CLASS-6: People’s participation

Both the Central as well as State governments are now stepping into adopt the
participatory or community-driven approaches in resource management.
The new paradigm stresses the involvement of local people in contrast to the
top-down paradigm, which tends to dominate management of resources at the
local level.
The objective of this participation is to create opportunities to enable all
the members of a community and the larger society to actively contribute
to, and influence, the development process in order to share the fruits of
development equitably.

National water policy (2002) replaced its earlier emphasis on top-down

approach with bottom-up approach to encourage participatory water
management in water harvesting. The concept of Water Users’ Association
(WUA) and Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) have come to realise the
importance of collective action or farmers’ participation in resource
management by acknowledging people’s right to influence decision making.

International development agencies like the World Bank, the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP), and the Food and Agricultural Organisation
(FAO) propose decentralisation as the main approach to fighting
improper distribution of resources and circumventing the shortcomings
of a state-directed resource distribution.
People’s participation in the decision making process is an important
component of decentralisation. Planners involved in policy formulation and
delivery of community-based services are becoming increasingly interested in
promoting the participation of local people.

Participation of the people in all programmes for rural development has

been conceived as a pre-requisite to ensure their acceptance of the
programme and its sustenance. Participation, whatever its goal may be, is in
itself a fuzzy concept having acquired several meanings over a period of time.
At one end of the spectrum, it could mean just a nominal membership in a
group; and at the other end, it could imply having an effective voice in the
decision making process (Agarwal, 2001). Participation connotes different
meanings for different people. The participation of user community is not
simply the application of ‘methods’, rather it is a part of a process of dialogue,
action, analysis, conflict resolution and change. It is not a neutral concept but
involves a set of political issues concerning who has access to resources
(Pimbert et al, 1996). Thus, people’s participation can be conceived as a
human process wherein the people for whom the development programme
is meant have an access to decisions that are going to affect their
livelihoods. According to Banki, participation is ‘a dynamic group process
in which all members of a group contribute, share or are influenced by the
exchange of ideas and activities toward problem solving or decision-
making’. People’s participation is defined by the FAO as ‘the process by
which the rural poor are able to organise themselves and, through their
own organisation, are able to identify their own needs, share in the
design, implementation and evaluation of the participatory action’.

Importance of participation: Firstly, participation in community-

based organisations could help to identify local priorities so that
development projects might better reflect grass root needs and wishes.
Secondly, participation in popular organisations and groups, co-operatives,
land reform committees, irrigation societies, and women organisations
might assist in mobilising local support for development projects and
programmes. Thirdly, increased local participation might reduce the cost of
many public services and development projects by shifting more
responsibility to grassroots organisations.
 Characteristics of Community Participation:

 Commitment to community-derived solutions to community-based problems

 Political, cultural, and gender sensitivity
 Ability to apply learning and behaviour change principles and theories
 Ability to assess, support, and build capacities in the community
 Confidence in the community's expertise
 Technical knowledge of the health or other issue(s) the project will address
 Ability to communicate well, especially by actively listening
 Ability to facilitate group meetings
 Programmatic and managerial strengths
 Organizational development expertise
 Ability to advocate for and defend community-based solutions and approaches.

Levels of participation

Typology of participation
Forms / levels of participation Characteristic features
Nominal Membership in the group
Passive Being informed of decisions ex
post facto; or attending meetings
and listening in on decision
making without speaking up
Consultative Being asked an opinion in specific
matters without guarantee of
influencing decisions
Active specific Being asked to undertake specific
tasks
Active and Interactive Expressing opinions, whether or
not asked, or taking initiatives of
other sorts
Interactive (Empowering) Having voice and influence in the
group’s decisions

Community Participation

Mode of Outsider Potential for

Participation Type of Participation Control Sustainability,
 Local Action
& Ownership
Tokenism and/or
manipulation;
Co-opted representatives are *****
chosen but have no real
power or input.
Tasks are assigned, with
incentives. Outsiders
Cooperating **** *
decide agenda and direct
the process.
Local opinions are
sought. Outsiders analyze
Consulted *** **
data and decide on course
of action.
Local people work
together with outsiders to
determine priorities.
Collaborating ** ***
Responsibility remains
with outsiders for
directing the process.
Local people and
outsiders share their
knowledge to create new
Co-learning understanding and work * ****
together to form action
plans with outside
facilitation.
Local people set the
agenda and mobilize to
carry it out, utilizing
Collective
outsiders, NOT as *****
Action
initiators or facilitators,
but as required by local
people.

Community participation occurs when a community organizes itself and takes responsibility for
managing its problems. Taking responsibility includes identifying the problems, developing
actions, putting them into place, and following through.