big industry does well is big industry, what rural India needs in this
context are jobs created by industry — factory employment is the best route for
unskilled, poorly literate labour to go up the earnings and economic security
ladder — and such jobs would mean changing local socio-economic structures.
There’s little point wanting the impossibility of keeping villages structurally
intact and simultaneously bringing mass economic upliftment to them. Rural
business hubs sound nice. But factories are where jobs and taxable entities
will be found.” The argument in the above editorial, viz., the jobs are where
the factories and businesses are, is quite valid, leaving the otherwise
redundant city versus rural comparison for now.
Poddar and Yi [37] “estimate a massive 700 million people (roughly equivalent to the
entire current population of Europe) will move to cities by 2050. This will
have significant implications for demand for urban infrastructure, real estate,
and services.” Indian Express as well as the duo of Poddar and Yi may
rethink their positions on this “move to cities.” The current population of Europe is well developed but is not located in dozens of
cities. They are literally spread over a wide continent with many cities,
towns, and clusters of villages. There are 74 cities in Europe with a
population of more than one million. [38] If we count smaller urban areas, there
are 28,830 cities in Europe. [39] If India were to follow this urbanization
model of Europe, the country need not focus on only a dozen mega-cities like
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, but it may develop
several thousand cities and towns to bring urban amenities to most communities.
It is a challenge for community and economic planners to create a
city-like infrastructure in small towns for businesses to thrive and to benefit
700 million (currently rural) people.
Of course, further examination of the US development model shows that factory jobs
alone are not the panacea for a developed India US
It is estimated that “there are 100 million knowledge workers in the US
alone.” [40] In a developed India, with three times the population of the US,
there should be 300 million knowledge workers. These knowledge workers are
created by knowledge centers, viz., the universities, colleges, polytechnics,
vocational schools, industrial training institutes (ITI), and training centers.
[41] Knowledge is the means to develop
products and services as ends while one considers the basic needs of humans. As
people move to the highest rungs on the Maslow’s need ladder, knowledge
(intellectual pursuit) itself becomes the end.
Common People Need Opportunities to Move up the Ladder
Use of advanced
and emerging technologies such as the Internet, communication satellites,
submarine fiber optic cable, and wireless telephones helped the growth of the
Indian economy in the last decade. But, markets do not necessarily ensure
that the benefits of increased efficiency of the production system are shared
by all citizens. Countries must be prepared to embrace the policies needed, and
in the case of the poorest, countries may need the support of the international
community as well. The salvation for
the bottom of the ladder is at the middle of the ladder. Governments and
businesses have an obligation to create opportunities for people to move to the
middle of the ladder by creating jobs there. Knowledge, i.e. education, literacy,
skills, and abilities, supplies the motive power to scale
that ladder.
Since
economic development means the creation of wealth, there will be several groups
that look for self interest. The owners of capital want to increase their
holdings. The intermediaries like political leaders, managers, and operatives
will like to increase their personal wealth, influence, and control. Those who
have the negotiating advantage may attempt to influence the value systems of
recipients. Since mankind is not perfect in terms of their motives, ethics, and
values, national economic development efforts may not automatically translate
into social development. Indians at the bottom of the pyramid will have to be
vigilant. The greatest strength they have is the democratic right, which they should
use wisely, carefully, and judiciously. They have three imperatives: 1) Allow
revolutionary accomplishments through knowledge-based meritocracy, 2) Demand an
equitable share in the benefits of development so that generations of citizens will
gain great opportunities, and 3) Choose leadership with foresight and integrity
to carry out the nation’s assigned mission.
Indira Hirway says, “[The
rich] are bound to resist this, particularly when they are dominant in village
panchayats, which have the major task of planning and implementing the
programme. On the other hand, the NREGA [National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act] is a demand-driven programme, the success of which depends largely on the
demand made by the poor. And since the poor are weak, scattered and
unorganised, they lack collective strength to demand work by way of right. What
needs to be ensured, therefore, is that the planning under the EGS [Employment
Guarantee Scheme] is sound. Sound planning does not mean listing works based on
the demand for assets by people. It means a sound long-term plan prepared on
the basis of long-term needs of the local economy, in consultation with experts
at the village and district levels; multi-level planning as and when necessary;
and dovetailing of works with ongoing programmes to pool and use all available
resources to supplement and complement each other.” [42]
Siddharth Dube states, “A major
cause of the desperate state of rural India today is that generations of
political leaders have refused to accept that equity and prosperity across our
largely agrarian society are a must for India to progress.” [43]
The
With a
starting GDP of about $902 billion (in 2005), India India
Part 2: Planning to Become a Developed
Country
Planning is Key to Development
The Planning Commission of India chaired by the Prime Minister is the
central planning body in India
T. N. Srinivasan, Samuel C.
Park Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale
University Soviet Union is out of fashion and counterproductive. But
the fact that the United
States
It was stated
during the introduction of the 73rd and 74th Amendments
to the Constitution of India, [48] “devolution by the State Legislature of powers and
responsibilities upon the Municipalities with respect to
preparation of plans for economic development and social justice, and
for the implementation of development schemes as may be required to enable
them to function as institutions of self-government …” On the Committee for district planning.- “There
shall be constituted in every State at the district level a
District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by the
Panchayats and the Municipalities in the district and to prepare
a draft development plan for the district as a whole.” In a
subsequent article, The Southasian was critical of further amendments that
would dilute the 73rd and 74th amendments. [49] A Harvard study group [50] analyzing health issues also called on the
state government to “develop local planning”
as it would assist in better healthcare. While discussing various measures to bring
justice to the development of the Telangana region, C.H. Hanumantha Rao, Chairman, Centre for Economic and Social
Studies, Hyderabad [51] writes in The Hindu, that the state should “constitute
regional planning committees consisting of elected representatives as well as
experts.” In lieu of detailed plans
and a thorough deliberation by local people and elected representatives, unfortunately,
state leaders and planning commission appear to come to ad hoc budgetary
approvals as chronicled in various newspaper reports. [52]
The former Chief
Minister of the State of Andhra Pradesh and the current Member of Parliament
(MP) stated at a meeting of local elected representatives and officials of the
district, [53] “rural development was a very big ministry and there was vast
scope to get more funds under Prime Minister's Grameena Sadak Yojana, Indira
Awas Yojana and old age pensions.” This is another example of mere opportunism (note
the phrase, “more funds”) as central projects engage in doling out and spending
funds without an initial grassroots level planning for development projects originated
at the local level.
A report on the web site of the Centre for
Science and Environment [54] states, “most of the states have failed to
set up district planning committees (DPC’s), a mandatory requirement to avail
funds under the scheme [Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF)]. Funds will be
transferred to the district directly from the ministry based on district
development plans drawn by panchayats and DPCs, and approved by state
governments.” [55]
The important
conclusion one arrives at is that the ministries and the planning commission
bring down several disparate schemes to the local level rather than encourage
and persuade the development of comprehensive local plans. They may be working at
cross purposes. For example, in backward districts with scarcity of water
resources, agricultural developments may not be the right solution at all. A
proper plan may take advantage of the situation and circumstances and
completely abandon such unproductive and unprofitable schemes in those areas. On
the contrary, the farming and farm laborer communities, of their own volition,
may choose a plan to redirect available funds to train local people into the
new work force required by a developed India
The central government launches myriad
schemes from the nation’s capital without realizing that such remotely controlled
initiatives are top heavy and their effectiveness at the local level could be miniscule.
[56] On the other hand, a holistic approach based on local development might
improve the efficacy of both planning and overall development. Of course,
besides funding, the central government should provide other resources, such as
knowledge, guidance, and tools for local plans as the former is far more
endowed with financial, managerial, and knowledge resources than the panchayats.
Bibek Debroy [57] points out in an Op-Ed column in the Indian Express, that the UPA [United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre] has eight so-called flagship programmes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, Total Sanitation Campaign, National Rural Health Mission, Integrated Child Development Services, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Then there is Bharat Nirman, Debroy says. He wonders whether any new flagships are being launched.Once plans are developed by planners, coordinated by policy makers (say the IAS officers), and approved by political leaders, there is need for program execution officers, program managers, and project managers [58] in India as opposed to asking Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to manage development programs and projects. At the district and panchayat level, trained program and project managers may be able to monitor, manage, and report on projects better than the current set up.
Commenting on the 2006-2007 budget, Laveesh Bhandari [59] says, “Rajiv Gandhi’s famous statement that only 15 paisa out of 100 [15 percent] reaches the poor has since been supplemented by many studies reporting eventual percolation to the intended beneficiaries ranging from 5 to 50 per cent.” Bhandari goes on to say, “the only good way to measure their success is to ask the beneficiaries whether and how they have benefited.” “Many mistakenly believe that this is why it takes many months to get the results. However, the real reason for the delay typically, is poor planning and logistics, the inability to use new technologies, and unfocused design of the evaluation exercise.”
It is reasonable to expect that local level planning and monitoring will address some of the leakages of funds. Web based planning and project monitoring tools will be essential to maintain currency, accuracy, and accountability. These aspects are addressed in the Strategic Planning section later on in this white paper.
It is well chronicled that Andhra Pradesh “… developed a twenty-year plan for the state called VISION-2020.” [60] “… the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu launched a comprehensive effort to achieve poverty alleviation, economic development and social transformation in the region through participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and control of resource application beginning at the grass root level of village, touching upon the other intermediate nodes of local self-government structure, culminating at the district administration level.” But the execution of the VISION-2020 programs suffered as the development activities were carried out by various departments concerning both short term and long term plans from the state capital. According to this report, “The methods used in developing policies and plans and establishing goals and objectives for the Villages, Panchayats, Mandal and the Constituency became easy to comprehend to even rural populace.” It is interesting to note in this report the phrase “establishing goals and objectives for the villages,” but not by the villagers.
Writing in the Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor [61] points out that India tried to attack malnutrition with schemes like the midday meal and Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS), while the solutions lay in holistic treatment of the problem. Kapoor also points out, “some eighty per cent of the budgetary allocation of Rs 4543 crore is spent on the staff salaries.”
Dr. M. Ramakrishna Reddy [62] writes, “The centralised exercise of drawing up plans and devolving resources to the states on more or less uniform pattern on certain criteria set forth for the purpose has not been conducive to meet the felt needs of all the regions of the country.” He continues, “It is astounding to observe that a population of the size of 361 million almost trebled itself in the next fifty years to scale a stupendous 1,027 million or 1.027 billion, at the turn of the century!” It may be noted once again that local populations have had neither a say in the plan formulation nor did they have an opportunity to debate the actions and consequences.
Dr. Saroja Rama Rao [63] says, “The Planning Commission has been insisting for improvement of Local Area Planning under 73rd and 74th Amendment of Constitution of India.” Again, it is noteworthy that they are not asking for planning by the local people.
The Andhra Pradesh state organization charts [64] indicate that planning for the local communities (Panchayati Raj) is done at the state level and not at the local level by the communities themselves. A news report [65] says, “The Annual Plan for Andhra Pradesh for the year 2006-07 was finalized at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.” It does not appear from this news item that the one-year plan is a part of any long range strategic plan. It also appears that guidance that “Panchayati Raj Institutions should be revived,” is being given after the one-year plan is approved and financed rather than during the plan formulation. Panchayati Raj Institutions should be entrusted with the task of developing their plans in concert with higher level governments and then executing them in a collaborative fashion.
Stressing the need to plan from village level at the District Planning Committee meeting in Srikakulam, Mr. Yarrannaidu, MP, wanted Telugu copies of the Act to be distributed to leaders at the grassroots level. Since agriculture, education, health and poverty alleviations were the priority items for the 11th Plan, he said that these should be kept in mind while preparing district level plan. [66]
Zilla Parishad Chairperson and Chairman of District Planning Council T. Kavitha said at the DPC meeting that decentralisation of planning would help people as the local officials and elected representatives would prepare plans based on their priorities and villages and municipalities would get the required funds and would have the freedom to spend funds according to their priorities. She further added that the plans, prepared gram panchayat-wise, should be submitted to the State and Central governments in due time. She urged the officials to prepare village-wise plans in consultation with the local elected representatives. [67]
Tribals from Borra gram panchayat have emerged triumphant with the Government issuing orders for shelling down 20 per cent of the net profit from the million-year-old Borra caves for the development of villages in the periphery. This arrangement is an example of local people making their resources available for the tourism industry and benefiting from it for local development. [68]
Prabhat Patnaik writes, “WE observe two simultaneously existing paradoxes these days: first, even as planning, for all practical purposes, is being given a burial at the national level, with the eleventh plan document, whatever its worth, not even ready six months into the plan period, there is much emphasis, at the level of the same central government and the same Planning Commission, on detailed planning at the district level. Secondly, even as there is enormous centralisation of powers and resources away from the state governments and towards the Centre, there is simultaneously much emphasis, again at the level of the same central government and the same Planning Commission, on decentralisation of powers and resources away from the state governments towards the panchayats and urban local bodies. Thus, one paradoxical combination, of “no-planning” with “excessive-planning”, is matched by another paradoxical combination, of “centralization” with “decentralization”.” Patnaik goes on to say, “They have little capacity to do meaningful planning or resource management on the scale they are being asked to do. As more resources are put into their hands, and as more planning responsibilities are entrusted to them, they are forced willy-nilly into accepting the services of private consultants for fulfilling these tasks.” [69]
Patnaik’s points should persuade us to develop tools that make planning easier. I argue in this paper that web based information technology tools with templates should transform planning into making selections of parameters and values based on the best judgments of local representatives of people. The key point to note is that the planning by the Center, the states, the districts, and the panchayats should be a collaborative process. Utilizing the help of specialists and software applications in the planning process is in no way abdicating the responsibility of elected representatives of the people at various levels.
A brainchild of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly’s former Speaker K.R. Suresh, a pilot project was started to assign management graduates for assisting legislators in finalizing their constituency plans. [70] This project may be a good beginning to move towards panchayat planning. Of course, as stated earlier in this white paper, there is need for collaboration among various panchayats and various hierarchical levels while the plans are developed and executed.
United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) [71] was a program, which dealt with strengthening decentralization and had three objectives: 1) Promote effective community management, 2) Strengthen local governance institutions, and 3) Support effective devolution of power. This program called for “… more effective social mobilisation, improved access to information, and greater sensitivity among development administrators.” It also required that the poor and disadvantaged groups have a voice in the setting of priorities and in the design of programmes. Efforts must be made to protect the rights of the least advantaged and to ensure effective participation by all groups. Elected officials of local bodies need to be better informed, better aware of their rights and responsibilities, and more capable of taking decisions. At the same time, it pointed out the essentiality of proper systems of monitoring, reporting, accountability, transparency and efficiency in the use of resources.
The main challenges identified by this programme were:
·
Making local governance bodies more representative,
effective, and equity-oriented
·
Developing local area planning systems that reflect
the priorities of the community, particularly the poor
·
Developing local capacity to enhance the quality and
availability of basic social services
·
Setting up monitoring and information-sharing systems
to ensure that resources meant for development are used effectively
·
Coordinating activities of civil society organisations
and elected local bodies, and
·
Strengthening operational capabilities of local
bodies.
Effective
community management especially at the local level is critical for improving the
quality and cost effectiveness of basic social services. Community members who
are aware of their needs and informed about the availability of resources are
more capable of effective monitoring and ensuring accountability of the service
providers. Strengthening local governance institutions requires developing
decision-making skills among members, introducing more effective systems of
monitoring, creating transparency, ensuring full participation, and
strengthening accountability.
“Drawing on the approach
to the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the overarching goal of the new UNDAF [72], to
be framed around the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals], is "promoting
social, economic and political inclusion" with the objective of ‘capacity
development at local level to improve the quality of life for the most
disadvantaged women and girls.’”
As reported on the
Ministry Of Human Resource Development,
Department Of Education web site [73], the population of scheduled
castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) (1991 Census data) was 206 million or
accounting for nearly 25 percent of the population. Furthermore, 20 percent of that population
was between the ages of 0-6 years. That means over 40 million SC and ST
population will be in the age group 15-21 in 2006. As stated in an earlier
section, a developed India
Pulling Asunder
The governments of India and West Bengal had found it difficult to move several
thousand people from their strong attachment to land despite the needs of
economic and industrial developments and the allure of future knowledge based
and skill intensive jobs. [74] Since they are finding it difficult even as they
get out of the gate, it is unimaginable that these governments can convince several
hundred million people (64 percent of the people in agriculture) to move progressively
to the promised knowledge fields in the next forty years. In all these
situations, the main impediment is that the decision makers and planners are
situated either in Delhi West Bengal has a plan to have an automobile plant in
their locality and reached an amicable understanding with the Tatas, the events
might have turned out to be positively different. Perhaps, a local council would
have determined to build a residential community with the auto plant at its
core and with many ancillary industries and support services for the community.
A thriving community would have educated and trained willing children of local
people to staff the needs of the evolving knowledge enterprise. The community
might have seen the divestiture of their land as an investment in the future of
their children. Despite the bitter experience of Singur, the essential lesson
that planning and certain decision making should be devolved to the local
communities does not appear to have been learnt by the governments so far.
Referring to a somewhat similar case, Jaithirth
Rao [75] says, ‘The tribals can use their income to educate their children
and move to occupations and habitations of their choice. Giving them a fixed
asset like land gives them no choice but to be stuck there and educate their
children in non-existent or ill-run government schools.” The essence is choice ¾ who makes it and for whom.
Any decision making, planning, and prioritization from Delhi
An Andhra Pradesh state announcement [77] says, “The State
Government will declare the SEZ as a local authority, which shall replace the
existing Panchayats. The SEZ Company will act as SEZ Managers in Designing,
Planning, Financing, Building, Operating and Marketing the Zones to investors.
These developers (herein after referred to as SEZ Company) will act as SEZ
Managers in Designing, Planning, Financing, Building, Operating and Marketing
the zones to investors.” Once again, this is an unfortunate example where local
panchayats, whose land is taken away, are also taken out of the planning
process. The general assumption is that the SEZs are highly complex ventures
and local panchayat leaders may not be able to operate them. But, in reality
and in other circumstances, similar local leaders are elected as MPs and MLAs,
become ministers and run national enterprises (sometimes very successfully),
such as Indian Railways and other public sector enterprises. Indian government
has to give up the father knows best
approach! Let the panchayat leaders grow with training wheels to start with!
Addressing a
national workshop on `Urban Reforms Agenda,' M. Rajamani, Mission Director,
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Joint Secretary of
Municipal & Urban Development Department, Government of India stated, [78] “The Centre
has asked States to enact a `community participation law' to introduce area
sabhas below ward committees for people's participation at grassroot level and
`municipality disclosure law' as mandatory reforms for utilising Mission
funds.” Community participation should be at the planning and execution stages
so that they are intimately involved during the stage of defining the mission as
well as its execution.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
launched the Mahatma Gandhi Backward Regions Development Fund (MGBRDF), a $1
billion (Rs.50 billion) project. [79] “Aimed at removing regional imbalances
and making the rural poor self-reliant, the scheme will cover 11 districts in
Assam. That would include all districts where the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Programme is being implemented.” The key aspects of this
program are “participatory planning, decision-making and implementation and
monitoring.”
Velamur Rajagopal,
former Director, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute [80] informed the
newspaper The Hindu, “Tirupati can be potential
coconut-based industrial hub.” because about 104,000 hectares was under
coconut plantation in the State with an average yield of about 11,99,311 nuts.
This is important information from the point of view of development. The
various communities where these plantations are situated have to consider this
potential for a coconut-based business in their comprehensive plans. Of course,
there is the need for a seat at the planning table (or in a conference call)
for technical experts like Rajagopal as they bring the knowledge and can also
effect horizontal coordination among the various communities with similar
interests.
Diverse paths but Same Goal
Peoples seek political independence so
that they can make decisions for themselves and control their own destinies.
Peoples who feel that they are not getting their fair share, demand separate
states. [81] Economies of scale dictate optimal sized groupings for
governments. Currently, the Planning Commission of India [82] based in Delhi is
“… charged with the responsibility of making
assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources,
formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilisation of resources
and determining priorities.” Perhaps, what is
required is collaborative planning with several levels participating in the
planning process by bringing in different perspectives and ownerships to the
process.
Ahluwalia [83] says, “Continuation of the growth pattern observed in the 1990s, with a
region accounting for one third of the population and the largest concentration
of poverty deriving very little benefit, while the rest of the country enjoys
robust growth, present obvious problems. It will exacerbate regional inequality
with further concentration of poverty in a particular region, which is surely a
recipe for political instability. The development strategy for the future must
therefore ensure that the slow growing states accelerate to a respectable
growth of GSDP [Gross State Domestic Product] …”
It is becoming clear that for political
stability and for a Developed
State US Delhi
Ahluwalia [84] continues, “With
liberalization of investment control and much stronger pressure of competition,
including especially competition from imports, investment size began to be
determined on economic grounds and location also was decided to a much greater
extent on the basis of economic considerations. It is very likely that in
practice this led to a reallocation of investment in favour of states perceived
as having better infrastructure facilities, better labour skills and work
culture, and a more investor friendly environment. The resulting reallocation
of investment in the post-reforms period could lead to a substantial increase
in investment in the better performing states, and a consequent increase in
their growth rate, with a corresponding reduction in investment in less well
endowed or well governed states and a deceleration in their growth.” This is
where strategic planning, periodic monitoring, and replanning come in handy. As
people realize that they are lagging their neighbors in development, they will
elect more capable leaders (MPs and MLAs) and demand better plans and
execution.
In his interview with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta, Economist and writer and Nobel Laureate
Joseph Stiglitz [85] said in the context of rural infrastructure, “It is the
delivery that is more important than the money.” He cited the “question of
paying teachers who don’t teach, who don’t even show up in classrooms.” He
stressed the critical nature of investments in rural infrastructure, like
roads and irrigation. Obviously, when planning and the execution of those plans
is handed over to local communities, the teachers will be expected to be responsive,
show up, and shape up as they will be under the local microscope and
micro-scalpel.
The foregoing argument does not mean that
the goals of individual regions are necessarily identical in terms of production
of goods and services. For example, it is possible that one area may focus on
certain metals manufacturing while another may decide on research into pharmaceuticals.
Each geographic area develops in industrial and commercial areas where it is
stronger or “well endowed.” But in the end, balance has to be achieved in terms
of most people moving to the middle of the Malsow’s need ladder. People of any
region, be it a state or a district, or a village, are very unlikely to choose
or accept that they be consigned to the bottom of the ladder. Those people have
a right to seek their due place at the middle of the Maslow’s hierarchy but
they have an obligation and perhaps a right to prepare a strategic plan to
achieve their goals and execute the same. Progress is not handed to them on a
gold platter but opportunities are given so that they make considered and
deliberate choices and harvest the fruits of their own labor.
Stakeholders in the Development Process
Beginning with the government of India , there are many major and minor players
who could make India India
In an ideal and desirable situation, plans
are developed at the national, state, district, and panchayat levels. Higher
level planners provide guidance to lower level planners in terms of resource
mobility, technical knowledge, emerging opportunities, and hidden pitfalls.
Plans are coordinated between resource suppliers and receivers as well as
between neighboring or impacting constituencies. This may call for a great
degree of collaboration in planning. A brief description of Collaborative
Planning is presented in Appendix 1.
It is expected that there will be
considerable iteration and interactivity initially as well as periodically
between planners at various levels. But, it is expected that the process will
settle down after a few iterations and thereafter, the planning process and the
execution of plans will move on until they are perturbed by external events. An
initial target list of sub-goals for a constituency may be obtained by dividing
the national goals in proportion to the population. In the second stage, the rate
of progress towards the goals can be adjusted to accommodate the degree of advancement
or backwardness of a constituency. There may be negotiated exchanges of
resources and benefits. Certain means and goals may be changed based on the
suitability or otherwise of a constituency for a given business or industry.
For example, a constituency may be highly suitable for coal mining but neither
for agriculture nor for fishing. A hydroelectric dam may require the sacrifice
of land and habitation from a constituency to yield greater benefits in
another. In such a situation, a method of sharing the benefits and compensation
for the losses can be negotiated between the two constituencies as part of the
planning process. Some constituents may decide to migrate to other
constituencies in their pursuit of economic gains in cases where local
constituency fails to offer them their desired individual development.
As stated earlier, it is the small,
medium, and big private businesses that ultimately bring large scale economic
development, create jobs, and produce goods and services for the citizens.
Hence business leaders will play key roles in the planning and then the
execution of their business plans. A business leader might like to invest in an
automobile plant, or a power plant, or a business college. The location of such
a business will have certain impacts, which may be considered as positive or
negative by the leaders representing the local people. National, state, and
local leaders will perhaps welcome a venture based on its positive impacts and
implications to their communities. When the local people are involved in the
planning process, the plans are likely to be harmonious to peoples’ lives and
are highly likely to be welcomed. Realizing that the people of the region and
through them the district, the state, and the country will benefit in some
proportion, the plans are likely to receive approval. Local planners, in
coordination with higher level planners, are likely to market their locations
to attract a variety of businesses knowing that they have a need to develop in
order to increase their own Gross Domestic Local Product (GDLP), the GDSP (or
GSDP), and the GDP of the nation in that order.
Setting Plan Goals Progressively Down the Hierarchy
India Andhra Pradesh
In earlier sections, I discussed the need
for a long range strategic plan to get to a developed India
Andhra
Pradesh (AP) State has a population of 76 million. [86] AP State
economic survey presents information useful for planning activities. The GSDP
(or GDSP) is expected to touch Rs.2,02,117 Crores (i. e. approximately $400
million). Per Capita Income at 1999-2000 prices for the year 2006-07 is
estimated at Rs.22,521 as against the quick estimate of Rs.21,277 for the year
2005-06 registering a growth of 5.85%. Gross Fixed Capital Formation has shown
a growth of 17.07% during 2004-05 and as percentage of GSDP, it works out to
24.18. The Sectoral composition of GSDP in AP during 2006-07 is Rs.53,859
Crores (26.6%) primary sector, Rs.43,611 Crores (21.6%) secondary sector and
Rs.1,04,647 Crores (51.8%) for tertiary sector. [87]
One of the
northern districts in Andhra Pradesh state is the Vizianagaram district with a
population of 22.5 lakhs (2.25 million) according to the census of the year
2001. [88] As an initial step in setting the goals for the state and the
district, I prorated the Indian goals (refer to Table 3) and generated Table 4.
Generating a table of this type will have two critical effects. Firstly, the
local political leaders and citizens of the district of Vizianagaram will
realize ¾ more
appropriately, visualize ¾ that in a developed India
Table 4:
Projecting Employment in Andhra Pradesh State and Vizianagaram District in a
Developed India.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full-time and part-time
Employees
(Thousands)
|
Developed
|
|
US for comparison
|
Developed
|
Developed
Vizianagaram
District
|
|
Industry Title
|
Thousands
|
Percent
|
Thousands
|
Thousands
|
Thousands
|
|
All industries
|
423,654
|
100.00
|
141,218
|
32,198
|
932
|
|
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting
|
4,419
|
1.04
|
1,473
|
336
|
10
|
|
Mining
|
1,692
|
0.40
|
564
|
129
|
4
|
|
Utilities
|
1,662
|
0.39
|
554
|
126
|
4
|
|
Construction
|
22,701
|
5.36
|
7,567
|
1,725
|
50
|
|
Manufacturing
|
42,984
|
10.15
|
14,328
|
3,267
|
95
|
|
Wholesale trade
|
17,550
|
4.14
|
5,850
|
1,334
|
39
|
|
Retail trade
|
47,289
|
11.16
|
15,763
|
3,594
|
104
|
|
Transportation and warehousing
|
13,137
|
3.10
|
4,379
|
998
|
29
|
|
Information
|
9,237
|
2.18
|
3,079
|
702
|
20
|
|
Finance and insurance
|
18,303
|
4.32
|
6,101
|
1,391
|
40
|
|
Real
estate and rental and leasing
|
6,621
|
1.56
|
2,207
|
503
|
15
|
|
Professional and business services
|
52,152
|
12.31
|
17,384
|
3,964
|
115
|
|
Educational services
|
8,733
|
2.06
|
2,911
|
664
|
19
|
|
Health care and social assistance
|
45,063
|
10.64
|
15,021
|
3,425
|
99
|
|
Arts,
entertainment, and recreation
|
5,943
|
1.40
|
1,981
|
452
|
13
|
|
Accommodation and food services
|
33,081
|
7.81
|
11,027
|
2,514
|
73
|
|
Other
services, except government
|
20,703
|
4.89
|
6,901
|
1,573
|
46
|
|
Government
|
72,384
|
17.09
|
24,128
|
5,501
|
159
|
During the
iterative plan development process, district planners might realize that their
district is not well suited for certain industries and professions, and decide
to exchange certain targets for some other professions and industries. In
coordination with the state (through their MLAs) and with the Centre (with
liaison help from their MP’s), they can look for technical guidance and
resource help. They can also market their strengths, again collaboratively with
the state and the centre, and seek private businesses to locate in the
district. Similarly, they can work with Self Help Groups (SHG’s) and
international agencies. It is hoped that local leaders will resort to learning
the art and science of planning, gaining the skills of marketing their
capabilities to investors, and practicing responsible governance as opposed to bothersome
and destructive demonstrations in the streets (like Bandhs, Rasta rokos, and
Dharnas).
Data for a
panchayat in this district is not readily available. Hence, I will take a
typical panchayat with a population of 16,000. As an initial step in setting
the expectations and goals for a typical panchayat in the state and the
district, I prorated once again the Indian and AP state goals based on
population and generated Table 5. This process and Table 5 show to the people
and the leaders of the panchayat that in a developed Table 5: Projected Employment in a typical panchayat in Andhra Pradesh State in a Developed India.
|
Full-time and part-time employees (Thousands)
|
|
|
|
Developed Panchayat in
|
|
Industry Title
|
Number
of people
|
|
All
industries
|
6700
|
|
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and
hunting
|
70
|
|
Mining
|
27
|
|
Utilities
|
26
|
|
Construction
|
359
|
|
Manufacturing
|
680
|
|
Wholesale trade
|
278
|
|
Retail trade
|
748
|
|
Transportation and warehousing
|
208
|
|
Information
|
146
|
|
Finance and insurance
|
289
|
|
Real estate and rental and leasing
|
105
|
|
Professional and business services
|
825
|
|
Educational services
|
138
|
|
Health care and social assistance
|
713
|
|
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
|
94
|
|
Accommodation and food services
|
523
|
|
Other services, except government
|
327
|
|
Government
|
1145
|
Strategic
Planning Process
Table
7: Employed US Persons By Major Occupation, Average For Year 2000 (In
Thousands) And Projected Values For A Developed India.
Delhi
Part 3: Developing a Format for Strategic Planning at the Panchayat Level [103]
India India wanted to become a developed country, those
characteristics that define the economic development of the US (or any other developed country, as an
example, for that matter) can guide India
Usually politicians talk about social goals but it is critical that these social goals are translated into economic goals, which in turn can be converted to goals for the production of goods and services. These last goals will provide products and services that people actually use and benefit from. In a mature society, panchayat level goals span personal goals at the low end and district, state, and national goals progressively on the other end.
Most of the seventy one panchayat presidents who spoke at the zonal meeting wanted Local Administration Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu to make sure that the common problems of villages were solved. [116] The issues raised included water scarcity, lack of transport and medical facilities, a further reduction in power tariff, more funds for emergency use, greater say in implementation of schemes such as the free colour TV and free gas and LPG stove programmes and enhancement of money given to build houses under the Indira Awaz Yojana (IAY). This example shows that panchayat leaders are not involved at the planning level but are forced to seek specific items of aid from higher level elected or government officials. But in reality, their requirements will be covered as part of the means and detailed deliverables as the panchayats enunciate their strategic goals and convert them into economic goals, and physical products and services.
Strategic Planning Format for each District, Sub-district, and Panchayat
(The list is
illustrative and not exhaustive.)
Conclusions and Indian Imperatives
Appendix 2 National
Industrial Classification (NIC) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes
REFERENCES AND ENDNOTES:
[74] http://www.indianexpress.com/story/22066.html
According to Ackoff [90], strategic planning
starts with analyzing the current state of an enterprise. The next step is the
setting up of an end state. The end state reflects the desired future state of
the enterprise. The end state of the enterprise will have certain desired
values for its attributes and characteristics. The means or paths and processes
that will enable the enterprise to move from its current state (attributes and
characteristics) to the final (desired) state in a given time period are then
identified and prescribed. This step is followed by an analysis of the required
resources and implementation schemes. Briefly, these steps constitute the
planning process. For example, creating 300 million knowledge workers in forty
years may be set as a goal for the nation. Intermediate goals for the number of
knowledge workers will be set at various points of time during the forty year
period. The goal of growing Indian GDP to about
$37 trillion in forty years will be at the top, which can be subdivided in
terms of sectoral contributions to that GDP level while satisfying Basic Human
Needs of all citizens. This subdivision can be done through a rigorous
decomposition of goals. Figure 5 shows schematically the process for developing
the subgoals.
Figure 5: Schematic of the Process for Developing Subgoals of a Strategic Plan.
A hypothetical CD Block with a population
of 100,000 people will have 42,000 total employed in various occupations (the
rest of them being children and old people who may not constitute the working
population). 27,000 people (sixty five percent of the 42,000) will be toiling
in agricultural labor if India
Connecting needs, products and services, and industries
Most needs of
people are satisfied by businesses in the agricultural, industrial, and other
sectors. Businesses also provide jobs to people so that they earn wages and
salaries with which they enter the market place to buy the needed and wanted
products and services. However, it is possible that even the basic needs (roti, kapada, pani, bijli, makan, and padai)
of certain citizens of a panchayat, CD Block, and district cannot be satisfied
by the market place directly as these people lack the purchasing power owing to
unemployment or under-employment. These people come under the government’s
social welfare net and successive levels of government take the responsibility
to support them in their needs. The panchayat planners should estimate and
include in their plans the resources needed to support people below the poverty
level (BPL) so that they can assess financial requirements and look for
resources and sources. Panchayat planners should also look at innovative
initiatives to attract new businesses into their localities so that the gross
income of the people in the panchayat increases, income of the panchayat improves,
and the number of people BPL decreases progressively to zero. By estimating
local needs of products and services, panchayat planners can set targets for
local production and imports from or exports to other locales.
In the US India
Unlike in the
developed countries, in India
Niall Fitzgerald and Mandy Cormack [91] describe that the role of business in society is to innovate and deliver products and services to use resources efficiently so that value is created and to conduct operations so that they are performed profitably and accepted by society. Figure 6 shows the Maslow Need Ladder and the products and services that satisfy the needs of people by various industries and businesses. If people have the means to buy products and services, they acquire them directly from the businesses i.e. the market. Governments and philanthropic organizations intercede and try to satisfy the needs of those who do not have the means to satisfy their directly from the market. Figure 7 shows which type of needs are satisfied by the categories of businesses and industries. Figure 8 shows generic and specific models of how people, as employees, contribute their effort into businesses to create products, which are, in turn, used to satisfy the needs of people as customers. The wages and salaries paid by businesses to employees and managers make the people self reliant in satisfying their needs. In modern societies, individual families neither produce every thing they consume nor consume every thing they produce. There are considerable exchanges across geographic (village, panchayat, district, state, national, and international) boundaries. These realities have to be factored when planning is undertaken at any level.
Niall Fitzgerald and Mandy Cormack [91] describe that the role of business in society is to innovate and deliver products and services to use resources efficiently so that value is created and to conduct operations so that they are performed profitably and accepted by society. Figure 6 shows the Maslow Need Ladder and the products and services that satisfy the needs of people by various industries and businesses. If people have the means to buy products and services, they acquire them directly from the businesses i.e. the market. Governments and philanthropic organizations intercede and try to satisfy the needs of those who do not have the means to satisfy their directly from the market. Figure 7 shows which type of needs are satisfied by the categories of businesses and industries. Figure 8 shows generic and specific models of how people, as employees, contribute their effort into businesses to create products, which are, in turn, used to satisfy the needs of people as customers. The wages and salaries paid by businesses to employees and managers make the people self reliant in satisfying their needs. In modern societies, individual families neither produce every thing they consume nor consume every thing they produce. There are considerable exchanges across geographic (village, panchayat, district, state, national, and international) boundaries. These realities have to be factored when planning is undertaken at any level.
Figure
6: Provider Pyramid: Basic Needs Are Satisfied by Various Industries and
Businesses.
Figure 7: Provider Pyramid: Basic Needs and the
Industries That Satisfy Them.
Figure 8: Generic and Specific Models Showing How
Businesses Satisfy Human Needs.
Indian Demographics of Knowledge Workers
Urban communities
start with an advantage when we talk about development. Most modern amenities
are located in urban areas. As I stated earlier, a developed country is characterized
by a knowledge based economy. Currently, urban centers are where knowledge
centers, viz., colleges, universities, polytechnics, industrial training institutes
(ITI), and industrial and corporate houses are located. President Kalam [92] proposed
PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) concept to bring
developments to rural communities. Of the anticipated 300 million knowledge
workers in a developed India India
In Table 4, Agriculture,
forestry, fishing, and hunting are shown in one row. Obviously, this is a major
aggregation. This industry sector can be subdivided into its various components
as shown in a partial list in Table 6. This later table is based on the US
NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes, [96] whereas planners in India, the states, the districts, and
the panchayats may use the Indian SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes
[97] if they are comfortable with them.
Table 6: Illustrative Example of NAICS
Codes and Titles [98]
2002
NAICS Code |
2002
NAICS Title
|
||||
Agriculture,
Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
|
|||||
Crop
Production
|
|||||
Oilseed
and Grain Farming
|
|||||
Soybean
Farming
|
|||||
Soybean
Farming
|
|||||
Oilseed
(except Soybean) Farming
|
|||||
Oilseed
(except Soybean) Farming
|
|||||
Dry
Pea and Bean Farming
|
|||||
Dry
Pea and Bean Farming
|
|||||
Wheat
Farming
|
|||||
Wheat
Farming
|
|||||
Corn
Farming
|
|||||
Corn
Farming
|
|||||
Rice
Farming
|
|||||
Rice
Farming
|
|||||
Other
Grain Farming
|
|||||
Oilseed
and Grain Combination Farming
|
|||||
All
Other Grain Farming
|
|||||
(A small subset is shown here.) Refer
to Appendix 2 for explanations of SIC and NAICS.
Table 7 shows US employment
distribution by major occupations. [99] Data from this table is very revealing.
According to these projections, in a developed India US India
Occupation
|
Employed
US persons
(in
thousands)
|
Percent
of Total US employed
|
Employed
persons in a developed
|
TOTAL
|
135,208
|
100
|
480,000
|
Managerial
and professional specialty
|
40,887
|
30.2
|
145,000
|
Executive, administrative, and
managerial
|
19,774
|
14.6
|
70,000
|
Professional specialty
|
21,113
|
15.6
|
75,000
|
Technical,
sales, and administrative support
|
39,442
|
29.2
|
140,000
|
Technicians and related support
|
4,385
|
3.2
|
15,000
|
Sales
|
16,340
|
12.1
|
58,000
|
Administrative support, including
clerical
|
18,717
|
13.8
|
66,000
|
Service
occupations
|
18,278
|
13.5
|
65,000
|
Private household
|
792
|
0.6
|
3,000
|
Protective service
|
2,399
|
1.8
|
8,600
|
Service, except private household and protective
|
15,087
|
11.2
|
54,000
|
Precision
production, craft, and repair
|
14,882
|
11.0
|
53,000
|
Mechanics and repairers
|
4,875
|
3.6
|
17,000
|
Construction trades
|
6,120
|
4.5
|
22,000
|
Other precision production, craft, and
repair
|
3,887
|
2.9
|
14,000
|
Operators,
fabricators, and laborers
|
18,319
|
13.5
|
65,000
|
Machine operators, assemblers, and
inspectors
|
7,319
|
5.4
|
26,000
|
Transportation and material moving
occupations
|
5,557
|
4.1
|
20,000
|
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,
and laborers
|
5,443
|
4.0
|
19,000
|
Farming,
forestry, and fishing
|
3,399
|
2.5
|
12,000
|
Source: Table was generated from data for the year 2000
in Table 10, Employed persons by
major occupation, annual averages, 1987-2000 (In thousands) from The Bureau of Labor Statistics an agency within the
U.S. Department of Labor. [99]
Table 8: Percent Distribution of All Hours Worked By Men in the Private Business
Sector By Years Of Completed Schooling In 1999.
Years of
schooling
|
0-4
|
5-8
|
9-11
|
12
|
13-15
|
16
|
17+
|
Percent
|
0.9
|
3.4
|
7.4
|
33.9
|
26.2
|
18.9
|
9.3
|
Source: Data for this table is
obtained from Table 17 in reference at [100].
Table
9: Mean Hourly Earnings for Selected Occupations, All Workers, All
Industries, Selected Areas, April
2000.
Occupation
|
Northern
NY-NJCT-
PA
|
ALL
|
$21.18
|
WHITE COLLAR
|
25.44
|
Professional specialty and technical
|
32.30
|
Engineers, architects, and surveyors
|
31.03
|
Mathematical and computer scientists
|
39.31
|
Natural scientists
|
36.39
|
Health related
|
28.05
|
Teachers, college and university
|
48.35
|
Librarians, archivists, and curators
|
32.47
|
Social scientists and urban planners
|
31.64
|
Social, recreation, and religious workers
|
22.41
|
Lawyers and judges
|
47.52
|
Writers,
authors, entertainers, athletes, and
professionals, n.e.c.
|
31.76
|
Technical
|
24.33
|
Executive, administrative, and managerial
|
34.67
|
Executives, administrators, and managers
|
39.93
|
Management related
|
26.57
|
Sales
|
16.06
|
Administrative support, including clerical
|
15.53
|
BLUE COLLAR
|
15.48
|
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors
|
11.26
|
Transportation and material moving
|
16.21
|
Handlers,
equipment cleaners, helpers, and
laborers
|
12.84
|
SERVICE
|
14.02
|
Source: Data abstracted from Table
20 of Reference [101].
By scrutinizing the data and information in Table 4, the local leaders
and people will realize that in the goal state, there can only be 10,000 farming
jobs while in an undeveloped economy 600,000 workers would be toiling in the
fields lacking the knowledge skills. On the brighter side, the panchayat
leaders will be attracted to the opportunity to have 115,000 jobs in the
category “professional and business services” and set their goals accordingly. This
means that the children of farmers and farm workers of today will have to be
oriented towards education leading to those professional careers. Such a
prospect should be welcomed by them even though it could be a pleasant surprise
for them initially.
It is very instructive to note that in the
state of Kerala, the Planning Board [102] has already mooted a proposal to
establish a State Mission Group and to launch a flagship programme to tap
non-conventional resources such as thermal, solar, and wind energy along with
rural electrification to be executed by the civic bodies. The proposal assumes
significance as it comes at a time when the decentralization of power completes
a decade. Although this move towards decentralization is a welcome sign, it is
essential that all facets of planning are decentralized — not selected segments
of a developmental plan developed in a state Capital or in Part 3: Developing a Format for Strategic Planning at the Panchayat Level [103]
Beginning the Planning Process
The initial and goal states will have several attributes and
characteristics with starting and ending values. The paths will determine how
these attributes change over time and what forces and factors cause such
changes. For example, that 65 percent of the population is dependent on
agricultural activities will be in India
Akshaya, [108] Kerala Government's e-governance initiative,
is all set to implement a pilot project to establish panchayat-level web
portals with people's participation in selected panchayats in Kannur in North
Kerala with financial and technical assistance from UNESCO. Such panchayat web sites can help in local and national planning
efforts.
A gulf is
developing between politicians and bureaucrats on the one hand and the people
on the other. The former have, thus far, considered it their prerogative to
keep information secret. Describing the opportunities provided by the Right To
Information (RTI) Act (RTA), Sandeep Pandey says that we need to build on the
fact that people no longer need to be at the mercy of bureaucrats or
politicians. People should now be involved in the process of decision-making
and planning, even as social audits are extended to cover all schemes and
government offices. [109] The RTA development augurs well for planning at the
panchayat level and its transparent execution.
At the launching
of a book [110] former Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer pointed out
emphatically that the Centre wasn’t decentralising enough to empower the
Panchayats. However, there are already some indications that panchayat level
planning will emerge in the near future. The guidelines for the Eleventh Plan
have specified that civic bodies should prepare a comprehensive education plan
with a focus on education as a whole and not on the hardware for individual institutions.
[111] Strategies and priorities for each local body will be worked out jointly
by the civic chiefs, standing committee chairpersons and working group on
education. They will also work out projects for improving the quality of
teaching and learning, improving classrooms and recreational facilities,
upgrading and maintaining library, laboratory, mid-day meals and other
facilities. Literacy, post-literacy and non-formal education too will come under
their ambit. Their prioritized proposals on all such aspects will be integrated
at the local self-government level. The resource group will whet the projects
and integrate it with the district plan and that will in turn complement the
education plan for the entire State.
Ackoff, et al, enunciate
three essential principles in interactive planning. Firstly, by participating
in the planning process, people affected by planning appreciate how their
behavior can impact and improve the process. For example, by understanding
their roles and their impact on population control, people will gain an
appreciation for the contributions they have to make during the execution of
the plan. When people have no role in planning, they do not understand the plan,
they do not feel comfortable with the plan, and they will feel no obligation to
contribute to its success. With little participation and no feedback from the
citizens, centrally developed plans suffer in realism and lead to failure in
execution. Therefore, the best plans are possible when they are developed by people
at local levels with guidance and assistance from professional planners and
plan technicians. As stated earlier, since the various parts of a country are
interdependent, their planning should be highly interactive. Furthermore,
planning has to be a continual process as the assumptions made about attributes
and results of actions might not remain accurate over time. By modifying
assumptions as more facts and results are known over time, planning is
continually (i.e. periodically) iterated. This adaptation of plan changes
increases the effectiveness of the process. Ackoff’s third principle involves
coordination and integration of the plans and outcomes at various levels. A
country’s plan is divided successively into state level plans, district level
plans, and panchayat level plans. Units at the same level (e.g. districts)
should coordinate their plans while units at different levels (e.g. district
plans within a state) should be integrated.
As I stated
earlier, for example, a section of poultry farmers has to focus on staying in the
business and increasing the production many times over while other farmers will
have to decide to quit working in poultry farming and move into accounting or
teaching or healthcare. Obviously, this process requires coordination,
analysis, and integration over time. In interactive planning, in contrast with
totalitarian planning, people choose their goals through coordination and by a
good understanding of consequences and benefits. It is the role of the units at
the top to integrate the plans and guide lower level units with fresh
information and likely outcomes based on the prevailing conditions. Free markets
and modern communications (cooperative competition) will quickly instruct which
people should stay in a given business and who should look for other vocations.
It should be noted that all successful businesses in free market economies do
business planning and strategic planning and their market plans tell them which
markets they should pursue and which ones they should get out of.
While I discussed
planning by constituencies in the foregoing sections, various business leaders
have their own plans. For example, an electric power generation plant does not
plan for a panchayat or a district but is very likely to plan to generate enough
power to supply several districts or states. How will this type of plan fit
into constituency plans? In the end, even a multi-megawatt power plant has to have
a location within a panchayat and a district. Consequently, its impact is very
strong on the plan of one local constituency. This constituency becomes a supplier
of electric power and necessarily loses land that was perhaps hosting a poultry
farm previously. Moreover, business houses are not normally likely to deal with
governments and planners at the panchayat or district level but negotiate with
state or national planners (at least initially). This fact emphasizes the
necessity for integration, guidance, and coordination. The business house and
the government may not take the local planners for granted but should involve
them in the planning process from the beginning so that the power plant
location is optimized and the local constituency’s economic and human
development goals are also satisfied.
In a similar
manner, colleges have to be located in some constituencies but require a
minimum capacity for economic viability. Planners of several panchayats can
reach an understanding and locate a college to serve several constituencies
despite being located in one of the panchayats. Of course on another dimension,
these planners will have to coordinate with accreditation bodies and regulatory
organizations.
In an earlier
section, I stated that India India India
The Economic Survey [112] noted “that the expenditure by the
Centre and the States on the social sector has risen to Rs 1,009,668 crore in
2006-07 …” This amounts to an average expenditure of Rs. 10,096 per
person. If 10 percent of this money is given to a group of villages (say a
Mandal or a Panchayat) with a population of 100,000 people, they can have a
plan with a budget of Rs 100 crores, which can be easily described to be of
critical mass. These groups of villages can also help the state and the country
in planning how to invest the other 90 percent of the funds also.
Developing Lists of Strategic Goals
Since the focus of
this paper is on an interactive approach, it is essential to develop master lists
of strategic goals (and subgoals) that are available in an electronic format
guiding planners in various communities so that they can make selections
relevant to their specific community. The strategic goals described by
organizations such as RESULTS may serve as useful guides [113]. Here is an
exemplary list of goals following the Maslow’s need ladder described earlier.
The top level
goals using the Maslow’s need ladder will run somewhat on the following lines.
- Satisfy
Physiological Needs of 100
percent of the population in 40 years
- Satisfy
Safety and Security Needs of 100 percent of the population in 40 years
- Satisfy
Social or Affiliation Needs of 99
percent of the population in 40 years
- Satisfy Esteem and Recognition Needs of 49
percent of the population in 40 years
- Create an environment to enable as many people
as wish to satisfy their Self Actualization Needs
- Create an environment in 40 years where 100% of
able bodied people will be self-supporting.
These strategic
goals should be further subdivided into many lower levels as part of the
planning process. Tables 9 through 13 show a coarse disaggregation of the
needs.
Table
10: Strategic Goals in Physiological
Needs (Illustrative list
only).
Need Description
|
Causes
|
Goal
|
Remarks
|
Food (Sadak)
|
Poverty
|
Three meals a day for all by
2030
|
Elimination of hunger
|
Food
|
Parental poverty
|
Midday meal for all school
children by 2020
|
Feeding children of poor
parents while educating them
|
Food
|
Parental poverty
|
Baby food at nurseries by
2020
|
Providing a nurturing
environment to babies of poor working mothers
|
Water (Pani)
|
Lack of access
|
Freedom from thirst for all
by 2011
|
Survival
|
Water
|
Poor maintenance
|
High quality water for all
by 2030
|
Health security and freedom
from disease
|
Water
|
Lack of maintenance
|
Acceptable quality of all
potable water by 2040
|
Safety & security of
food chain
|
Water
|
Lack of maintenance
|
Acceptable quality of water
for sanitary purposes for all by 2040
|
Improving hygiene and health
|
Air
|
Polluting sources
|
Freedom from pollution within
prescribed living areas by 2030
|
Life sustenance
|
Housing (Makan)
|
Poverty
|
Minimum acceptable quality
by 2040
|
Protection from elements
|
Clothing
|
Poverty
|
Minimum quantity for all by
2015
|
Human values
|
Environment
|
Lack of controls
|
Standard quality by 2025
|
Preventing diseases
|
Governance
|
Hope for poor
|
Standard processes by 2015
|
Fundamental rights and
responsibilities
|
Table 11: Strategic Goals in
Safety and Security needs (Illustrative list only).
Need Description
|
Causes
|
Goal
|
Remarks
|
Water
|
Dry & wet season
minimal needs
|
Acceptable quality by 2040
|
Safety from Droughts &
floods
|
Air
|
Quality improvement
|
Acceptable quality by 2030
|
Health safety
|
Housing
|
Survival from harsh
elements
|
Minimum acceptable
standards (700 sq ft per person) by 2040
|
Survivability
|
Nutrition
|
Hunger
Nutrition deficiency
Lack of fitness
Food contamination
Contagions
Infection
Absence of medical care
|
Nutritional knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety From Diseases
Responsibility assigned to
self, employer, charities, and panchayat ~100% by 2050
|
Physical safety
|
Safety education and first
aid
Protection by law
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety from physical harm
|
Environment
|
Protection from manmade
pollutants
|
High quality standard by 2040
|
Safety From Diseases due to
environmental effects
|
Safety from Accidents
|
Safety devices
Protection devices
Fire safety
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety from physical harm
|
Security from foreign
military threats
|
Border, Infrastructure,
& Installation protection
|
Security for 100% of the
border regions and people by 2050
|
Protection of nation and
integrity
|
Safety from Thefts
|
Surveillance
Training
Locks and
Safe lockers
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety for property
|
Safety from white collar
crimes
|
Education
Accountability
Oversight
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety for property
|
Safety from natural
calamities
|
Forecast
Prevention
Relief
protection
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety and insurance for
property and livelihood
|
Safety from psychological
stressors
|
Stress
Anxiety
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety and mental health
and peace
|
Elimination of loss of
citizen rights
|
Police support
Legal help
Judicial intervention
|
Safety knowledge and
initiatives for ~100% of population by 2050
|
Safety of democratic and
societal rights
|
Good governance
|
Protection of rights
|
Acceptable quality by 2015
|
Citizen rights and
responsibilities
|
Table 12: Strategic Goals in Social
or Affiliation Needs (Illustrative list only).
Need Description
|
Causes
|
Goal
|
Remarks
|
Good paying jobs
|
Dependency despondency
|
Attractive business
environment
|
People become self-reliant
|
Business environment
|
Entrepreneurship
|
Attractive Entrepreneurial
environment
|
Wealth creation by business
people
|
Social networks
|
Sociological factors
(religion, language, origin, caste, race, etc.)
|
99 percent of the
population in 40 years
|
Improves harmony and
provides psychological comfort
|
Support groups
|
Succor and counsel
|
99% in 40 yrs
|
-ditto-
|
Meeting places
|
Positive interaction
|
99% in 40 yrs
|
-ditto-
|
Recreation
|
Stress relief
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
-ditto-
|
Parks and open spaces
|
Urban congestion
|
99%
in 40 years
|
-ditto-
|
Water
|
Occupational needs
|
99% in 40 yrs
|
Collegiality
|
Lack of universal access
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Improves
knowledge and understanding
|
|
Sports
and Recreation facilities
|
Occupying time in healthy
pursuits
|
90% in 40 yrs
|
Collegiality,
belongingness, and relaxation
|
Theaters
|
Practice and expression of
artistic skills
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Entertainment
and collaboration
|
Auditoriums
|
Propagation of messages
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
-ditto-
|
Tourism
|
Enjoying heritage
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Develops
understanding
|
Travel
|
Mutual understanding and
appreciation
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
-ditto-
|
Entertainment
|
Relief for the mind
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Expands
and relaxes minds
|
Cultural resources
|
Expression and
encouragement of cultural accomplishments
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Instills
pride
|
Religious resources
|
Faith
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Imbibes
values
|
Spiritual enlightenment
|
Expression of the superior
mind
|
99%
in 40 yrs
|
Imbibes
spirituality
|
Positive governance
|
Outlook towards a developed
nation
|
Defining
principles by
2015
|
Citizen
and business empowerment
|
Table 13: Strategic Goals in Esteem
and Recognition Needs (Illustrative list only).
Need Description
|
Causes
|
Goal
|
Remarks
|
Education
|
Empowerment to reduce and
eliminate dependency on governments
|
100% by 2040
|
Skill
Training
Education
|
Businesses
|
Promotion of help through
ownerships and removing government from business functions
|
100% by 2040
|
Knowledge
Leadership
Capital
|
Awards
|
Promoting and encouraging
individual initiatives and responsibility
|
100% by 2040
|
Private and public
academies
|
Facilitations
|
Encouraging good
initiatives and successes
|
100% by 2040
|
By peer groups
|
Prizes
|
Encouraging, publicizing,
and promoting good initiatives and successes
|
100% by 2040
|
By institutions and
foundations
|
Enlightened Governance
|
Building institutions
|
Chart principles by 2015
|
Positive growth of society
|
Table
14: Strategic Goals in creating an environment
to enable as many people as those who wish to satisfy their Self Actualization
Needs. A typical example may be seen in California Arts Council [114]. Data classified by means of SIC codes. (Illustrative list only).
Need Description
|
Causes
|
Goal
|
Remarks
|
Sports
|
Environment needed for talented
individuals to flourish
|
100% availability of
programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government initiatives gradually
transitioned to private organizations
|
Arts
|
Environment
needed for talented individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Fine arts
|
Environment
needed for talented individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Occupational
accomplishments
|
Environment
needed for talented individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Business leadership
|
Environment
needed for entrepreneurial individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Social leadership
|
Environment
needed for societal individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Government leadership
|
Environment
needed for managerial individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Political leadership
|
Environment
needed for individuals with concern for people and land to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
Spiritual leadership
|
Environment
needed for spiritual individuals to flourish
|
100%
availability of programs and facilities by 2040
|
Government
initiatives gradually transitioned to private organizations
|
For example, the physiological needs
can be segmented by age group and by the wealth or poverty level of families.
In general the needs may be addressed by the people themselves first based on
their ability; next by financial institutions through lending; then by
charities through giving; and finally by governments (panchayats) through
public programs. From a planning point of view, each panchayat will have to
take a census of its people and their affordability and the capabilities of
private and public institutions to cater to the needy. As the panchayat and the
nation become developed, the need for public and private help will reach a
minimum and may ultimately vanish. In the medium term, a panchayat’s plan
should recognize that charities will take over a part of the task of catering
to the needy. Ultimately, it is critical that the panchayat plan set a
strategic goal that eventually all able bodied people will self-support all
these needs as the country becomes a developed country.
The need for
support by various categories of people is shown in Figure 9. Children depend
on either their parents or the government for support. The support required by
children is for basic needs as well as to equip them to support themselves for
future. Old people and disabled people depend on others for current support.
Those with mismatched skills need temporary support. People with only their
ability to do manual labor can barely support themselves and need help with
upgrading their skills to move up the ladder. Those with skills are slightly
better off than the previous category but they also need support to acquire
higher knowledge level skills. Finally, people with knowledge level skills and
business skills are likely to support themselves and save for the future. Of
course, the wealthy need no support and can actually support others in the
society. In a developing country there will be more people in the categories
needing various degrees of support. At this time, it is unto the government and
philanthropic organizations (Self Help Groups (SHG)) to help those in need. In
the development phase of a country, people acquire abilities, skills, and
knowledge of higher professions and entrepreneurship which will push them into
higher income groups and their need for support decreases and ultimately
disappears. Thus in a developed country, most people will be able to help
themselves and the need for governmental and philanthropic organizational work
decreases. Ultimately, all responsibility for satisfying one’s needs devolves
on oneself. 
Figure 9: Responsibility for Need
satisfaction shifts with development.
Usually politicians talk about social goals but it is critical that these social goals are translated into economic goals, which in turn can be converted to goals for the production of goods and services. These last goals will provide products and services that people actually use and benefit from. In a mature society, panchayat level goals span personal goals at the low end and district, state, and national goals progressively on the other end.
Here is an example
from Seattle , WA , USA Alliance for Education, a nonprofit
organization, exists to help ensure the academic success of all students in
Seattle Public Schools in Washington State in USA
Goal 1: Every student a Great reader. Reading
Goal 2: A great teacher in every classroom. Vital to student achievement, effective teaching is, in fact, the most significant predictor of a student's success. Our schools need better systems to help recruit, support, and retain great teachers—especially in our most highly challenged schools.
Goal 3: A great school for every student. We can no longer allow our schools to work for some students but not for others. The achievement gap is evident in every school inSeattle
Goal 2: A great teacher in every classroom. Vital to student achievement, effective teaching is, in fact, the most significant predictor of a student's success. Our schools need better systems to help recruit, support, and retain great teachers—especially in our most highly challenged schools.
Goal 3: A great school for every student. We can no longer allow our schools to work for some students but not for others. The achievement gap is evident in every school in
Adding a
sense of urgency to these goals is Washington
State
Most of the seventy one panchayat presidents who spoke at the zonal meeting wanted Local Administration Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu to make sure that the common problems of villages were solved. [116] The issues raised included water scarcity, lack of transport and medical facilities, a further reduction in power tariff, more funds for emergency use, greater say in implementation of schemes such as the free colour TV and free gas and LPG stove programmes and enhancement of money given to build houses under the Indira Awaz Yojana (IAY). This example shows that panchayat leaders are not involved at the planning level but are forced to seek specific items of aid from higher level elected or government officials. But in reality, their requirements will be covered as part of the means and detailed deliverables as the panchayats enunciate their strategic goals and convert them into economic goals, and physical products and services.
Examples of a variety of Strategic Goals chosen by different
organizations are given in the references, which may be studied as planners look
for guidance. [117]
Representing Processes to Change a System
Representing Processes to Change a System
A process is used
to change a system (e.g. a panchayat) from an initial state to a final state. A
process consists of inputs and outputs (interactions with the surroundings). These
inputs may be generated by undertaking additional processes or they may be
obtained from external sources. A couple of examples will be described to
illustrate this point. In order to produce food, one of the inputs required is power,
which may also be generated within the system or obtained from outside. Colleges
convert citizens into knowledge workers but they will require knowledgeable
staff, who may be hired initially from other sources and may ultimately be
locally developed. In order to satisfy peoples’ physiological needs, food
products have to be created by processes, which require financial inputs. These
inputs might come from peoples’ wages supplemented by other payments. In a
community, some people may require greater supplementary help than others. As
time goes on and as the country approaches a developed state, it is expected
that this supplementation will trend to zero. Figure 9 shows a system
undergoing a change through a process.
Figure 10: System Undergoing a
Change through a Process.
Strategic Planning Format for each District, Sub-district, and Panchayat
Strategic planning
format for a district, or sub-district (CD Block), or a panchayat should be
similar to a state plan and the central (or national) plan. Such a similarity
will allow these plans to be easily summed up (i.e. integrated) from lower
levels to higher levels or divided from one higher level to the next lower
level especially using computer methods. The plan structure may follow the
Ackoff method [118]. It should start with a background description of the
Panchayat. Several categories or subheadings should be set up so that plan
developers will be guided to provide information and statistics that fit into
the categories. Table 15 shows a typical set of categories for this section.
The next section should describe the Situational Analysis, which provides the
current state of affairs in the panchayat. This is also a description of the
initial conditions of the panchayat. Typically, this section will have the
population, area (in acres) of the panchayat, gross panchayat domestic product
(GPDP), similar to the GDP of the nation, literacy, population below poverty
line, health statistics, and other key statistics relevant to economic and
social development. Table 16 shows a typical set of categories for this section.
Table 15: Typical Categories for
Background of a Panchayat.
Description
|
Status
|
Measure
|
Remarks
|
Land area
|
Characteristics of land use
and distribution
|
Hectares by characteristics
|
Indicator of economic expectations
|
Geography and topology
|
Neighboring panchayats,
impacts on social and economic development
|
Names of neighboring
panchayats, commerce exchanges
|
Interdependence,
compatibility, competitiveness, and cooperation
|
Environment
|
Physical, security, and political
environment
|
Descriptions
|
Sets scope for planning
|
Population and occupations
|
People, characteristics,
prospects for development
|
Numbers of people in
various categories (income, debt, literacy, …)
|
Key parameters for planners
|
Economic statistics
|
Current GPDP, resources,
and investment opportunities and climate
|
GPDP in Rupees, Ag,
mineral, water, and other resource potential and current exploitation.
Major industries,
|
Key parameters for planners
|
Literary statistics
|
Literacy, vocational, and college education
|
Colleges, and schools
|
Possible outlook
|
Wealth statistics
|
People and their wealth
|
Net worth in Rupees and
distribution
|
Local resources and
influence
|
Security statistics
|
Crimes and safety
|
Number of cases and
resolutions
|
Indicator of stability of
area
|
Recreational statistics
|
Facilities and natural
features
|
Sports and recreational
profile of local people
|
Indicators for social
interaction
|
Health
|
Diseases and welfare of
people
|
Cases and relief
|
Indicator for fitness
|
Artistic trends
|
Theaters and resources
|
Artistic profile of local
people
|
Opportunities for
satisfying higher level needs
|
Note on the table: The descriptive categories are
illustrative only. There may be hundreds of categories in a real plan.
Table 16: Typical set of Categories for Situational Analysis.
Need Category
|
Need
|
Percent or Number of people
with the Need
|
Remarks
|
Food
|
One of three meals
|
20%
|
Present income supports 2
meals only
|
Food
|
Two of three meals
|
10%
|
Present income supports 1
meal only
|
Food
|
Three of three meals
|
5%
|
Present income supports no
meals
|
Food
|
None of three meals
|
65%
|
Private means available
|
Food
|
One meal (Seasonal)
|
20%
|
During periods of stress
|
Food
|
Midday meal at schools
|
2%
|
Child welfare
|
Food
|
Baby food at nurseries
|
3%
|
Infant care
|
Nutrition
|
Nutritional supplementation
|
40%
|
Staple available but not
nutritional diets
|
Water
|
Potable water
|
40%
|
Inadequate supply
|
Water
|
Water for sanitation
|
20%
|
Inadequate
|
Water
|
Water for animals
|
10% of animal population
|
Stress on animals
|
Water
|
Dry season minimal needs
|
60%
|
Drought
|
Water
|
Wet season minimal needs
|
60%
|
Floods
|
Water
|
Occupational needs
|
30%
|
Specify details
|
Air
|
Quality improvement
|
90%
|
Industrial pollution
|
Environment
|
Improvement
|
50%
|
Industrial pollution
|
Education
|
Literacy
|
60%
|
Lack of schools and ability
to free time
|
Jobs
|
Employment
|
30%
|
Lack of skills and/or
industry
|
(Data are given for illustrative purposes only.)
The next section is
the Ends Plan for the panchayat. The strategic goals for every panchayat will
be the same (or almost so) in terms of proportions. This is derived from
guidance from a national plan that lays down what the national expectations are
for a developed India
The Ends Plan should
convey the key idea that the national expectation for all panchayats in the country
by the end of the strategic plan period will be at the same goal state in
certain key economic and sociological parameters. For example, the GPDP, the
literacy rate, health statistics, nutritional intake levels, and educational
opportunities will be above acceptable levels in most panchayats. However, it
does not mean that all panchayats in the nation will attain all the strategic
goals in the same year. For instance, it is possible that some panchayats will
attain their health goals a few years before the end date of the plan while
they may reach their educational goals a little later. These differences are
natural as the panchayats start at different initial states and progress at
different rates in various areas. Some states, districts, and panchayats will
start with and continue to enjoy certain inherent advantages. These factors may
relate to educational levels, land fertility, mineral and industrial wealth,
and other favorable resources. Since the nation has the goal of giving a set of
minimum levels of social and economic development opportunities to all
panchayats, several optimal development schemes will be part of the guidance. Investments
are targeted towards panchayats where they provide maximum yields in short time
spans. As these panchayats attain their goals, investments are directed towards
panchayats that have been waiting their turn to receive the next set of
investments. From the national unity and social harmony points of view, those
panchayats that receive early investments also repay into the national
development funds faster and at a higher rate of return. However, there could
be some panchayats that will lag behind others in development by their sheer
inertia and tough luck.
The final section is
the Means Plan. This section lays down how the gaps between the initial state
and the goal state are bridged. For example, in order to improve literacy to
near one hundred percent, schools have to be set up and children have to be
given opportunities to attend them. This takes the construction of schools,
equipping them, and staffing them with competent teachers. Similarly, in order
to reduce hunger among those below the poverty line, their rations, and incomes
have to be supplemented. Likewise, knowledge and skill level of the people of
the panchayat can be increased by setting up colleges and vocational schools.
See Table 17.
Description
|
Means
|
Measure
|
Remarks
|
Food
|
Agriculture, imports,
exports, and storage –
Irrigation, fertilizers,
protection, and harvesting
|
Acres farmed and various
inputs
|
Subdivided into various
types of foods
|
Food processing
|
Plants
|
Pounds processed
|
Subdivided into various
types of foods
|
Water
|
Potable for humans animals,
and for agriculture, and sanitation
|
Flow, consumption, and
storage
|
Sources identified
|
Industries
|
Raw materials, components,
etc.
|
Pounds, numbers, and
monetary units as applicable
|
Subdivided into various
industries
|
Power and energy (inc.
fuels)
|
For agriculture,
residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial uses.
Imports and exports
|
KWH, BTUs, fuel values
|
Indicates modernization and
energy efficiency
|
Infrastructure
|
Roads, rail, and other
transport
|
People-miles, ton-miles
|
Indicates mobility
|
Labor
|
Various occupations &
Inflows and outflows
|
Numbers by occupation and
monetary units
|
Indicates prosperity and
development
|
Education
|
Schools, colleges, training
centers
|
Number of students,
teachers, degrees and diplomas
|
Indicates movement up the
ladder
|
Communications
|
Phone and Internet
|
Numbers and capacities
|
Indicates reach
|
Businesses
|
Banks, stores, services
|
Numbers by type
|
Self-sufficiency and
progress
|
Governance
|
Offices
|
Types and numbers
|
Indicates ready
availability of services
|
The panchayat level planners are neither
expected to be experts in planning nor specialists in computing resource
requirements to move a group of people from an initial state to a goal state in
a given period of time. But since the planners are expected to be wise leaders
that know the aspirations of the people in their communities, they can set the
goals and rates of progress depending on available resources or means. Guidance
is provided in the plan format in the form of formulae to calculate the means
necessary to achieve incremental progress towards their goal states. In
general, the means required are shown in terms of finances, manpower, skills
levels, management capabilities, land and other physical resources, energy,
water, and so on.
The Delphi method, [119] which is a systematic interactive forecasting
method based on independent inputs of selected experts can be used to develop
the details of the formats for the planning tool. Experts in social
and economic development and local politicians can provide their expert
knowledge in putting together the initial set of needs for local plans. As
thousands panchayats interact with Alpha and Beta versions of a tool, a final planning
tool will emerge that will address all the developmental issues for most of the
panchayats.
Prior to asking the
panchayats to develop their plans, an automated tool with the format for
developing the plan should be developed based on the descriptions and methods
indicated in this section. Once a powerful and user-friendly tool is given to
panchayat leaders, plan development will be merely the enunciation of their
desires consistent with their willingness to work and make investments and
current sacrifices and within the bounds of the resource richness of their
area.
Conclusions and Indian Imperatives
Mahatma
Gandhi succeeded in his campaign for Indian independence by mobilizing the
masses whether it is the Salt Satyagraha or the Quit India movement. Any undertaking
that concerns people’s lives is best done by involving them from the beginning
to the end. As India
As seen
in various cases of setting of industrial plants, whether they are automobile
manufacturing units, or bauxite ore mining, or thermal plants, or a highway, or
a dam across a river, people have been objecting to them. Rural, tribal, urban,
and suburban people are united in their opposition to some plan or the other. If
this much of the resistance is coming while India
undertakes development from the one trillion dollar level, it is unimaginable
what level of opposition will be seen when India
Ordinarily national leaders call on citizens to sacrifice for the sake
of the nation. But if one examines the detailed characteristics of a developed
country, there is really no need for sacrifices but a call for investments in
the future of citizens, their families, and their communities. A smart plan
ensures that all the investments and expectations are in balance and not at
cross purposes. When people see the plan and realize that there are benefits
for them, their communities, and their children and grand children, there can
be overwhelming support and commitment to the goals and the means. It is
essential to place a national strategic plan on a web site for all citizens to
see. When people view the plan, they can see their own roles in it. As the
progress of the plan is monitored, individuals and communities can feel the
progress. As course corrections are applied to the plan, people understand the
need for changes, sympathize and resonate with them, and work in harmony with
modifications to goals and means. As the fruits of development are harvested,
they see the results in their granaries, on the dinner plates, on the diplomas
of their children, and in their own bank accounts. Whenever they are
dissatisfied with a situation in a community or when they see an opportunity
come their way, people in a panchayat can go to the plan tool and provide
inputs for the next iteration of the plan. As people see that their feedback or
suggestions are going directly into the input section of the plan, they develop
greater faith in an open democracy. They will come to own the plan, support it,
and contribute mightily to its success. India
Appendix 1: Collaborative Planning
Innes and Booher [120] state that a
society with capacity is self-organizing and works in real time through
networked, shared, and distributed intelligence. According to these authors
[121], research has shown that complex systems at the edge of chaos can be
adaptive to rapid change and even move to higher levels of performance through
the individual actions of many agents, linked together and acting with a few
common heuristics on the basis of their local knowledge. Such a process can be
more quickly responsive and more “intelligent” than top-down guidance or highly
structured action and more suitable to our near-chaotic times of rapid change
and multiple conflicting goals and perspectives.
In a society with capacity, instead of
bureaucracies in silos, protecting their turf and maintaining hierarchical
control, we would have information flowing freely through networks of players,
each of whom is capable of acting autonomously in response to events and
information, and in this process, the system can respond more quickly and
intelligently. Instead of relying primarily on standardized ways of proceeding,
we would rely more on ad hoc gatherings of interested and knowledgeable players
to frame problems in new and shared ways and develop nuanced actions to respond
to them.
Instead of guiding players
by rigid, highly-specified rules, they would develop shared meanings and
heuristics, allowing them to act cooperatively or on their own.
Community capacity is the
interaction of human capital, organizational resources, and social capital
existing within a given community that can be leveraged to solve collective
problems and improve or maintain the well being of a given community. It may
operate through informal social processes and/or organized effort. [122]
Collaborations
with capacity share information and engage in constructive dialogue rather than
debate and argument (Yankelovich 1999 [120]). They have well-developed
interactions among themselves as well as links to outside groups. They share
both understandings of problems and recognition of their shared or reciprocal
interests. Effective collaborations engage diverse interests and allow their
decisions to be informed by the knowledge of these differing stakeholders. They
are not exclusive provinces of the powerful, but incorporate the interests of
those ordinarily excluded. As a result, they produce more robust and legitimate
strategies. They have both depth and breadth in their leadership with diverse
participants willing to take responsibility and initiative as needed. They have
roots in their communities and can mobilize players to get results. They
produce innovative solutions to problems that have seemed intractable. They can
respond in a timely way to new challenges, whether they are threats or
opportunities. The most effective collaborations build their own capacity by
tracking outcomes they are producing and by providing this information back to
participants to enhance their learning process. They continually reassess their
directions and strategies. Collaborative organizations that do these tasks well
are recognized and respected in their communities, which in turns increases
their capacity.
A governance
system with capacity is one that encourages diverse voices and interests,
making sure they are informed and empowered to play roles in governance. It has
a rich array of nonprofits, interest groups, and others who represent the full
range of interests in the society and who develop specialized knowledge and
expertise which they contribute to the governance process. Such a system is
characterized by well-networked working relationships among jurisdictions;
agencies representing different sectors; business, education, social equity,
and ethnic interests; the nonprofit sector; and advocacy organizations. These
diverse players can trust one another and recognize their reciprocal interests.
Such a governance system makes use of the knowledge and expertise of these and
is able to pull together appropriate groups to solve problems or address
opportunities on short notice. It depends on a distributed intelligence system,
where many players are able to act independently on the basis of their own
local knowledge in ways that will be beneficial not only to themselves, but
also to the system as a whole. Participants and constituencies are neither
passive nor confrontational, but play active and engaged roles in shaping
public action. [120]
“The
project staff helped in the creation of 480 Village Development Committees
(VDCs) - meant to assist in the planning and implementation of project
investments and share responsibility for maintenance and protection. This report has information or ideas on local planning and
village development – may have useful pointers.” [123]
“First, governments and international organisations tend to be
geared to large-scale, big-budget, hierarchically-managed, hardware-oriented,
statistically-monitored services delivered from the top down. In neither
institutional structures nor in habits of mind are they comfortable with the
idea of supporting large numbers of small-scale, low-budget, community-managed,
behaviour-changing, demand-driven services.” [124]
Second, there is the problem that radical
new policies can easily lose their edge by the time they have been passed down
to local levels of government where the practical action is required. “Even the
best new policies are weakened or destroyed by the time they reach the ground,”
says Sait Damodaran (Page 33 in [124]): ‘it is like passing a block of ice
through many hands – by the time it reaches the poor, there is nothing left.’”
“Yet
there are those in government who have not been slow to see in the new approach
– with its emphasis on community-led efforts, self-reliance, and ‘government as
facilitator-rather-than-as-doer’ – an opportunity to absolve themselves of
responsibility.” (Page 14 in [124])
“The implementation of that approach, the report suggested,
demands changes not merely of degree but of kind: there must be a ‘paradigm
shift’ away from past roles and responsibilities, in order to make possible the
transition to locally operated and democratically managed solutions. Government
must move towards a role as facilitator, while people’s organisations accept
new responsibilities for planning, implementation, and maintenance. These new
relationships cannot come into being without a spirit of partnership between
governments, people, and NGOs; and none of this will happen unless there is a
collective decision to put water, sanitation and hygiene at the core of Gujarat ’s strategy for human development.” [Page 32 of reference [124]]
Wiki technology [125] is helping many collaborative
efforts. People with a variety of skills and from different locations can
participate and contribute to the development of information using this
advanced technology.
Collaboration
will allow governments at different levels to play their respective but
different roles. It may also be noted that it is the same citizens that elect
their representatives to the different governments and charge them with
different roles. Consequently, people also have responsibilities and rights to
participate with each of their representatives in giving them their briefs. In
other words, people participate with their elected representatives in stating
their expectations and wishes for economic and social development and their
willingness to make certain concessions, and sacrifices. So for planning to be
responsive, collaborative plans have to be developed for each and every
constituency. Such plans are developed by committees respectively chaired by
the Members of Parliament, and by the Members of the Legislative Assemblies,
and the Chairmen of the Panchayats. By grouping or coalescing the lower level
plans to the next higher levels, plans for the States and the Nation will be
realized.
Appendix 2 National
Industrial Classification (NIC) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is
the standard used by the US Federal statistical agencies in classifying
business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and
publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. NAICS was
developed under the auspices of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and
adopted in 1997 to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
Here is a brief description of the Standard Industrial Classification
codes. “… the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) undertook the task
of development of classification of all economic activities at the
international level and released the International Standard Industrial Classification
(ISIC) first time in 1948. The purpose for this exercise was to provide a
framework for various countries for re-arranging their National Activity
Classifications to generate internationally comparable statistics.” [126]
“In India,
the National Industrial Classification (NIC) is the standard classification
followed for classifying economic activities. The NIC is prepared to suit the
Indian conditions and follows the principles and procedures laid down in the
United Nations’ International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC).” [127]Appendix 3 Strategic Planning
Ackoff, Finnel,
and Gharajedaghi [90] described strategic planning for a corporation’s future.
The principles and methods described by Ackoff, et al are equally applicable in
developing a strategic plan for a country. It starts with the belief that the
future of a country depends on what planners choose and what they do to bring
about changes. Planners therefore should choose a desirable future and select
or invent ways of accomplishing the chosen future. Simply stated, there will be
the initial and the final states, and a path connecting those end states. By
studying the situation, the initial state is determined and described. By
imagining and envisioning, an end state is defined and described. For example,
that 65 percent of the population is dependent on agricultural activities is in
the initial state and that only 1 percent of the population can be dependent on
such activities is in the goal state.
The goal state is what leaders and planners decide it to be. Usually,
this decision is arrived at based on the aspirations of the people. As India wanted to become a developed country, such
as the US , the
characteristics of the US
development point to what characteristics have to be chosen for India
Ackoff, et al,
enunciate three essential principles in interactive planning. First by
participating in the planning process, people affected by planning appreciate
how their behavior can impact and improve the process. For example, by
understanding their roles and their impact on population control, people will
gain an appreciation for the contributions they have to make during the
execution of the plan. Therefore, professional planners should assist people to
plan for themselves. As stated earlier, since the various parts of a country
are interdependent, their planning and is highly interactive. Results of one
part will affect all other parts and the country as a whole. Secondly, the
planning has to be a continual process as the assumptions made about attributes
and results of actions might not be accurate. By modifying assumptions as more
facts and results are known over time, planning is continually iterated. This
adaptation of plan changes increases the effectiveness of the process. The
third principle involves coordination and integration of the plans and outcomes
at various levels. A country’s plan is divided successively into state level
plans, district level plans, and panchayat level plans. Units at the same level
(e.g. districts) should coordinate their plans while units at different levels
(e.g. district plans in a state) should be integrated.
As we stated
earlier, a section of poultry farmers has to focus on staying in the business
and increasing the production many times while other farmers will have to
decide to quit working in poultry farming and move into accounting or teaching
or healthcare. Obviously, this process requires coordination, analysis, and
integration over time. In interactive planning, in contrast with totalitarian
planning, people choose their goals through coordination and by a good understanding
of consequences and benefits. It is the role of the units at the top to
integrate the plans and guide lower level units with fresh information and
likely outcomes based on the prevailing conditions.
While we discuss
planning by constituencies, various business leaders have their own plans. For
example, an electrical power plant does not plan for a panchayat or a district
but is very likely to plan enough power to supply several states. How will this
type of plan fit into the constituency plans? In the end, even a multi-megawatt
power plant has to have a location within a panchayat and a district.
Consequently, its impact is very strong on the plan of a one local
constituency. This constituency becomes a supplier of electric power and
necessarily loses land that was perhaps hosting a poultry farm. Moreover,
business houses are not normally likely to deal with governments and planners
at the panchayat or district level but negotiate with state or national
planners (at least initially). This fact emphasizes the necessity for
integration, guidance, and coordination. The business house and the government
may not take the local planners for granted but should involve them in the
planning process from the beginning so that the power plant location is optimized
and the local constituency’s development goals are also satisfied.
In a similar
manner, colleges have to be located in some constituencies but require a
minimum capacity for economic viability. Thus, college planners ensure that
they cater to several constituencies despite being located in one place. Of
course on another dimension, these planners will have to coordinate with
accreditation bodies and regulatory departments.
In an earlier
section, we discussed that India India India
In order to
undertake such a comprehensive process, Ackoff, et al, suggest three types of
study, called, systems analysis, obstruction analysis, and reference
projections. Systems analysis looks into what the constituency is and its
current state. The obstruction analysis studies the internal and external
conditions, policies, and practices that lay in the way of development. It is
important to overcome these obstructions and if the constituency and its
environment are not changed significantly, there will be certain results, which
will be projected by the reference projection. In general, these projections
are unwanted consequences and the planning function should suggest mechanisms
for changes to forestall those negative consequences and bring about
modifications in the behavior of the system comprising the constituency such
that the results take it towards the end goals.
According to Ackoff, [129] Ends planning
consists of designing a desired future and extracting from it those ends that
the rest of the planning process is addressed to pursuing. There are three
types of desired outcomes, namely, goals, objectives, and ideals. Goals are
ends that are expected to be realized within the period covered by the plan.
For example, creating 300 million knowledge workers may be set as a goal.
Objectives are ends that are not expected to be obtained until after the plan
period has ended but towards which much progress is anticipated during the plan
period. For example, causes for global warming may not be eliminated during the
plan period but much progress might be accomplished towards such a goal. Green
energy may be an objective and may become a goal in a later strategic plan.
Finally, ideals are believed to be unattainable but towards which continuous
progress is thought to be possible and is expected. Conflicts due to
differences in religion, caste, political ideologies are very common in India
In this planning process, the designers
would envision an idealized redesign of the constituency if they were free to
bring that change about. This is in general a freewheeling process except for a
couple of restraints. The design must be technologically feasible and that it
is operationally viable. In a strategic plan that spans a forty or fifty year
period, numerous novel and advanced technologies are likely to emerge and there
is scope to include those emerging technologies in the periodic revisions of
the plan. The key is to be creative in the long term and practical in the short
term.
This is followed by means planning, which
is concerned with finding or inventing ways of approximating the idealized
design as closely as possible. Ackoff defines a mean “is a behavior that either
produces desired outcome or brings one closer to it.” There are several types
of means that may be selected and used in the plan. Acts are simple things to
do, which take relatively little time to do. An example is the posting of
pictures of the progress of a construction project on a web site. Course of
action, process, or procedure is a sequence of acts directed at producing a
desired outcome. Negotiating a memorandum of agreement (MOA) or a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) is an example of this type of means. A practice is a
frequently repeated act or course of action. Updating accounts and funds
dispersals is an example of this means. A project is a system of simultaneous
and /or sequential courses of action directed at a set of outcomes. For
example, excavating for a water tank or building a check dam falls into this
category. Finally, a program is a system of projects directed at a set of
desired outcomes. Building a college and educating people into professional
courses is an example of a program.
Resource planning identifies
required resources and their quantum to accomplish the means selected. The main
types of resources are: 1) material, supplies, energy, and service inputs, 2)
facilities and equipment, 3) personnel, 4) information, and Money.
Implementation and
control phase shows who are responsible for which actions and their timing. The
strategic goals identified in the plan are further subdivided into goals and
objectives, which are entrusted to program managers and project managers to execute
the plan.
These five phases
are conducted simultaneously and interactively. In practice, they are
continually revised and implemented.
Ackoff, et al,
define the mess as a system of interrelated threats and opportunities.
Formulation of a mess consists of identifying current and future threats and
opportunities. Inputs to this phase are obtained by conducting a systems
analysis, obstruction analysis, and reference projections. A systems analysis
is a description of the current nature and state of the country, state,
district, and panchayat.
REFERENCES AND ENDNOTES:
{Please note that over time some links may not work as the
websites are modified or deleted by the website managers.}
[1] Som Karamchetty, PHD, PE, lives in Potomac, Maryland, USA. He is a
Technology and Management Consultant, and can be reached at somkdsr@verizon.net.
[3] A P J Abdul Kalam with Y S Rajan, “India 2020: A Vision for the New
Millennium, Penguin Books India, 1998.
[4] Sam Pitroda, “Vision, Values &
Velocity,” Siliconindia 2001.
[5] Frank G. Goble, The Third Force: The Psychology
of Abraham Maslow, 1970, Jefferson
Center
6] Maslow had suggested the Need Ladder for
an individual and not for a country; the current author extrapolated the
concept to a nation.
[17] Actually, India would still not catch up with
the US, as the US GDP would have risen in the meantime and the Indian inflation
rates and population increase would also impact the results. For simplicity
sake, the current author has taken the liberty of using data from different
years in these illustrative calculations and made comparisons. On the other
hand, with smart utilization of emerging technologies and choices of living
patterns, it is also possible that Indians may enjoy better standard of living even
at lower GDP levels.
[21] http://www.indiadaily.org/entry/42-years-from-now-india-will-be-ahead-of-us-goldman-sachs-global-research/
[33]
Data compiled by the current author from Table 3 of a report of the US
Bureau of Economic Analysis available at this web site. http://bea.gov/bea/newsrelarchive/2006/gsp1006.pdf
Detailed data are available at http://www.bea.gov/bea/pn/GDPbyInd_VA_NAICS_1998-2005.xls)
[34] Table compiled by the current
author from Bureau of Economic Census Data for 2005 from the spreadsheet at
this site. http://www.bea.gov/bea/pn/GDPbyInd_VA_NAICS_1998-2005.xls
[35] In the next fifty years, the
total number of graduates coming out of the current seven IITs will be 150,000
in comparison with the 300 million knowledge workers needed by a developed Indian
economy in that time frame.
There are varying estimates of knowledge workers in
the US
[41] Indian Finance Minister announced the
formation of a National Skill Development Corporation http://www.indianexpress.com/story/350415.html
[44] Pratap
Bhanu Mehta, “To reform UP, trifurcate it,” http://www.indianexpress.com/story/23884._.html
[46] Rajneesh, Shalini and
Goel, S.L.; Panchayati Raj in India – Theory and Practice; New Delhi, Deep
& Deep; 2003 quoted in http://www.localgovernmentindia.org/local-government-india-1.asp?sub_id=120&sub_menu=DECENTRALISED%20PLANNING&id=8
[56] An example is the “NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION COMMITMENT TO THE CHILD,” http://wcd.nic.in/npac.htm
[57]
Nasscom President Kiran Karnik is quoted in a report, “Of the one
trillion dollar world market of engineering services, India's export is likely
to be doubled by 2020 at around $50 billion … Unfortunately of the 4,50,000
engineers that our country churns out every year, only 30 per cent have the
skill sets to meet the requirement of the industry.”
Project Management Institute information is at
the link below here
[62]
Dr. M. Ramakrishna Reddy, “Integrating Population into
Development: Emergence of State Population Policies in India
[73] http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/S/I6/0SI60401.htm[74] http://www.indianexpress.com/story/22066.html
[84] same
as End note 69 above
[90] Russell L. Ackoff, Elsa Vergara Finnel, and
Jamshid Gharajedaghi, “A Guide to Controlling Your Corporation’s Future,” John Wiley and Sons, 1984.
[90A] For the sake of
avoiding complexity in this discussion, changes in population over time are
ignored.
[93] http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/Admin_Units/admin.html
The actual numbers might vary over time due to administrative changes.
The US population in the year 2000 was 281 million.
[103] Strategic Planning
is described in Appendix 3.
[104] See Russell L
Ackoff, Elsa Vergara Finnel, and Jamshid Gharajedaghi
[105] The term ‘planners’
here is not meant to be planning operatives or technicians. Planners comprise
the leadership who are chosen by the people and are charged with the
responsibility to lead the people with a new vision.
[113] “RESULTS
is a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization committed to creating the
political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. RESULTS is
committed to individuals exercising their personal and political power by
lobbying elected officials for effective solutions and key policies that affect
hunger and poverty.” The strategic goals set by this organization can be used
as a guide by CD Blocks and Panchayats in India as they develop their own
Strategic Plans.
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
[118] Ackoff et al
already cited at footnote 89
[120] Professor Judith E. Innes and David E. Booher, Working Paper 2003-03, “The Impact of
Collaborative Planning on Governance Capacity,” http://escholarship.org/uc/item/98k72547#
[121] Kauffman, S., (1995) At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Complexity. London:
Viking, and Holland, J. (1998). Emergence:
From Chaos to Order. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Inc.
[122] Chaskin, R., “Defining Community Capacity: A
Definitional Framework and Case Studies from a Comprehensive Community
Initiative,” Urban Affairs Review 36(3):291–323,
(2001, January).
[125] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki and
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