Influence of Administrative and Political Authorities’ Decisions on the Construction of Community Development Projects in India

Abstract

Construction of community development projects, particularly in rural areas of India is a challenge. Administrative and political authority decisions play a major role on the construction of these projects. Therefore, the objectives of the investigation are (1) to explore how and to what extent the administrative and political decisions influence the executive agencies at the local level, and (2) to examine the various project parameters that get influenced by such decisions. The investigation was conducted by using the case study of two Community Development Blocks in Odisha State of India and by employing a survey research method. Findings suggest that the decisions influence the construction of projects both positively and negatively. The decisions are found to facilitate funding of projects, administrative and technical approval of projects and build confidence among the contractors and beneficiaries; however concurrently some of the decisions negatively influence the local executive agencies like Block and Village panchayat authorities, technical personnel, design of projects and quality of work, and also engender conflict among the stakeholders, thus influencing the execution of the projects adversely. Besides, the major implications of the negative influences of the administrative and political decisions are setting up of unrealistic target for completion of projects, pressure on spending of funds within unrealistic period of time, poor quality of work, delay in project execution, delay in delivery of projects, poor design of projects, unrealistic estimated project duration, unrealistic project estimate, and conflict in project planning and allocation.