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Impediment to rapid development

Z .A. Khan
***Development in a normative concept, which implies choices about goals for achieving what Mahatma Gandhi called "realisation of human potential."***
GROWTH, as we know, does not accomplish enough by itself, and sometimes has unfortunate consequences. it is said that the hallmark of cancer is growth without development. Development in a normative concept, which implies choices about goals for achieving what Mahatma Gandhi called "realisation of human potential." Development involves major changes in social structures, which may be achieved by reduction of inequality and eradication of absolute poverty.
Development aims at ensuring selfsustainability, which indisputably includes food, shelter, health, and protection to life and property. It should assure people that they are not being used as tools to ensure growth of others with the sweat of their brows. It also focuses on creating an environment where people feel that they are emancipated from the stigmatised sense of
alienating material conditions of life and servitude of man to nature, ignorance, other man-made miseries, institutions and dogmatic belief. In these considerations one can deduce that development means increase of the capacity of the people to influence their future.
It will now be prudent to identify the dimensions of development that are expanding the capability to determine one's future. Development must be stimulated by increasing human resources, equalisation of the ability to consume, and acquisition of leverage for the poor - which is regarded as a form of strategic behaviour that empowers them to change or shift from policy regarding distribution issues.
There must be real concern to see that development plans have long range dimension. taking into account fragile soil, pollu-tion, limited mineral resources, biodegradation etc., regardless of the conflicting nature of socio-political configuration among countries.
There is no denying the fact that the contours of interdependence are widening as depletion and discovery are taking place simultaneously at various places in the world. While inevitability of dependence of the developing countries can be obscured, these countries must exercise alertness, tolerance and thrift when offering reciprocity." Keeping these fundamental and compelling guidelines in view, we should now see which of these have not received adequate concern of the planners, which has consequently affected rapid development in Bangladesh.
Even if the scale of development is humble in Bangladesh, its foundation is gradually widening. Bangladesh inherited a ravaged and war-tom economy. Its development achievement is enviable compared to other developing countries in the areas that are easily reached or had political bigwigs to influence allocation of more funds -depriving the other areas of the much-needed fund. Thus, the growth pattern in Bangladesh is skewed and this has enticed influx of population to the growth centres that were ill-prepared to accommodate people that came in quest of livelihood.
The challenge of capacity building, a major indicator of development, suffered a
major setback towards attainment of sustenance as the areas having promise of development were abandoned and, therefore, productivity came to a grinding halt --causing inadequate supply of raw material locally.
This has largely increased dependence on import from abroad at a time when money value is fluctuating and erratic. Since we are not yet capable of supplying adequate industrial or agricultural raw material, our import bills become heavy. So interdependence, a major factor of development, failed to play a major role in designing our development plan.
We know that management, which gears capacity building, "is not just a question of efficient service delivery or of effective control over the existing allocative system of our country, but is a change-oriented field concerned with the institutional dynamics of social justice which is a relevant indicator of development."
Our management has been based on "top down” philosophy. Unfortunately, our planners barely have the feel of the local conditions, hopes, aspiration and priorities of the local people. This has badly affected the allocation and distribution of wealth and resources, causing skewed pattern of development across the country.
A few of the major causes for the lack of rapid development in Bangladesh are:
• Misdirected fixation of national priorities for economic development because of external influence;
• Negligence in ensuring availability of raw material, technical know-how and compatible management exposure;
• Inadequate development of infrastructure to handle the growing need for resource mobilisation, its storage and its delivery;
• Absence of appropriate and efficient managerial organisation to implement development plan. Rules made decades ago are still prevalent in the process of dispensation;
• Inefficient distribution of resources, which is characterised by red tape, parochialism and political motivation;
• Inability to disaggregate goal into investment projects due to constraints imposed by the donor countries;
• Insularity in the world market and abnormal fluctuation of dollar value vis-a-vis taka;
• Inability to comprehend the necessity of coordination between and among ministries. Inter-ministerial rivalry also cuts across the implementation of development plan;
• Malafide political motivation and leadership arrogance to hold on to power even by hookor by cook, patronisation of cronyism and allocation priority of party security over state security, use of formal state organisations for informal assignments, and partisan approach towards distribution have kept back the caravan of development by miles.
Development, which includes redistribution of power and resources to bring about substantial change in environment, is beset with enormous problems, which warrant participation of the nation. The age-old colonial rules, which have been in practice so long, are unresponsiveness and exploitative. Methods need to be evolved to ensure responsiveness and variation to mobilise people around development.
Planning of development should not be left to the whims of the politicians who, without adequate knowledge of means and modes of total development, have made a mess of it. They are inclined to keep their own council regardless of their ability to comprehend the enormity of the subject At times, they are guided by the vagueness and vanity of their political strength and a superficial knowledge of national priorities.
ZA Khan is a former Director General of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.