Implementing Development Initiatives

Implementation is at the core of all development initiatives and strategies and experience has shown that there exists a gap between formulation and implementation. This paper focuses on the attempts for implementing initiatives for promoting decentralised management and increased participation in developing countries arid identifies the obstacles in the process. It is generally seen that problems of implementation cannot be entirely anticipated and planned for in advance. Also decentralisation is attempted without assessing the capacity of local management skills of local personnel/leadership. An effective approach to implementation should include wide-reaching survey, strategic analysis and intervention and incremental sequential action, engaged planning, and lucid management procedures. This approach emphasizes a detailed survey of the environment and identification of factors crucial for successful implementation. Development initiatives cannot be implemented successfully by existing management through routine operations. Special modalities need to be set up and institutionalised.