By Rao Javaid Iqbal

THE SCIENCE in development refers to many of the concepts in the mind. It may include the following:

•  The scientific methods utilized in the community development, or the development of the poorest of the poor people

•  The innovative technologies and scientific instruments utilized for the community development

•  The innovative approaches made easily understandable for the poor people so that they should utilize the knowledge in their day-to-day life

•  The scientific knowledge and equipment utilized for the economic growth in a country as whole without targeting the specific communities

All of these are extremely important for the development of a country or the poor people. All of the methodologies are important for the people working in to the issues of the development of the skills and knowledge of those who do not know anything.

Itself the scientific knowledge is vital for the community development. The idea of the community development was initiated by the knowledgeable people of the country who were involved into the development and research with the poor people. Anthropologists had identified that the poor people work in their own way and none of the outside world can make them develop without/against their will and intention. Anthropologists study the ways of living or the civilization of the natural groups of the people. They look for the development of the communities into their own ways without adopting any outside methodologies. There are too many tools for the identification of the priorities of the poor people and their methodologies for the working for their own development. When we talk of the community development, it is very much a scientific process.

It is a scientific process because it provides insight it is very much according to the scientific knowledge. The scientific knowledge is attained as: Formulation of scientific problem, Formulation of hypothesis, Testing of the hypothesis, Making of theory, and A prediction may be made out of the scientific theories generated through the scientific process.

In the same manner, the social scientists involve the scientific process into the community development. They identified the problem of the development and reached on a conclusion that the development of the poor communities is done with the outside pressures and they do not own the process at all. That is why the development is an alien process for them. Such sort of development is said to be a top down approach which the poor people simply reject or it is not sustainable in the longer run. The identification of such an important issue was vital for the social scientists and they started looking out for the solutions. They tried out for simple ways of involving the poor people into the decision making process. The social scientists were of the opinion that they needed to go for bottom up approach for the development of the poorest communities. It all took a long time to reach the level of a scientific approach out of which they were very clear that a new sort of struggle or a movement may be initiated for the development.

The shared understanding, participatory decision making and collective implementation along with the participation in the monitoring and evaluation have led towards realistic goals for the development processes. It has brought a new principle, “whatever the community plans is right and whatever they decide is appropriate and whatever they act upon is the realistic and correct”. Earlier, the notion used to be correct for the kings as in the words of an Arab Historian, “Kings know whatever they do and why they do”. Here we can say that, “the community knows better whatever they do and why they do so”. Sometimes we may differ with their decisions, but in the longer term, it is proved that they are very right in their decisions and working.

The very first approach to development was initiated with the help from the people themselves. They were involved in a very innovative ways because they do not know most

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