Participatory development and poverty
Although there is no direct relationship between the
rise in abject poverty and participatory development,
but an earlier report in these pages alleging
embezzlement in relief supplies by the connected and
rich people makes a pressing case to see where we went
wrong. We were known for altruism, self help, care for
the poor and cooperative life but today we only read
about them in books or hear them from our elders with
nostalgia. A common man is unable to make sense out of
it that how come in this age of opulence and
interventions poverty has risen so dramatically. To
understand this phenomenon some background information
would be in order.
With the defeat of communism in Russia, the ideologues
of capitalist world came up with the premise that
without addressing the issue of poverty the gains of
capitalism can not be secured. Dr. Mehboobul Haq, then
working in the World Bank, came up with his trickle down
theory of development, whereby rich countries would be
required to aside a portion of their budget to be given
to poor countries bilaterally or through the World Bank
and International Monetary Fund.
To channelize and control
disbursement of the poverty alleviation fund, as it was
called, establishment of non governmental organizations
(NGOs) were encouraged and supported saying that
government machineries in third world countries were
corrupt or lacked capacity to do the job. Some people
saw elements of cultural onslaught and some political
and economic domination and yet others neo-colonialism
in this emerging new world order. To the argument as to
how the manpower selected by the NGOs from these corrupt
countries can deliver efficiently it was counter argued
that trickle down theory will take care of it.
During the second tenure of PML government NGOs had
become powerful and the government itself felt the heat
and decided to control and regulate the working of NGOs
but before it could do something PML government was
dismissed and was replaced by what some people called
NGO government. During this period NGOs coined a new
more respectable name of civil society organizations for
themselves and improved their image by participating in
the movement for free judiciary.
There are many countries
in the world where NGOs have contributed significantly
in reducing poverty. India and Bangladesh are few such
examples. The distinguishing feature of NGO working in
these countries has been strong government oversight,
empowered public and correct legal paradigm. In Pakistan
the government divested itself of responsibility and
looked the other way while its employees joined NGOs
still drawing salary from government exchequer, to make
extra bucks in utter violation of service rules and at
the cost of good governance. Here lies the crux of the
problem and consequent derailment of the participatory
process and creation of new rich, exacerbating class
conflict in societies where it did not exist before.
As a result of this contrivance government’s capacity to
deliver was further undermined and it went into
hibernation. Bad governance or lack of it became
household words. This mismanagement had negative
consequences for societies, depending on their level of
awareness and Chitral was the most effected. In 2004
when I obliged the local community to help them in
consolidating a community based school in Chitral after
seeking premature retirement from a well paid
prestigious government job, my first impression on
arrival here was that every body in Chitral was looking
for donation and the slogans of quality education and
development were just covers. This impression is borne
out by a letter of a donor representative, alleging
embezzlement of 40,000/ pounds that they had generated
for a project. As no documentation existed so there was
no trace of the money.
Drawing lesson from this
episode I decided to first go for documentation, rules,
regulations and procedures to obviate chances of such
embezzlement in my institution. Linkages were developed
with donors for scholarship support, teacher training
and building expansion to accommodate increasing number
of students. The institution has been upgraded to degree
level and two more facilities for ECD education and B.Ed
have been added to it. The number of students has risen
from 175 when I took over, to 550 now, number of staff
has gone up to 35 from 15 in 2004. The worth of assets
now stands at more than Rs.60/ million and in 2004 it
was a little over ten million.
Community ownership
of the school has been strengthened to prevent its take
over by vested interests as was attempted in a similarly
placed facility nearby which was built with donor money
and community support but was later on put up for sale
by the trustees, posing to be owners, on the ground that
it was not sustainable and had also failed to impart
quality service.
The fact that Pamir
School has thrived over the years and has produced
brilliant students found eligible for Fulbright
scholarship and job in MNCs, and 50 of them still
studying in leading foreign and national universities
like LUMS and GIK speaks for its quality. As compared to
this other models of participatory development are being
kept in the oxygen tents of donors praying for natural
calamities to keep the projects going through fresh dose
of donor money, thus making sustainability a major
casualty and turning small time thieves into dacoits.
There are projects which
have been abandoned after construction and land donors
are using them to recover their rents and LSOs have
failed to enforce community ownership and oversight
bodies have absolved themselves of any responsibility
leaving the common men to fend for themselves. Some
people say these are petty issues as long as donor money
is coming in. There is a truism that one should take
care of small things, big things will take care of
themselves. Any way importance of an issue lies in the
eyes of a beholder. For a millionaire few thousand
rupees may mean nothing but for a poor one kilo of wheat
flour can mean a life saved. Demand for honesty,
punishment of corrupt, public empowerment and
sustainable development can not be less important than
few jobs for the blue eyed and easy money for activist
partners with kickbacks. It is our moral responsibility
to judiciously utilize the money given to us by the tax
payers and philanthropists around the world.
It is unfair to target a community school simply because
it's principal is not liked by some people. It is not
important who says it as long as what is being said is
correct. Pamir school is not just a school. It is a
movement committed to bring about positive changes in
every walk of life through an integrated approach. We
are working for gender empowerment, promotion of
culture, human rights and sustainable development. We
organized a seminar on quality education. During this
seminar there was consensus that lack of commitment and
involvement of teachers in NGO business for easy money
were largely responsible for cheating in exams and poor
quality of education. This is an area where we are doing
advocacy despite facing the wrath and character
assassination from the mafia.
We deserve
understanding, if not support, in this noble task. We
believe that in the emerging knowledge society Chitralis
stand to lose if they fail to improve their education
system. We do not oppose individuals except those who
symbolize the negative change and have developed vested
interest in its perpetuation which they are doing by
forging unholy alliances in the political domain. In the
participatory development sector this alliance exists
between the so called professionals of NGOs and activist
partners at the grass roots level, who are the net
beneficiaries of the filter down theory of development
at the cost of the poor.
When the new world order put the NGOs in the driving
seat for social mobilization it presumed accountability,
meritocracy and transparency which have now become major
casualties in the hands of the very NGOs who were
expected to promote these values. It was time we
reversed the present trends and ask for funds when we
have the capacity to spend them sustainability and for
public welfare and not to enrich the already rich or to
promote corrupt practices.
My only difference with
my friends is that they want funds for the sake of
spending, which creates parasites, while I want them for
sustainable development, which may help to create self
respecting individuals and communities. If some of my
friends still insist that all is well in NGO sector I
invite them to join me to call for impartial NAB or Anti
-corruption investigation to find out the truth. NAB law
calls for investigation into the life style of every one
whose income does not justify his life style.
Unfortunately this law has been used for political
victimization so far and not to catch the corrupt. I am
sure scores would be behind bars, more than a dozen from
Garam Chashma alone --Islamuddin,
Garam Chashma 28 Dec 2010
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