Dr. Akhtar Hameed
Khan’s Vision of Development through
Self-Reliance
By Nasim
Yousaf
New York
“Give a man a fish and you
feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him
for a lifetime.” Acclaimed social scientist Dr. Akhtar
Hameed Khan used to reference this well-known proverb
(according to his son, Akbar Khan), as it quite fittingly
represents his philosophy on community development.
To Dr. Khan, the solution to
Pakistan’s problems did not lie in giving free charity,
but rather in teaching people the methods of
development, so that they could stand on their own feet.
Dr. Khan’s belief in this philosophy is clearly evident
through his works, including the Orangi Pilot Project
(OPP), a non-governmental organization (NGO or CBO
[Community Based Organization]) that focused on
self-reliance to improve the lives of the residents of
Orangi Town in Karachi, Pakistan.
In Pakistan, a Katchi Abadi
refers to a public settlement that is not recognized by
the government for a development program or other
assistance. According to Dr. Khan, a Katchi Abadi had five
inherent problems: housing, sanitation, health, education
and employment. The town of Orangi was a prime example of
a densely populated Katchi Abadi; it was completely
neglected by the Government, and lacked any formal
development projects to improve the quality of life of the
residents. As a result, the residents were forced to
endure a filth-ridden environment lacking a sewerage
system, electricity, and other basic amenities.
The prevailing conditions
translated into a high illness and death rate among the
community. Without Government support, the conditions at
Orangi remained at a standstill – that is, until the
introduction of Dr. Khan’s Orangi Pilot Project in 1980.
More specifically, two aspects of the project in
particular provide especially fitting examples of Dr.
Khan’s emphasis on self-reliance: (1) the development of a
sanitation system by the residents of Orangi and (2) the
use of micro-credit.
Development of
Sanitation System
As aforementioned, Orangi was
littered with filth and the residents lived in the most
unhygienic conditions. A major underlying cause of this
situation was the lack of an adequate sanitation system –
a byproduct of the residents’ meager resources and the
lack of government support. Dr. Khan described the problem
in the Pakistan & Gulf Economist (June 11-17,
1983) in a special report on the Orangi Project:
“A man who has spent Rs.
15,000 or Rs. 20,000 on building his house… cannot pay Rs.
10,000 for the drainage… Though it is so shameful to
relate but it is not a secret that for every hundred
rupees charged by the contractor about 20 to 30 per cent
is kickback. The contractor himself was not ashamed of
admitting that he was charging 40 to 50 percent
profit…”
Dr. Khan recognized that there
was a problem, but he also knew that it was important to
understand the underlying issue before arriving at a
solution. According to Dr. Khan’s son, Dr. Khan used to
say, “Never start a program with a blueprint in mind.” A
careful survey of the situation led Dr. Khan to the
conclusion that Orangi’s sanitation problem could not be
improved without a strong emphasis on self-reliance.
Thus, Dr. Khan sought to
empower the residents of Orangi to build their own
sanitation system – without aid from the government or
from domestic or international donor agencies. Based on an
overarching philosophy of self-reliance, he worked with
the residents of Orangi to formalize a plan for their
sanitation system. The residents would have to purchase
materials from their own pockets to build the sanitation
system, and would be required to work on the project
without outside charity. Meanwhile, the OPP would provide
free technical assistance. Dr. Khan wrote in the
Pakistan & Gulf Economist (June 11-17, 1983),
“The ignorance of the people about the technology of the
sewerage system was removed by undertaking teaching
programs.” Dr. Khan ensured that the entire initiative was
undertaken ethically and with the utmost sense of
transparency. For instance, residents would have the
liberty to buy materials from a source of their choice, in
order to ensure that the OPP would not be accused of
taking commission from a recommended shop.
The sanitation project at
Orangi proved to be a tremendous success. Through their
collective efforts, the residents of Orangi were able to
build a modern sewerage system for the town. Aside from
the health benefits of the new system, the process of
building the system proved to be a valuable activity in
itself. The residents learned how to problem solve and
work collectively to achieve common goals. They were also
able to pass on the techniques they learned to others. And
the project was completed ethically, without corruption.
For the country, the
initiative at Orangi saved money for the government
exchequer, as it developed the community inexpensively,
free from costly foreign loans or foreign experts. Perhaps
the most important benefit of the development of the
sanitation system at Orangi was that it proved to the
world that impoverished communities could be developed on
a self-help basis.
Microcredit at
Orangi
Like the development of the
sanitation system, the application of microcredit at
Orangi is another example of Dr. Khan’s firm belief in
self-reliance. Dr. Khan had originally applied microcredit
at the Comilla Co-operatives at the Pakistan Academy for
Rural Development (PARD) (now Bangladesh Academy for Rural
Development - the successful application of microcredit at
Comilla led to its adoption by Nobel Prize winner
Professor Mohammad Yunus and others).
Based on the success of
microcredit at Comilla, Dr. Khan launched a similar scheme
at OPP. He established the OPP-Orangi
Charitable Trust (OCT) to provide residents with small
loans for running micro-enterprises of their choice. For
example, a resident could borrow funds to open a tailoring
shop or to sell arts and crafts. Microcredit enabled those
who were unemployed to become self-employed, and thereby
transformed them into active contributors in the country’s
economy. It also reaffirmed the concept of self-reliance
in order for the residents to improve their lives.
The microcredit concept was
well received at Orangi, and its success is evident even
today. In fact, 70% of the 1.2 million residents of Orangi
Town are self-employed. Furthermore, the recovery rate on
loaned funds remains strong at 95%
(http://www.oppoct-microcredit.com/Process%20of%20Loan.htm).
Dr. Khan’s microcredit scheme
has been praised globally. MicroCapital Monitor, a journal
from Massachusetts (USA), wrote in its May 2008 issue
(dated May 2008, Volume 3 Issue 5) under the title
Pioneers in Microfinance: Dr. Akhtar Hameed
Khan (a series sponsored by Deutsche Bank), “Dr.
Akhtar Hameed Khan helped lay the basic foundations of the
microcredit movement through his work on the Comilla Model
of rural development in the 1960s and the Orangi Pilot
Project in the 1980s.”
Thus, through the concept of
microcredit, Dr. Khan once again successfully harnessed
the concept of self-reliance to help the residents’ of
Orangi improve their lives and also to set an example for
others to follow.
Conclusion
From the very beginning, the
OPP has worked without government or foreign aid, loans or
foreign advisors. The initiative has completely relied on
local resources and manpower. Based on the success of the
OPP, domestic and international experts (including
students from various universities around the world) began
to visit the OPP. The institution has thus transformed
into a learning and development center for undertaking
projects on a self-help basis. Papers the world-over
continue to be written on the OPP. Its success can
be further gauged from the fact that the OPP Model is
being replicated not only in Pakistan, but throughout many
parts of the world, including Sri Lanka, India, Nepal,
South Africa, and Central Asia (Dawn October 13,
1999). Furthermore, the rise of microfinance and
microcredit techniques has led to the creation of a large
number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO),
foundations, and journals focusing on the subject.
The tremendous success of the
“Development through Self-reliance” model would not have
been possible without the visionary leadership of Dr.
Akhtar Hameed Khan. Taken in isolation, Dr. Khan’s work at
Orangi is a remarkable achievement. However, when
considering its impact on other development efforts around
the world, it becomes a revolutionary
achievement.
Though Dr. Khan passed away in
October of 1999, he has left behind a legacy of new
concepts, ideas, and admirers the world over. In an
article on October 22, 2000, Indian daily newspaper
The Hindu wrote, “Just who would you vote for as
the greatest Gandhian in the Indian sub-continent in the
post-Independence period? Our vote will unhesitatingly go
to the Pakistani social scientist Akhtar Hameed Khan…[his]
death is a loss not just for Pakistan but for everyone in
the subcontinent. But like Gandhi he will remain immortal
because of the inevitability of his ideas.”
During a keynote address on
June 21, 2008 at the annual Dr. Akhter Hameed Khan
Memorial Lecture, K. Raju (Principal Secretary to the
Rural Development Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad) stated that Dr Khan “deeply influenced the
development discourse not only in this country but in
several others, including my own country, India…we believe
that Khan sahib was the greatest Gandhian of the entire
sub-continent in the postindependence period”
(http://www.irm.edu.pk/ahkrc-new/Annual_Memorial_lecture_2008.asp).
In closing, it is important to
note that Dr. Khan’s accomplishments are Pakistan’s
accomplishments as well - as a Pakistani citizen, he is
widely recognized for benefiting the lives of millions
around the world. And although this social scientist and
reformer has passed away, the spirit of self-reliance and
community-based development that he inspired shall live on
forever.
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