book1

Introduc� on:
Effectiveness of Foreign Aid
in Nepal’s Development
Poli� cs of foreign aid has become one of the most infl uen� al economic
statecra� s in interna� onal rela� ons. Foreign aid has played pervasive role
in the life of the people of developing countries and will con� nue to play
such a role in the coming decades. There is, however, a steady transi� on in
the nature of aid springing from the patron-client network in the colonial
days to economic take off and moderniza� on logic in the cold war, to human
rights, democracy, equity, good governance, civil society and sustainable
development in post cold war years to post-confl ict peace building and state
building now in fragile states. The growing discontent with aid in the earlier
years was that it has only increased bureaucra� c control of the life of the
people as development meant adop� ng the life-style and poli� cal culture
of elites through their material prosperity, not the social transforma� on for
enhancing life-choices of people. Bureaucra� za� on of aid has diminished the
poten� al of market economy, individual freedom and ability to reach to the
needy people. Changing development concepts and policies � ed with aid
poli� cs of crea� ng dependency has engendered corrup� on and na� onal ability
to plan development on a ra� onal manner. In many developing countries
foreign aid has imposed the knowledge, ins� tu� ons and values of dominant
culture and made the people vic� m of aid. This means most of aid were not
geared to fulfi ll saving, investment and foreign exchange gaps or to combat
poverty, inequality and unemployment but to � e the receiving countries
to the demand of donors. The result is mal-development and disharmony
between state and social classes. The shi� ing a� tude in development aid,
therefore, marks its changing strategic, poli� cal and economic ra� onality.
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