An Editorial on How to Approach India; using World Bank's Tiger blunder as an Example
Gandhi said India is a nation that can be found in its 700,000 villages. His quote is often cited without much depth as to the deeper context of the statement. Myself included. As an American having lived full-time in India for nearly four years, I can attest that only in the past year do I (somewhat) fully understand the subtext of a 'nation of villages.' It is the economic driver, true- but it's also a strong statement of the complex-often loosely tied network that makes up what the map shows and labels 'India.' It is the reason behind much of what is good and bad in a country of a billion. A country where dialect of local language changes every 50 kilometers and altogether when crossing state borders. Grasping this concept is the first step in understanding how to- and how not to- integrate 'western' and 'foreign' notions with Indian social culture.
India's official rebuke of World Bank's insistent offer that it borrow for the preservation of tiger (which includes oversight by 'foreign' experts) is exemplar of what not to do when dealing with any critical subject in India. One's initial impression re India's response to World Bank would be that India is demonstrating 'typical' stubbornness, arrogance and turning blind to a global crisis. This would be an overly simplistic analysis, and has been the bane of many foreign NGO's who have come to India with noble causes and lofty ideals. Granted there is a strong sentiment that Indian ingenuity is all that is required to solve any internal matter. However, it was really more the fault of World Bank's approach that was the true culprit. Their action demonstrates a lack of appreciation of how processes actually work and the limitations that outsiders have no matter how much money they are offering.
In short, World Bank hadn't drunk enough tea. What anyone doing business in India needs to know is that in any venture-for any reason- you need to first know the ground realities and meet the people who can either pave the way or create impenetrable roadblocks. That process requires many meetings without any obvious agenda, many cups of tea, and an ability to listen on multiple channels.
Many first time visitors to India say it's controlled chaos. What you are actually seeing and feeling is layer upon layer of systems and hierarchies- some conflicting, some congruous- all occurring simultaneously. The 'tiger issue' is one of these many layered systems. It's an international issue, a national issue, an issue involving several powerful states, and powerful districts, and industries who pay homage to political parties, and communities and villages led by local panchayats (governors) and a slew of Ministries and even more indigenous NGO's and activist groups. These groups all have their own systems, conflicts, alliances and agendas. Some underpinned by cultural tradition dating back a 1000 years. None of which have anything to do with tigers. I and my team have seen many foreign charities barrel into India with the very best of intentions, making the fatal assumption that everyone will appreciate their benevolent agenda. Those same charities often are given the bum's rush out of India, beleaguered and bewildered as they try to grasp what went wrong and why.
The simple fact is that without respect and interaction with every level of play, and making all interested aware of your objective and how they fit in it, one has about a good of a chance of succeeding as trying to convince them that American baseball is better than cricket. And yes there is the whole issue of Indian pride, but it is more about getting to acknowledge the key individuals, the likely issues and political geography relevant to your mission. If done methodically, ethically and with due respect, one can find India a comfortable working environment and in turn your Indian counterparts will see the wisdom of adopting foreign techniques and processes over trying re-invention of the wheel.
And despite the obvious downside for the tiger, World Bank's big brother approach has erected a barrier that will be now more difficult to remove.
-Frank Costanzo
Senior Eco-Business Facilitator
Managing Director, Peerless Green Initiatives
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COPY OF ARTICLE FROM TIMES OF INDIA
India refuses to let WB play big brother in Project Tiger
Tells Bank It Doesn’t Need Money, Expertise From Other Countries
New Delhi: In a snub to the World Bank (WB), the government has informed the latter that it won’t allow the lending institution to play big brother and manage and monitor its efforts to conserve the Indian tiger under the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), a recently floated project that is highly favoured by bank president Robert B Zoellick.
The GTI has organised a summit of heads of state of countries having tiger population, in Russia in November. But India will only be sending a ministerial-level delegation to the meeting. The Prime Minister would not be attending the summit, where the WB along with some foreign conservation NGOS are expected to hold fort.
WB has been keen to get India on board, as it would be odd to sell a global project to save the tigers when the country with the largest population of the big cat in the wild is unwilling to be a part of it. Earlier, the bank had lobbied hard that India borrow money from it to conserve and protect tigers. But the government has recently made it clear that it neither required money nor expertise from other countries.
However, not intending to outright reject a proposal from the multilateral funding agency it decided to participate in the GTI to enhance global cooperation on issues that did not involve direct conservation work in the tiger reserves.
The Indian government has informed the GTI that conservation of tiger is a sovereign issue, and it would not accept that the WB dictate terms to it. Having learnt its lesson earlier when a WBfunded project on Tiger led to displacement and agitation by tribals and increased corruption in some tiger reserves, the government has told the GTI that its interference would only lead to alienation among the local population. Though most conservationists had backed the government, some high profile ‘tiger-wallahs’ were keen to get WB involved in it.
Considering that much of the healthy population of tigers survive only in India despite the increased pressures of a developing economy and a large population base, the government has instead told the WB it would be ready to lend help to other countries. The government is not keen to see ‘international experts’ and NGOs swooping down to teach lessons to Indian experts on money borrowed from the WB, a source said.
While the communications between the bank, GTI and Indian officials have adhered to diplomatic niceties, sources said, the government’s intention and views have been put forth emphatically.
The GTI has organised a summit of heads of state of countries having tiger population, in Russia in November. But India will only be sending a ministerial-level delegation to the meeting. The Prime Minister would not be attending the summit, where the WB along with some foreign conservation NGOS are expected to hold fort.
WB has been keen to get India on board, as it would be odd to sell a global project to save the tigers when the country with the largest population of the big cat in the wild is unwilling to be a part of it. Earlier, the bank had lobbied hard that India borrow money from it to conserve and protect tigers. But the government has recently made it clear that it neither required money nor expertise from other countries.
However, not intending to outright reject a proposal from the multilateral funding agency it decided to participate in the GTI to enhance global cooperation on issues that did not involve direct conservation work in the tiger reserves.
The Indian government has informed the GTI that conservation of tiger is a sovereign issue, and it would not accept that the WB dictate terms to it. Having learnt its lesson earlier when a WBfunded project on Tiger led to displacement and agitation by tribals and increased corruption in some tiger reserves, the government has told the GTI that its interference would only lead to alienation among the local population. Though most conservationists had backed the government, some high profile ‘tiger-wallahs’ were keen to get WB involved in it.
Considering that much of the healthy population of tigers survive only in India despite the increased pressures of a developing economy and a large population base, the government has instead told the WB it would be ready to lend help to other countries. The government is not keen to see ‘international experts’ and NGOs swooping down to teach lessons to Indian experts on money borrowed from the WB, a source said.
While the communications between the bank, GTI and Indian officials have adhered to diplomatic niceties, sources said, the government’s intention and views have been put forth emphatically.
ON EDGE: Most conservationists have backed the Indian government’s decision to follow an independent policy
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