***Environment and development are highly interlinked. Sound environmental management and socio-economic development are complementary to each other. Development programmes without considering environmental aspects do not sustain. It is to be taken account that an overwhelming majority, about 80 per cent of the people in the country is dependent on agriculture, forests, and fisheries. The sustainable use of these resources must be ensured. If these resources become unsustainable in course of ill-conceived development activities, the society might be threatened.***

Development Involves a progressive transformation of both economit and socio-politico-cultural system of a society It can be viewed from three angles.

— as an evolutionary process of growth and change of social and cultural organMaUons;

— as an integration of social and cultural Institutions: and

— as a planned and monitored process of growth and changes of a society

Development requires primarily economic growth with substantial changes in social and administrative structures, values and popular attitudes and in many cases social customs and beliefs. Development economics first emerged as an academic discipline after the 2nd World War and It was believed that development would effectively replicate the experience of those countries which had been- Industrialised during 19lh century and would follow the •pattern of Britain. France. Germany. USA and Japan. Literature on development over the past four decades has been dominated by four major paradigms;

— stages of economic growth and modernization theories of 1950s and early 1960s,

■ — the structural internationalist models of the late' 1960s and 1970s.

— people-oriented participatory development approach of 1980s and

— sustainable development approach of late 1980s and 1990s.

Economic Growth, Modernisation and

Development

Taking evidence from industrially developed countries, economists stressed on increased savings and capital accumulation for economic growth. Rostow designated the sweep of modern history in five states: The traditional so clety. the precondition for take off. take off. the drive to maturity and the age of high mass consumptlon.lt is a linear approach of the society and history. All economies are assumed to pass through the same sequence of these stages. Following the development model of Rostow. some western theorists promoted the idea of modernizing the less developed traditional societies in 1960s. To them, development meant modernization and westernization which encompasses a total transformation of the traditional agribased society to an advanced industrial society. In economic terms, modernization implies industrialization, urbanization .and technological transformation.

From political dimension, it requires rationalization of authority and growth of bureaucracy while from cultural view of point, modernization Is represented by increased secularization of society arising from the spread of scientific knowledge. Thus modernization means changes toward those types of economic and political systems that developed in western Europe and north America in the 18th and 19th centuries.lt is said that as people become more modernized and educated they necessarily become more westernized.

The process of westernization damages the indigenous way of life and culture That Is why the alternative to modernlza Hon Is being sought In the indigenous models of devel opment thinking

Structural Change and Development

The economic growth the ory and modernization theories failed to take into account the crucial fact that the con temporary developing coun tries are the parts of a highly Integrated and complicated international system, a world capitalist system. The five stages approaches of Rostow has been replaced by the structuralist school of though in 1970s This approach views that both development and under development are the-two wings of a single process In such a world external fac tors like aid relation and multinational companies badly Influence the indigenous de velopment process. The struc turalist approach, viewed that the third world countries lags behind because of their time old institutional shape and rigid social .structure Moreover these societies are caught up In the dependency and dominance relationship to the rich countries.The dominant countries are endowed with technological and commercial. capital and socio-po litical predominance over less advanced countries. The de pendency ties could be removed with an interdependency of the developed and developing countries.

People-oriented

Participatory Approach

The work of many devel opment thinkers of late 1970s represent an increased focus towards the concepts of people-centered participatory development. The development thinkers .gave emphasis on decentralization participation and grassroots level development. Development approaches then move beyond-’ the socio-economic sphere into the political and civil spheres. It is observed that countries whose citizens en joyed grater political and civil liberty performed better in the people.

In the past, development policies were designed by the elites and the bureaucrats and it could hot touch the grassroots level people. Develop • ment benefits were distributed among some limited . people and it was male based. Now. development thinkers regard participation as a means to an end. where the end is development.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a concept which is widely used in recent years. It is has been made popular by environmentalists. conservationists and the ecologists. Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations. It contains within it two key- concepts;

— the concepts of needs of the poor, to which over riding priority should be given and

— the idea of limitation im; posed by the state of technology and social organization on

the environment s ability to meet present and future nerds

Sustainable development requires meeting the basic needs of all and extending to ail the opportunity to satisfy their aspiration for better life rhe process of the sustainable development can function through Institutional set up. awareness raising with educa tion and law enforcement. It further requires; revising growth, changing the quality of growth meeting essential needs for Jobs. food, energy, waters and sanitation conserving and enhancing the resource base, reorienting technology and managing risk and integrating environment tmd economics in decision making.

Sustainable development also deserves to achieve the following social six objectives; 1 access to resources. 2. improvement In health and nutritional status. 3. education. 4. Increase In the real income. 5. more equal distribution of income and 6 increase in basic

Conclusion

Bangladesh has near about 120 million population with an annual growth rate of 2.17 per cent The natural resource base Is very poor and the GDP growth Is also very low. i.e. 5 per cent only. The human development report of UNDP 'ranks countries by their success In meeting human needs like education employment. Income g*- a and social security. The position of Bangladesh is among the least developed countries In terms of human development indicators The country needs rapid economic growth to feed the growing population. It can be achieved through industrialization. employment generation, planned urbanization and agrarian reforms. The country also requires structural change lo ensure people-oriented participatory development.

There is. a process of centralization of wealth in the hands of a few which let to pauperization. This process has serious negative impact on the social structure. Poverty and deprivation are leading the rural masses to migrate to the urban centres. So. all development programmes should aim at poverty alleviation through resource allocation and empowerment of the poor, giving them employment' and raising their income with education. better healthcare, sanitation and minimum shelter.

Development programmes without considering environmental aspects do not sustain. It is to be taken account that an overwhelming majority, about 80 per cent of the people in the country is dependent on agriculture, forests, and fisheries. The sustainable use of these resources must-be ensured. If these resources become unsustainable in course of ill-conceived development activities, the society might be threatened. We need economic growth Urgently but not at the cost of future prospects. Economic growth and envi-. ronment management are to be integrated aiming at both the quality of growth and quality of life of the people.