Words like ‘progress’ and ‘development’ have become clichéd. However, these two words need to be revisited time and again and their meanings reinterpreted as demanded by the changing times and situations. What was ‘progress’ a decade ago could have become redundant by now and what was ‘development’ yesterday could be a disaster today.
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” These words by CS Lewis are relevant to the Naga context today. We have always heard our leaders talk about progress. We, the people, have also wanted our leaders to make our society progress. However, what does progress even mean? Does it mean sacrificing our future to meet our greed today? Does progress mean to uproot our society from the nourishing fields of morality and transplanting to the pit of depravity? Surely, progress does not mean going forward in the wrong direction.
The idea of ‘development’ we have formed in our mind shapes our understanding of progress. When we hear ‘development’, we form unrealistic and irrelevant images in our subconscious mind, perhaps influenced by the impressions of superfluous images we see in the media. We see development as an end or a hard target while it is actually a process, a new stage in an ever changing world. Building a new hospital today, for instance, is considered as development without realizing that the building could become obsolete in the next few years. What about the quality of service in that hospital? Paving a new road is seen as development but how many monsoons will it outlast? The question of sustainability is relegated to the bottom and we sell our soul to the one who brings us ‘development’ without any questions.
As long as we possess a flawed idea of progress and development, it will be very difficult for real progress and development to happen in our land. Real development is about aiding people in their pursuit of happiness. Be it socioeconomic development, infrastructure development, human development or any other type of development, the whole idea of development is about making people’s lives better. Good governance, transparency in public affairs, accountability and meritocracy is development. When we talk about development, the focus should be on these primary elements, the cause, instead of misplacing our focus on the secondary elements, the result.
It appears that we have been progressing in the wrong direction and it is now time to make an about-turn. Maybe then we can see some real development.
This was an excellent read. Very thorough and well-researched.