People’s participation in development

Priscilla Welikala

People are the richest resource of any Nation. Hence it is very important that the ultimate goal of any Nation is the development of its people

The development at micro, mezzo and macro level must take place with the involvement and active participation of the people. This is very important where programs or developmental activities affect the people as they would experience the effects of the development activities.

Change is the most constant thing that happens in the world today. It takes place within people and in the environment. This is a process where the structure of social relationships in society is altered.

Development process

This alteration can be observed in the changes that take place in political, social, economic structure in society. It is said that if changes do not take place there can be no growth and if there is no growth there is no development.

Hence as change is an inevitable factor in development as a process of growth must take place and this must be done with the involvement of the people who will be the beneficiaries of the development process.

Change as a process imposes a pressure on the attitudes of people. The changes get easily accepted when the effected changes are congruent with the attitude of a person. If what has been introduced is not congruent with the attitude system of a person it will be rejected.

This emphasizes the importance of changing the attitudes of people and this is a process where individuals themselves have to go through.

This is very important as change imposed from outside may not last long. Conviction, acceptance and a change from within a person can definitely help in changing ones attitude or effect a ‘paradigm shift’ for this flexibility is very much needed to be relevant in present day society.

Looking at our own country we have reached an epoch making period in the history of our country.

After centuries of colonial rule which led to vast changes in the country and in the thinking patterns and values of people, our country was badly affected by a brutal terrorist group for nearly 30 years which obstructed all development.

Now that this has been cleared all attempts are being made to unite Sri Lanka, with all people as Sri Lankans by making positive changes with various development programs.

Hence it is very important that all people view these changes as a process in development and not reject them as negative intrusions by those in power.

Structural changes

At this point in time it is important to understand why certain changes in society are not successful and in fact fail after a period of time. Structural changes are not that difficult to accomplish.

To demolish, create, restructure agencies or their structures in society may be affected with ease.

However what is important to remember is that structural changes cannot be separated from value orientations of people.

When changes do not carry with them corresponding changes in people’s value orientation and a conviction or acceptance to willingly effect behaviour changes.

Accordingly, people will develop negative attitudes towards changes and they will look at them as simply imposed on them.

Vast development programs are undertaken by the Government and this is actually aimed at improving all aspects of the people in the country.

As mentioned earlier, all development activities taking place, if they are to make a positive impact on the recipients, what is introduced must be congruent with the attitude system of the individual for otherwise people can reject or not cooperate with the new innovations.

Future outcomes

We already have examples and they are shown on television about projects where vast amounts of money have been spent, but they have not been completed or are left neglected and people are not benefited by these projects. Hence even though change is important and necessary to become relevant to meet present day needs, it is important that people who are the intended beneficiaries must accept and also be convinced of the real benefits that would come to them through these innovations. Change involves moving people from the comfort of what they know into an unknown area; hence the normal reactions to change are fear, anger, anxiety, hostility and resistance.

This shows the importance of working with people with an understanding for their experiences are unique and however good the intentions and future outcomes would be it takes time to understand the mind set of the people concerned, as it has been built into them after years of experiencing various situations which have now become a part and parcel of their lives.

The following put into words by late Dr James Payne explains this further.

Go to the people

Live among the people

Learn from the people

Plan with the people

Work with the people

Start with what the people know

Build on with what the people have

Teach by showing, learn by doing

Not a showcase, but a pattern

Not odds and ends but a system

Not a piecemeal but

an integrated approach

Not to conform, but to transform

Not relief but release

The Village is important

But the villager is more important

The outsider can help

But the insider must do this

The above to some extent mentions the important place people play and how much involved they can be. The mind set of people, the feeling level and how they think are all very important and much attention must be given to discuss, explain and understand them.

The guiding factor when working with people must be their worth and dignity as human beings and not who they are, or where they live. When working with people the Social Work Profession has a big role to play, in facilitating social adjustment for effective social participation and maximization of their potentials.

This is with the objective of helping in attaining an optimum quality of life. For this the people must be approached and assisted to confront social reality and the need to introduce social changes that will eventually lead to a better quality of life.

Social workers

Social Work is concerned with both adjustment and change. It can be done with individuals, groups and communities. The individual is part of the family and a number of families form the community. Social workers are trained to analytically understand situations and people and help them to see things realistically.

They believe that effective solutions to existing problem situations are possible only through the active participation of the person concerned. Deciding what is good for the people must be arrived at with the participation of people themselves.

The process involved and why things are done, must be explained and alternatives must be discussed.

Though planners may visualize positive future outcomes and what benefits the people would get, unless and until the people concerned develop an awareness of such outcomes things will not move smoothly.

It must not be forgotten that this is an opportune time for our country when all attempts are being made to make Sri Lanka the miracle of Asia, that people, our richest resource must be given a place of prime importance in all developmental activities.