| Abstract | People's participation has become an important strategy in the
development process of many less developed countries. It is a means of
generating and sharing in the fruits of development. Despite emphasis
given to the participatory strategies and the extensive literature on
participation, factors making it work are still inadequately understood.
This study was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the
determinants of people's participation for different development sectors
under the decentralized planning system being practiced in Nepal. The
question addressed in this regard is whether the participative
development strategy can be applied uniformly to all sectors of government
activities? If not, how and why do such differences exist? For the
examination of these aspects, a conceptual model was developed. It
comprises three distinct but interrelated components of people's
participation, namely, "needs and benefits", "scope" and "capacity". The
elements included under "needs and benefits " are family needs, community
needs, material benefits and non-material benefits. "Scope" encompasses
the traditional practices of participation, decentralization procedures
and nature of work. Similarly, economic condition of people, education,
age structure, family size, caste, and institutional affiliations are
included under "capacity". Sectors and sub-sectors of development covered
in the analysis are: agriculture, irrigation, drinking water, health,
education, forestry, industry, and panchayat development (i.e . , public
work activities carried out for local development).
The results of the analyses reveal varying impact of "needs and
benefits", "scope ", and "capacity" on the environment for participation.
Depending on the kinds of costs and benefits to be shared, motives for
participation vary. Competition exists in those activities which provide
direct benefits at the individual household level; in the case of communal
benefit oriented activities, people tend to shift participation burdens.
These variations affect participation levels in different development
sectors (i. e., production, social services, and infrastructure
development sectors). "Scope" varies according to the nature of work,
while "capacity" varies according to the economic conditions of the
people. The high income people participate less but incidences of their
participation are evenly spread over various stages (i. e ., decision
making, implementation, benefit sharing, and evaluation) of the
participatory process. In the case of low and medium income people,
participation is lopsided to the implementation stage and play little role
in decision making. The low income people, despite time pressure for
earning their livelihood, are coerced to contribute free labour, whereas
the high income people escape from it due to the advantage of
patron-client relations.
The younger age and education level negatively . relate with
participation. As the "scope" available for participation mostly fall in
the areas of labour requiring work related to the infrastructure
development sector, the youth and educated people are reluctant to dirty
their hands. Consequently, t hey participate less than others. The study
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indicates that the environment for participation is favourable where
there is compatibility among "motivation for benefit", "scope" and
"capacity". To achieve compatibility of these aspects across the wide
range of activities in different development sectors, sector specific
approaches to participation are essential. Making this strategy
meaningful to the capacity of the poor, corresponding target group
approaches are a l so required.
The outcome of this study helps planners to design programmes related
to people's participation more realistically. In academic terms, it
contributes to our understanding of the behaviour of elements related to
people-centred development in general and participation of the
disadvantaged sections of the population in particular. |