ASSISTANCE FOR STRENGTHENING HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT CAPABILITIES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

 THE NATIONAL CONCEPT OF HRD

In his foreward to the Seventh Five Year Plan Shri Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India has observed:

"In the final analysis development is not just about factories dams and roads. Development is basically about people. The goal is the people's material, cultural and spritual fulfilment. The human factor, the human context, is of supreme value. We must pay much greater attention to these questions in future. The Seventh Plan proposes bold initiatives in these areas. Outlays for human resource development have been substantially increased. Policies and programmes in education, health and welfare must also be restructured to provide a fuller life for our people".

In his preface to the same Seventh Five Year Plan the noted economist Shri Man Mohan Singh, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission has stated :

"Another major thrust area in the Seventh Plan is human resource development. Public Sector outlays for social services show a significant increase as compared to the Sixth Plan. The Plan seeks to facilitate development of the human potential in terms of self- respect, self-reliance and a life of dignity. Apart from expansion of the existing programmes in education, health, provision of clean drinking water and sanitation, new initiatives and innovative measures are contemplated in these areas. The Plan seeks to provide adequate drinking water facilities for the entire population both in urban and

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rural areas. By the end of the Plan period, the infrastructure for primary health care will be fully operational with regard to village health guides, sub-centres, primary health centres and multi-purpose health workers. Thus, we would have a country. wide system of health care, with a balanced mix of preventive, promotive and curative services. Increased emphasis on protection and preservation of the ecological balance and environment is another distinctive feature of the Seventh Plan."

And further :

"Planning in our country is an instrument of achieving the nation's basic goals and objectives. It was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi to wipe out the tears from the eyes of each and every individual in our country. We can be legitimately proud of the phenomenal progress made by the country since we embarked on the path of planned development. However, there are still too many people with tears in their eyes. Our task is thus clear. We have to wage a still more intensive campaign against poverty. Recent experience suggests that by harnessing the forces of modern science and technology it is possible, as never before, to ensure that chronic poverty need not be the inevitable lot of a majority of humankind. Poverty eradication is an attainable goal. However, it must not be assumed that development is like going to a free dinner party. The standard of living is a matter of high productivity and there are no short cuts to it. Hard decisions will be necessary to mobilise the needed resources and to sustain the tempo of modernisation

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and social development. Simultaneously, we must evolve new structures, new attitudes, a new moral code, a new work ethic, a sort of cultural revolution, if you wish, which lays emphasis on dedication commitment to national goals and pursuit of excellence so that we can make the best possible use of scarce national resources".

Consistent with this perspective, the Seventh Plan policies and perspectives have given high priority to Human Resource Development in its widest meaning. The major thrusts in this regard could be briefly identified under the following heads

(a) Rural Development & Poverty Eradication Programmes.

(b) Employment Promotion Programmes.

(d) Health related services,

(e) Programmes for women and other target groups (backward and weaker sections).

(f) Science and Technology.

(g) Minimum Needs Programme

which covers basic services in Education, Health, Water Supply, Nutrition, Roads, Housing and Electrification.

However, and despite this "priority" there is no chapter

on Human Resource Development as such in the Seventh Five Year Plan, (except a brief section in the chapter on Long-Term Perspective). The Mid Term Appraisal of the Seventh Five Year Plan has made up for this deficiency by having a separate chapter on HRD. But a look at this chapter will indicate that the main components of HRD included

here are only (1) Education, (2) Art and Culture, (3) Sports and Youth Services, (4) Health Care, (5) Family welfare & Planning and (6) Social Development. The items included are essentially those which are generally covered under the term "Social Sector". Such components of HRD as employment promotion poverty alleviation and Science and Technology are not included in this chapter. From this fact and the fact that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (and the Member, Human Resource Development in the Planning Commission) deal with only those items included under the dimension of "quality of life" in terms of Jakarta Declaration; one might be tempted to conclude that the concept of HRD used in India is somewhat different and narrower than that used in ESCAP documents.

But whether called HRD or not, the several elements of HRD outlined in Jakarta declaration, all find an important place in Indian Planning strategy. In elaborating the development strategy towards the year 2000, the Plan declares that the aim is to make India a modern, technologically progressive economy with expanding capacity to provide the basic material and cultural requisites of well being for all people and that the attainment of this goal requires:-

(i) action to sustain and enhance the momentum of economic expansion and technological development

(ii) adoption of effective promotional measures to raise the productivity ant incomes of the poorer sections of the population, poorer regions and poorer States

(iii) expansion and qualitative improvement in facilities for health, education and other basic amenities

(iv) measures for bringing about a sharp reduction in the rate of population growth.

The components of (ii), (iii) and (iv) above clearly fall in the category of HRD and even in regard to (i), the role of Science and Technology is emphasised. Says the Plan :

"The future development of both agriculture and industry will require increasing application of science & technology so as to increase factor productivity. The management of science & technology development will need to be reviewed on a continuing basis for ensuring that the pace of technical progress is enhanced. Arrangements for access to technology need to be improved. Adaptation and absorption of foreign technologies will have to be interlinked with facilities for research and development so as to promote technological self-reliance to the maximum extent possible. Simultaneously, the quality of education will need to be upgraded so that the knowledge and skills of the labour force can be improved in order to facilitate the introduction of science and technology based processes".

The important role of HRD in eradicating poverty has also been clearly underlined. The chapter on Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation states :

"The economic betterment of the poorer sections cannot be achieved without social transformation involving structural change, educational development, growth in awareness and change in outlook motivation and attitudes..... Improvement of literacy and education both through formal and non-formal means and imaginative use of mass media for communicating useful information and knowledge as well as for changing the outlook of the people by instilling in them an egalitarian spirit, the urge for and confidence in achieving

self-betterment through cooperative endeavour are essential for speeding up the process of socioeconomic transformation".

Thus, all the major elements or components of HRD outlined in the Jakarta Declaration find a place in India's Development Strategy. However, it is undeniable that there is a certain emphasis on education and culture as priority areas within HRD. As the Mid Term Plan Appraisal states :

"The development of human resources is both a means and an end. Education, Cultural expression and improved health are desirable in themselves. But they are also an essential base for social and economic development. Recognising this, a special effort has been made in the Seventh Plan to reorient and accelerate the pace of human resource development. In the field of education, in particular the New Education Policy 1986 marks the beginning of a now epoch".

If the Indian context, Education (and Culture) constitute the essential core of the concept of HRD, the second dimension that characterises the concept is that of integration and coordination. Thus, the Mid Term Plan Appraisal declares:

"A major theme of the Seventh Plan is the integration of human resource development programmes with other programmes. Some progress has been made toward this. First, integration between different activities within the sector has been promoted e.g. between health care and family welfare. Second, integration between health, education and related sectors has been pursued e.g. between child care and pre-primary education, between education, health and nutrition in the Integrated Child Health Care and enrolment and retention in the

School Health Programme. Third, human resource development is being integrated with other development activities e.g. by the use of National Rural Employment Programme (NREP), Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) - funds for constructing school ant health centre building. The objective of integration in also reflected in the formation of a Ministry of Human Resource Development at the Centre".

The increased emphasis on HRD in the Mid Term Plan Appraisal is evident and is indicative of the sharpened awareness of this component of development thanks to national and international efforts. The most significant policy declaration between the Seventh - Five Tear Plan and the Mid Term Plan Appraisal was the New Education Policy and the Programme of Action (Both documents were placed before Parliament in 1986). The New Education Policy declares that:

"It should now be possible to further intensify the nationwide effort in HRD with education playing its multi-faceted role".

It is best to quote the document itself in regard to its concept of "Human Resource".

"In the Indian way of thinking a human being is a positive asset and a precious national resource which needs to be cherished, nurtured and developed, with tenderness and care couplet with dynamism. Each individuals's growth presents a different range of problems and requirements at every stage, from womb to the tomb. The catalytic action of education in this complex and dynamic growth process needs to be planned meticulously and executed with great sensitivity.

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India's political and social life is passing through a phase which poses the danger of erosion of long accepted values. The goals of seculatism, socialism, democracy ant professional ethics are coming under increasing strain.

The rural areas with poor infrastructure and social services will not get the benefit of trained and educated youth, unless rural-urban disparities are reduced and determined measures are taken to promote diversification and employment opportunities.

The growth of our population needs to be brought down significantly over the coming decades. The largest single factor that could help achieve this end is the spread of literacy ant education among women.

Life in the coming decades is likely to bring new tensions together with unprecendented opportunities. To enable the people to benefit in the new environment will require new designs of human resource development. The coming generations should have the ability to internalise new ideas constantly and creatively. They have to be imbued with a strong commitment to human values and to social justice. All this implies better education".

In the Indian concept of HRD, education and culture constitute the core of the strategy. However, it is not education in the narrow sense of schooling, but a broad concept encompasing health, nutrition, employment, science & technology, equality and special attention to weaker groups, education being used as an instrument of peoples development and access to opportunities and facilities in all these

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areas. In this sense the core concept of HRD an used in India is not as widely divergent from that in Jakarta Declaration on HRD as might appear prima facie. This will become clear in subsequent chapters when we consider instrumentalities of implementation and programme content.

Thus, in The Mid Term Plan Appraisal, there are chapters on Employment and Poverty Alleviation on Minimum Needs Programme and on Science & Technology besides the chapter on Human Resource Development, which are highly relevant to the concept of HRD as defined by the Tokyo Expert Group and the Jakarta Declaration : And the chapter on HRD also emphasises inter alia

Vocational education,

Science Education,

Technical Education

all designed to promote employment and productivity and

Primary Health Care,

Disease control,

Medical/Para medical education,

family welfare programme including population control,

material and child health,

vaccination and immunisation, child care and protection ant welfare of the handicapped.

The chapter on employment and poverty alleviation elaborates on measures and programmes designed to alleviate poverty and promote employment especially among the rural poor.

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The Seventh Five Year Plan also-aims to ensure that scientific ant technological capabilities contribute to development objectives. For this purpose special emphasis has been laid on mission oriented projects involving new management structures and the development of strong linkages between scientific departments, socio-economic ministries and user organisations. On the one hand science and technological capabilities are being used to solve many developmental problems : they are also being utilised for developing the requisite manpower. Science education is being emphasised at all stages and many measures have been taken to update technological capabilities and to adopt and adapt emerging technologies.

Another dimension of HRD relates to ensuring certain minimal standards in regard to quality of life. This approach has led to the establishment of the Minimum Needs Programme. The objective here is establishing a network of basic services and facilities of social consumption in all areas upto nationally accepted norms within a

specific time frame. The programs covers Elementary Education, Adult Education, Rural Health, Rural Water Supply, Rural Roads, Rural Elec- trification, Rural Housings Environmental Improvement of urban slums, Nutrition, Rural Cooking Energy and Rural Sanitation.

Yet another dimension of Human Resource Development relates to special programmes for weaker and hitherto deprived groups. Thus there are special socio-economic programmes for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Similarly there are special programmes to improve socio-economic status of women. Programmes which benefit women under different sectors of development have been identified. Many vocational training centres have been started for women and education of girls is being specially emphasised.

It will be noted that the core concept of HRD an obtaining in India covers practically all the dimensions covered by the Jakarta Declaration on HRD. However, the emphasis on certain aspects is bound to wary from country to country and in India the current emphasis is on education and training especially of the poor and hitherto deprived groups. A second emphasis in on the quality and upgradation of educational standards and attainment. A unique dimension of emphasis in the Indian situation is the stress given on cultural aspects, to preservation of heritage, as well as creativity and dissemination. In the final analysis the Indian concept of HRD puts the human being at the centre of development. Considering him both as the means and end of all developmental efforts emphasizing economic growth coupled with self-reliance and social justice.

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To sum up, the core concept of HRD emphasises :

- all round education of the human potential, emphasis- ing certain minimal standards of attainment.