Answer:

The understanding of development till late in India has been limited to implementation of the government programs in a top down model rather than meeting the demands of

the grassroots. The program driven approaches led to the implementation of policies built by the experts in the ivory towers to a completely different environment where life of many got impacted. The states had long been complaining that funds for the social sector schemes were extremely restricted as per the programs prescribed by the centre like JNNURM, RKVY, AIBP, RGGVY etc. and could not be used for the special requirements of the local development. Diverse regions in India had diverse needs, for which a single handed top-down approach was not found suitable.

In the changing paradigm of development, Demand-driven governance as an approach to development places emphasis on the following characteristics which provide following benefits:

♤ A decentralised component of resource allocation and distribution which gives priority to the people rather than any centralizing authority;

Keeping this in mind the Saansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) was also formulated. Its approach focused on engaging with and mobilizing the community for participatory local level, converging different government programs, private and voluntary initiatives and to achieve comprehensive development in tune with people’s aspirations.

♤ Substantial participation and co-determination from local actors and civil society organisations which mobilises beneficiary contribution and gives them a sense of ownership; e.g. Social sector schemes like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna are being implemented not only by the CPSU’s, state government power department, state electricity board and DISCOMs alone but cooperatives share an equal role in its implementation

♤ Alignment and coordination with local authorities and governance structures also ensures social investment.

♤ a set of ‘checks and balances’ to ensure local transparency and allow community constituencies to hold state- and developmental systems accountable (‘bottom-up accountability’) ensures optimality in performance. E.g. Social audit by Gram Sabhas was the major reason behind the successful implementation of MGNREGA.

♤ The concept of demand-driven services is also linked to a paradigm shift in public sector reform towards responsive governance

Although demand-driven programmes represent progress over top-down approaches, but in light of available experience, certain design traps should be avoided, i.e.

♤ Demand-driven approaches can fragment and scatter activities. It is clear that geographical planning and convergence among the programmes should not be overlooked during the preparatory phase.

♤ There is an obvious need for both top-down and bottom-up infrastructure planning to allow for combining heavy and light investments within the framework of local development plans at various levels.

♤ Need for Capacity building at local level before such programmes.

In a nutshell, the approach of bringing local level development has made a shift towards accommodating genuine community needs, community contributions and self- help with regard to the various socio-cultural needs of the people. Thereby, Rural development schemes should not only satisfy the demands of local people and empower local self governance institutions but should have capacity building initiatives ingrained and in tune with national objectives leading to a convergence, which would help in achieving overall development of our nation.