The Major Issues and Future Direction of Community Development

Abstract

As I look back over my years of research, study and fieldwork, my overall feeling is one of sadness that so much community development effort has, on the whole, resulted in relatively so little actual betterment and more especially for the poor and underprivileged people who need betterment most. I know, of course, that powerful minorities in every country often succeed in influencing development policies in their own interests at the expense of the mass of ordinary people, and I accept that as a fact of life we have to live with. What concerns me much more is that the well-intentioned efforts of so many planners, administrators and field workers who really want to promote betterment have, on the whole, so often fallen so far short of realising their full potential. To give but two examples: in India great dissatisfaction was expressed at the 1969 National Seminar on Panchayati Raj 'that the social and economic benefits (of rural development) have flown to the more affluent sections of the rural communities.. .. The benefits it was expected to confer on the weaker and underprivileged sections of the rural population have not materialised in many cases'. 1 Again, although the Basic Democracies Works Programme in East Pakistan has resulted in great physical improvements in drainage, flood control and transportation, it has also been heavily criticized as having mainly benefited the larger landowners, widened the pre-existing gap between rich and poor, enlarged the number of landless labourers and worsened their condition.* Overall Development Objectives are Necessary Such examples could be multiplied indefinitely, which suggests that something is seriously wrong here. Basically, I believe, it is because each social and economic development agency, and there are many, pursues its own objectives with its own selected clientele and too readily assumes that by achieving such objectives it contributes its share to overall betterment. What is much needed, but in practice lacking, is any common agreed and overall purpose for development to which every agency aims to contribute and by which it continually assesses the results of its work. It seems to me that the current situation is well summed up by one student of development who writes: 'At the moment we are in an impasse. Recent theories of development. .. have certainly defined the problem areas, and very well too. But they have left the problem or problems largely unsolved, especially the problem of what constitutes development and how it is to be attained'. 3

Public Participation in Rural Development Planning (A Study in Lopok Village, Lopok District, Sumbawa Regency – West Nusa Tenggara)

“…Also, several experts, such as Miller (1997); Khairuddin (2000), define the rural development is a term used to describe the approach used to approach the villagers in order to utilize the initiative and local forces more effectively to improve better production and living standards. However Batten (1974); Khairuddin (2000) defines the rural development as a process in which members of the village community firsly discuss and determine their expectations, then plan and work together to meet their wants. Further, Khairuddin (2000: 65) identifies the important things in PMD, namely; (a) PMD is a deliberately process activity; (b) PMD is a togetherness activity of citizens; (c) PMD emphasises more on selfhelp and community capacity building; and (d) PMD aims to improve the lives of the people concerned.…”