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Chapter 2
Development
1. Development Administration Development Administration” is concerned with the development of a country’s economics and society or, more rightly, with socioeconomic changes in a society. It represent those aspects of public administration and those changes in public administration, which are needed to carry out policies, projects, and programs to improve social and economic conditions. Administrative development focuses on enhancing the capabilities of the administrative systems to facilitate the achievement of progressive political, economic and socio-cultural goals that it is expected and designed to achieve. Elements of the development administration model were: - Establishment of planning institutions and agencies. - Improvement of the central administrative systems. - Budgeting and financial control and. - Personal management and organization and methods. Development administration is the process of executing developmental programs and projects in the direction of nation-building and socio-economic progress through public administration. There are two main issues identified as development administration goals – Nation-building and. Socio-economic development. Features of development administration ➢ Action and Goal Orientation Development administration is action as well as goal-oriented. This means that it is related to achieving certain programmatic results. Developing countries need to address socio- economic problems, and this is exactly why development goals are set and development administrations take action towards those goals. ➢ Socio-economic change Development administration also change-oriented. Here change means the socio-economic change of underdeveloped or developing countries. So, development administration is concerned with bringing socio-economic development. ➢ Client Orientation It has to do with satisfying the needs of its clients. The need for clients means the need of citizens. It is concerned with the uplift of the poorer section of the society. Almost every country announces various schemes for the betterment of the lower class or community in the society and all those schemes are managed by the public administration and this kind of administration is called client-based development administration. ➢ Commitment Orientation The development administration is committed to its goals and responsibilities. It has high morale and motivation in working conditions to achieve developmental goals.
➢ Time Orientation It is time-oriented. The development administration has to perform all its developmental tasks within a time frame. All development projects have to be implemented within the time frame prescribed by the government. ➢ Ecological Orientation It is an open system. It continuously interacts with every element of its environment (Social, economic, and political system). It is influenced by every social, political, and economic environment and influences them as well. F.W Rigg’s ecological perspective of public administration is a great example of this. ➢ Participation Oriented The Development administration adopts the policy of administrative collaborative and participatory systems for its purpose. Here, people are not just considered passive recipients of services. The active participation of the people in the formulation and implementation of developmental policies is given priority. The expansion of the decentralized administrative system is recognized in the development administration. Local self-government ensures people’s participation in their grassroots administrative system. ➢ Responsiveness Responsiveness means responsive in terms of its service. The administration implements every public welfare project of the government. So the more responsive it is, the more development extends. ➢ Innovativeness Development administration is innovative as it relates to social change in achieving developmental objectives. It is dynamic and progressive in thought and action.
2. Challenges of Development Administration Development administration is a state-centric and citizen-centric administration. This globalized world is transforming from a state-centric to a market-centric approach driven by the New Public Management. ➢ The inadequate concern with people-driven development Development administration has been developed keeping in view the objective of people- oriented development. In any country, people live in different communities. In such a situation, no general policy can bring about the overall development of the people. This requires community-oriented development policies. ➢ Bureaucratic domination in development The role of bureaucracy as the main tool of development is also questioned. The bureaucracy is an efficient instrument with which administrative policies are implemented. But the bureaucracy proved to be a very powerful institution to the common backward people.
like man-power planning and management, decentralization, ameliorated bureaucracy, administrative reform etc. Nepal, as a resourceful country, has the enormous capacity to develop itself, if it continues to initiate economic growth. All administrative systems need to be change-oriented, goal-oriented, progressive, efficient, decentralized, responsive and motivated.
4. Planning A plan is a set of thing or activities to operate in systematic order to achieve definite target or objectives. Development planning is the systematic management of resources for the purpose of achieving definite targets or objectives within specific period of time. A plan must be based on a long term vision /goal of a country set to achieve in a time period of say 15 to 20 years. Considering the time duration it is of three types. ➢ Perspective or long term plan (15 to 20 years period) ➢ Medium term plan (3 to 7 years period) ➢ Annual Plan (1 year period) 5. Planning in Nepal Historical Background Nepal's formal experience with national planning started in 1951. Following sweeping changes in government and politics, the political situation in Nepal was still volatile in 1951. The long- term plan was not in place until 1955 because successive governments did not last long enough to create plans. In 1952, the Ministry of Planning and Development was created, and this executive government agency drafted a national plan, which King Mahendra announced in his royal proclamation on October 9, 1955. This draft plan became the First Five-Year Plan of Nepal. In January 1957, a 25-member Planning Commission was formed within the Ministry of Planning and Development. In the same month, the Council for the Five-Year Plan was established with the Prime Minister as president and Minister for Planning and Development as vice president. The Planning Commission was unwieldy because of its sheer size and its designation as an advisory body with no technical and operational role or competence, as well as a composition that included many members from outside of government. It was later dismissed citing lack of execution. However, another Planning Commission was created on
January 6, 1958, under the presidency of His Royal Highness, the Second Prince, which initially included four members and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The rise of the newly elected government of B.P. Koirala as well as technical and operational difficulties in creating long-term plans derailed the Planning Commission on May 27, 1959. As a replacement for it, a Planning Board with four full-time members started under the leadership of the Minister of Planning and Development on July 13, 1959. The coup of King Mahendra pushed aside the democratically elected government on December 15, 1960, and then banned the Planning Board. The National Planning Council was created on February 6, 1961, with six full-time members. The Ministry of Planning and Development served as the secretariat for this council and its minister was a vice-chair. Matters of foreign aid and economic affairs were detached from the Ministry of Finance and combined with the National Planning Council to create the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1962. This new ministry then became the secretariat for the National Planning Council. The Council administered all aspects of planning and foreign aid activities. The King was not able to direct planning activities, so it was a difficult task for the members of the National Planning Council, royal family members, and over 20 aid agencies to agree on common objectives, much less to create sustainable plans and programs. The council was dissolved on April 2, 1963, and a new National Planning Council was created with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers as chief and the Minister for Planning and Development as a vice-chair, and other ministers as members. This new council developed the third plan though it continued to face criticism about the inability to implement plans. After two years, a National Planning Commission replaced the new National Planning Council. The Prime Minister chaired the NPC and it had its secretariat with four full- time members and one part-time employee. With this new organization, the Ministry of Finance became responsible for foreign aid and NPC started working as an advisory body beginning in
A detailed study in 1972 reorganized NPC by identifying its purpose and obligations. All plans thereafter were formed based on this report. Throughout its different phases and under different names, this planning agency failed to give a civic voice to the preparation of plans until 1974 when King Birendra started the National Development Council (NDC) by incorporating NPC under its umbrella with its secretariat that could seek input from various parties [24]. A few changes were introduced to the organization of NPC in 1987, then it was restructured again in 1991, where the Prime Minister sat as the chairperson with a full-time vice-chairperson, five members, a member-secretary, and the chief secretary of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the secretary of MOF served as ex-officio members. The reform of 1991 also gave authority to the Prime Minister instead of the King to chair the NDC. Its current institutional framework reflects the revision made on June 28, 1993, and the further streamlining of its roles and duties by Financial Administration Regulation 1999. While the Work Performance Rule 1991 still defines the function of NPC, the executive orders issued by the Cabinet in 2010 and 2018 delineate its organization and purposes. Currently, the organization of NPC includes a full- time Vice-Chairman, five members, and a member-secretary who works as a secretary of the NPC secretariat. The NDC was adjusted in 2007 to include people from all occupations, classes, regions, and communities in the new political context created after the people's movement of
- The systematic development planning in Nepal was started in 2013 B.S. which was for 5 years.
Figure of Human Development Index, which was targeted at 0.57 has already been achieved, and the index was 0.574 by the end of Fiscal Year 2017/18. Target of life expectancy in the plan period was 72 years, which has reached 70 years at the end of Fiscal Year 2017/18. Population having access to safe drinking water has already reached 94. against the target of 90 percent. Target of building irrigation infrastructure was set at 1.52 million hectares, and the progress in the two years stands at 1.47 million hectares, while the population having internet access has reached to 55.4 percent against the target of 65 percent. The concept paper which is being discussed will be approved and endorsed by the meeting led by chairman of the NPC and Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli soon. The 15th plan will begin in mid-July next year. challenges why our development projects in most of the cases are failing to operate for their expected period to or get dropped in the middle of the stream.
- Dearth of research culture in our society has been a major challenge to our development goals.
- There could be various reasons Corruption, poor engineering and sub-standard materials could be blamed for failure of the projects, but questions can be raised whether adequate research works have been done.
- Keeping other things aside, poor research works based on poor information/ statistics can be blamed for all these mess in the Nepalese context. Multiplier effects of bad research, poor data base and mishandling of information have posed a serious impact on policy making. A good policy is possible only when information and facts are professionally and honestly analyzed.
- In one way or other, it can be said that Nepal’s policy making process as of now has undergone a serious threat of poor information, baseless speculations and data manipulation.
- Prof. Pushkar Bajracharya, while he was the member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), had acutely felt the need of data and research based analytical information. Nepal has been grappling with serious challenges in the forms of poverty, a widening gap in income between the rich and poor, increasing unemployment and inequality in social indicators between different social groups. The political transformation that took place in 1990 yielded no significant outcome to reduce gap between the rich and poor. The country’s economic development process is totally at the
crossroads now. The authors have revealed all these facts that have plagued the country’s development process. the reasons behind political unrest and Maoist insurgency that began in 1996. Their analyses are based on the reality. Had the political parties following the restoration of democracy in 1990 had a clear economic vision, the country today would not have bogged down in the morass of uncertainty. dearth of proper economic vision in the country’s economic planning and policy making is the major challenge. there arises a question whether development of a nation is possible without addressing political issues. Nepal is an agro- based country, its contribution to the GDP is almost 26 per cent which was more than 40 percent before 1990. On the one hand, Nepal heavily depends on the import of agricultural and food items from India with no possibility of product specialisation and export diversification. On the other hand, foundations of manufacturing sectors are becoming shakier with the closure of a number of industries in the recent decades. On top of that, economic policies of the governments formed after 2000 have virtually failed to drive the country’s economy. However, ten years of political conflict, followed by two key events—the devastating earthquake of 2015 and a seven-month economic blockade at the Nepal-India border—have severely undermined economic growth. The country also faces many development challenges, including high rates of poverty and inequality, mass migration from rural to urban areas, vulnerability to climate change, and limited capacity of the government to provide public services. Further, frequent changes of leadership and the concomitant instability in governance is a substantial challenge. Many great plans exist, but the human and financial capacity to implement them continues to remain weak in Nepal
Nepal started planned development more than 60 years ago.
The gap between plan formulation and implementation is enormous. The national capacity to execute plans and produce appropriate results is starkly poor. This is due to our poor capacity to make the best use of physical, human and fiscal resources. Why plans fail in Nepal: Misplaced orientation at fault
- The planning process is not only centralised but also personalised. Hence, the political leaders and bureaucrats can make the planning wheel move. As a consequence, resources are misused in larger proportions in Nepal
- Nepal started planned development more than 60 years ago. Currently, we are set to implement the 15th periodic development plan, setting forth various objectives and priorities in accordance with the federal governance process and framework.
- According to development economists like Michael P Todaro, planned development is an organised, conscious and continual attempt to select the best available alternative to achieve a specific goal.
- Before the onset and elaborate unfolding of a successive periodic plan in Nepal, it is discussed at different levels, including the National Development Council. The priorities
the jurisdictional authority. However, this has been totally disrespected, with projects evolving at the ward level being shelved at the Gaupalika and Nagarpalika level. Similarly, larger projects of the Gaupalika and Nagarpalika are not entertained by the provinces. The federal government, on its part, overrides constitutional and statutory limits as powerful politicians and bureaucrats introduce their own pet projects to support their respective constituencies. Moreover, constituency development allocations, handled by the parliamentarians, pose a big problem for the coordinated and harmonised framework of the planning process. There is no mechanism and process to strike a linkage between the country’s needs and development planning so that appropriate projects are identified and selected, and resources are allocated accordingly. The planning process is not only centralised but also personalised. The political leaders, bureaucrats and those who can dictate the official channels can make the planning wheel move. As a consequence, resources are misused in larger proportions in Nepal. Diaspora concerns and measures proposed 1).Remove all restrictive policies and laws affecting foreign direct investments, and promote private-public partnerships and invite direct investments in all economic areas, including small and medium size enterprises instead of excessive reliance on bi-lateral and multi-lateral aides; (2). Remove faulty assumptions and misplaced development strategies; (3). Develop and strengthen effective monitoring mechanism for timely implementation and improving governance with strong fiscal indiscipline; (4). Refrain from undue influence from political interest groups that hinder realistic policy reforms; (5). Create right synergies between the plan and budget allocation from the start that would positively contribute to delivery of the desired output; (6). Reorganize state institutions and reform administrative and financial procedures which have hindered implementation delays and contributed to failures in delivering timely delivery of outputs; (7). Revise rules and regulations to remove rigid and inflexible bureaucratic processes which have become stumbling block in accelerating development activities, and adapt to changing regional economic development dynamics and global trends;
(8). Enhance institutional capabilities by removing isolationist policies of the past to benefit from liberalized world market environment and ease trading relations with economic power-houses. Development Challenges We ought to recognize that the biggest challenge facing the nation is eradication of poverty and rural unemployment. Nepal has made social progress, but it has not resulted in sustainable solution to the core problems of rural unemployment and poverty. Social progress will not be sustainable without meaningful economic development contributing to positive rise in living standard of population. Eliminating poverty and rural unemployment will require large investment in all economic fronts to propel domestic employment providing sustainable incomes to household. Without real economic development improvements in living standard of citizens only a far fetched dream. Mere increase in gross domestic production will not deliver economic development of a nation. And, without achieving a certain level of economic development contributing to higher living standards we will not be able to command due respect and dignity at global level,and as a sovereign nation. This is an undeniable truth and it is the main challenge of the next decade. People are often reminded by ambitious political elites that Nepal can be like Switzerland of the East or like Singapore. But, no one has ever publicly presented road mapson such a lofty dream.This is misleading the population. Future development plan should be based on economic pragmatism with sincere self-realization of what is achievable on a reasonable time-line rather than repeat of subjective objectives, elucidating unrealistic expectations and rhetoric. Just a few years ago both India and China were not economic power houses. Their economies were not much different than ours. They swiftly and pragmatically aligned their policies and strategies to global economic trends and have been making development progress. We can learn from their experiences without squandering time and energy or debating outdated political philosophies. Focus should be on economics because all nations are affected by changing phenomenon occurring at global political and economic arena. We cannot live in isolation for we are inter-connected and there can be no return to the past failures. We must forthwith abandon protectionist policy approaches and fix positively our development conundrum. Highlights
National plans regularly recognize failures, underachievement, and low capacity.
