Jargonising Development

They say MBA is common sense delivered through jargons. I don’t know, who said this first, or who propounded this phrase, but I dare say, I cannot help but agree with him (or her, if it was a she. You have got to be “gender sensitive”).
My university education had given me its fare share of jargons. But my real serious love affair with jargons began after I landed up in this well known institute of management in Western India.
The first evening here gave me the first lesson in development, that there are no short cuts to “development”. The d word is something, which I would probably use, most often for the rest of my life. Into the second week in our MBA programme we were packed off to villages all over the state to gain insights into the various “rural realities” and to “unlearn” things which, growing up in cities, we might have been assumed to have taken for granted. There we learnt that, “co-operation”, was a panacea to many of the ills plaguing “rural India”, if not all of them (Bina Sahakar nahi uddhar).
By that time, “mero gaon ka thepare ja” from the film Manthan had become the batch anthem and it could be heard blaring from almost every speaker in the hostels.
Coming back, we learnt that, “livelihood security” is the most important issue, facing the rural populace. And to ensure that, a “holistic” approach to development is the need of the hour. This requires a “paradigm shift” in the mindsets of the people in general and the male members of the society in particular. There is this need to be more “gender sensitive”.
Moving along in the programme, we also learnt that co-operation is after all, not the solution to all rural evil. The “free rider” problem is very much a part of every “collective”, since almost every human being is “rational”. Since, “common property resources” do not belong to any one individual, many, actually want to extract the fullest from them not caring to give any thing in return. However, “self-reliance”, too is important therefore, “capacity building” of all the “stakeholders” assumes very important propositions, if you really want to bring in sustainable development.
But at the same time, one should be aware of all the bull shit which the western world is throwing on us. Because, they are only interested in increasing “consumerism” in us and create “dependency” on them.
By the way, the best way to collect information in the rural areas (if you stay there for an extended period of time), is through “un obtrusive observations”. That is probably the best way to observe the “social networks” and their working.
Well meaning “interventions” from the government have failed to make any sizeable impact in the sixty two years of independent India’s existence, primarily because, true development can never be handed down by the powers-that- be at the top. In other words, it should not be “top down” but rather should be “bottom up”. It should be “need based” and “participatory”.
Last but definitely not the least, the credit needs of the rural poor can be met by providing them “micro finance” and their repayment can be ensured by formation of “self help groups”. And yes, one needs to be sure to directly jump into making “recommendations” when (s)he finds him(her)self face-to-face with any “decision problem” without caring to set the “decision criteria”.
Otherwise, one will not be taken seriously as a manager.