Development, simply put, is the process of continuous growth and betterment. Governments and civil society are the chief proponents and actors of development. Private sector is also involved through its foundations. It is often civil society which initiates path-breaking development work, at a ground level, because of its proximity and understanding of communities.

It takes necessary risks to try something new, based on felt needs, at times not even clearly articulated by people and knowing fully well that the intervention could take time to produce results. The government usually comes in later and scales up successful exemplars, touching many lives. A successful intervention is termed an exemplar, when it delivers development consistently.

Given the primacy of rural areas in India, innovations are crucial for our sustained growth. But the ‘give-and-take’ relationship between the government and civil society is never smooth because of the uneasy power-play. Creating systems which enable and promote rural innovations are thus crucial. To enable innovations, understanding the idiom and nuances of development are of paramount importance, especially in line departments which interface rural population, as ‘development and doles’ are often erroneously linked. A few nuances are discussed:

Role of civil society

First, why are exemplars important for development and why should civil society promote them? Exemplars are like route maps and they must be perfect. Exemplars also act as goal posts or lighthouses. They have to be co-created with people’s participation. Without them development doesn’t begin and can’t be sustained.

Also, redundancy in development interventions is a normal phenomenon. Our system must, therefore, enable spawning of several rural innovations, as some succeed and only some amongst them successfully scale up.

While governments can create exemplars at a ground level, the question is: should it be doing that? Government’s competency is best used in scaling up exemplars for the masses.

Second, can all successful rural interventions be scaled up? The answer is in the negative and there are many reasons.

People’s processes are not factory processes. What works in a place/region may not work elsewhere as exemplars are embedded in a specific socio-cultural milieu. This awareness and anatomy of an exemplar can help their scaling up.

Third, if exemplars cannot be scaled up why put efforts? This is a wrong question and every developing country must embrace the axiom ‘may a thousand flowers bloom’ and enable them happen.

Fourth, what is essential for scaling up of an exemplar? People, processes and a socio-cultural setting are ingredients of an exemplar.

For scaling, separating the processes from persons is crucial. Operational guidelines for scaling exemplars must give primacy to non-negotiable processes and not the champion [person].

Fifth, governments and civil society must interact more often. India prides itself in its civilisational rivers and their venerated kumbh melas, which come once in 12 years. Government must institutionalise forums for frank exchange of ideas and its machinery must learn to immerse itself in civil society’s thought processes like kumbh melas.

Finally, fireflies have been fascinating humanity since times immemorial. Besides, these aesthetic insects pollinate and keep pests at check. In Japan, they are culturally significant because they highlight beauty and impermanence at the same time. But these sensitive insects are being threatened by loss of their habitat and light pollution across the world.

Exemplars in development are like fireflies, bringing beauty and hope of a pristine environment. Without hope there is no development, which can be ushered in only when all agencies work in unison and in this order, civil society, government and private sector.

Suryakumar was deputy managing director, NABARD. Srinivasan is a development consultant. Views are personal