Day 28 – Q 5.Why do developmental projects get stalled so easily in India? Critically analyse.
5. Why do developmental projects get stalled so easily in India? Critically analyse.
भारत में विकास परियोजनाएं इतनी आसानी से ठप क्यों हो जाती हैं? समालोचनात्मक विश्लेषण करें।
Introduction:
Development projects are key drivers for the improvement of living conditions of people. They are highly responsible for propelling India’s overall development and enjoy intense focus from the Government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of sustainable development in the country.
Body
The reasons for developmental projects get stalled so easily in India are:
- Funds –
- Lack of funds i.e. low budget allocations or
- Misuse of funds or
- Non-utilisation of funds Eg. Nirbhaya funds, National Ganga conservation project etc.,
- Informality and corruption in project delivery
- Projects are launched without adequate ground preparation regarding the land requirement and project cost.
- lack of performance of Government officials
- Lack of co-operation at the state level, which is a big hurdle since land acquisition is the state’s business.
- Environmental clearance delays protest by the displaced populations and hurdles due to local politics. An IB report has accused “foreign-funded” NGOs such as Greenpeace, Cordaid, Amnesty and ActionAid of ” serving as tools for foreign policy interests of western governments” by sponsoring agitations against nuclear and coal-fired power plants across the country.
- Lack of private sector funding.
Even with such hurdles, many developmental projects are being undertaken at a swift phase in India such as
- The total national highways length increased to 122,434 km in FY18 from 92,851 km in FY14.
- Sagarmala -the port-led development project – 80 odd projects completed till now are already valued at Rs 140 billion.
- India’s rank jumped to 77 in 2018 from 100 in 2017 on World Bank’s Ease of doing business ranking.
- Energy deficit reduced to 0.7 per cent in FY18 from 4.2 per cent in 2014.
- The number of airports has increased to 102 in 2018, shows the success of UDAN scheme.
Other projects such as 100% electrification under Saubhagya Yojana, Bharatmala. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, etc., are contributing to the overall development of living conditions of people.
Conclusion
There is an urgent need to activate stalled projects in physical infrastructure, education, health etc., and improving their quality by increasing budgetary allocation and improving governance, it will go a long way in reducing poverty, improving human development, and reviving and sustaining high rates of economic growth in India.
