Deep Joshi is the founder of PRADAN and won 2009 Magsaysay prize. He says in an interview to BS that the “government is not qualified to take up community development”, but don’t expect anything more from this interview except the below one question. Infact saying something like this is dangerous for true open society “So people are still far away from the point when they know they can get work on demand. Once that point comes, nothing can stop them.”
Do you think our BDOs should be qualified in social work? Or should the government do development work at all?
BDOs (block development officers) today are not qualified for the job they do. Anyone will tell you that the system is not working. Tell me: Have you seen a BDO sit on the floor with village women? The state's currency is power and the bottomline is coercion, whereas development requires motivation to extend oneself. The government is good for providing defence, resource transfer. But, for running development activities, there is a conceptual flaw in it. The sad part is no one seems to apply his mind to this matter.
