Transformation of Field Development Bureaucracy in Uttar Pradesh: Indigenisation and the Senses of Bureaucratic Discretion and Satisfaction

Abstract

In the 1950s, it was believed that certain kinds of government intervention were necessary for the rapid development of Indian rural society. The most important intervention policy was land reform, which was conducted by state governments under the initiative of central government. However, in most states the implementation of land reform was haphazard due to the strong political influence of the rural landlord and other vested interests. Another important policy was the modernisation of rural society through sets of programmes like the Community Development Programme and the National Extension Service, both of which were started in 1952. These programmes were made for the dissemination of modern technologies, especially in agriculture, and the modernisation of rural society, and in accordance with these programmes, Block Development Offices were established as the implementing agency in almost all states. Despite this progress, the expectations of these programmes cannot be said to have been met. Although rural society has been steadily modernising and poverty has been gradually decreasing since India’s independence, it is not clear how much of this development can be attributed to these government-initiated programmes.