The Hindu Business Line : Making awareness happen

This book educates the reader on the socio-psychological monitoring of organisations and programmes for effective implementation of development. It also provides a window to locate development — rural, social and industrial in interface with overall democratic context in the country, where values, attitudes and tendencies play an important role.

In the first chapter, the author deals with the needs of the people, aspirations and goals of development. While discussing the above he clearly pinpoints the need for better educational facilities in rural areas, better living conditions and above all the effects of dominative leadership.

The dominative leadership had resulted in agitations such as Kisan Adivasi Mukthi Sangathan in Madya Pradesh and Narmada Bachao Andolan. The caste-dominated attitude of the leaders is another factor that should be eschewed for progressive developmental programmes. Centres of power such as women, dalits, peasants and tribals are gaining momentum to get justice for the down-trodden and are factors necessary to be reckoned to achieve a greater democratisation of society. The electoral politics over the years has also contributed to a continuing battle for a more humane and egalitarian society. All these combined forces are leading to a growing pressure to perform.

The next chapter deals with periodical communal clashes and how these emotionally charged situations pose problems to democratisation in the country. To evolve methods to bring down such tension arising out of social prejudices and to measure democratic social behaviour of various strata of the society four types of psychological tools are suggested. They are Conservative Authoritarian Scale, Overall Modernity Scale, Secular Attitude Scale and In-Group and Out-Group Attitude Scale.

The four scales for measuring attitudinal parameters pertaining to `Democratic-Secular Attitudes of Children' was put to test on ground realities in three private-aided and government-run schools. The results showed that the nature of school management plays a very important role in realising socialising process at school. Further the experiment revealed that religious dogmatism, on one hand showed significant positive correlation with conservative morality and social hostility and on the other, negative correlations with openness, general awareness, mutual trust and equalitarianism. The findings are significant from the point of view of education and socialisation.

Further analysing the democratic-secular attitudes of children the author observes that communal or secular attitudes and other related behaviours in life are shaped by home and school environments. Children of educated fathers possess less conservative authoritarianism and better individual modernity compared to children of illiterate or very poorly educated parents. Similarly children studying in government schools posses less conservative authoritarianism and high individual modernity compared to children in privately managed schools. The comparison in regard to self-prejudice, self-image and secular attitude also varies similarly depending upon the fathers' educational level and the community of birth. Thus both home and school play a very significant role in moulding the character of the children.

Evaluating and monitoring various aspects of developmental practices on the ground is better focused these days due to increasing concern among people for better performance and governance. Effective leadership is one way of energising the social sector. The chapter on `Trends in and Contributors to Development- related Behaviour' is based on the study of the behavioural pattern of agricultural extension scientists/officials and managers and workmen. The findings regarding development- problem solving and other related behaviours led to psychological audit for HRD and other related interventions. The dependency inducing behaviour, cadre mentality, social and welfare amenities at the work place, educational qualities, motivation, type of leadership, vigilance etc are some of the important motivational factors for development-related behaviour.

The expectations of the people have increased considerably thanks to social awareness generated by electoral democratic process. The unrealised dream of justice — social, economic and political — cannot remain so and the upsurge of people to attain that justice necessitates attitudinal change to achieve democratising work and development process. That can be achieved only by improvement in democratic, secular and egalitarian values of development functionaries, addressing the needs and aspirations of people who crave for quality of life, bridging the gap between promises and actual practice, and elimination of attitude of craving for power and domination by development functionaries.

The author retired as Member, Central Administrative Tribunal.

Picture by A. Roy Chowdhury

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