Going by the dictionary meaning, development means gradual growth or formation of something. It can be growth or expansion of something  · It can also be the process of result of making a design gradually better and more advanced. It can also be a process of making something more useful and profitable. Development, in general, is the term having understandings like growth, progress and modernization. The growth in something is the increase in it. Someone’s growth is the development and progress of physical attributes, emotional and intellectual aspects, change in attitude and behavioural patterns. The growth of something such as the same industry, an organisation or an idea can be developed in size, wealth or importance.

Robert C1ower suggests that growth is possible without development. Prof. J. K. Mehta opines that term development and growth are not synonymous. Growth is quantitative and development is a qualitative change in the development process which take it beyond growth. Growth can be single dimensional while development is always multidimensional.

Ambriosc Yvon (1992) elaborate that the word”develop” was originally understood as the opposite envelope’. By enveloping something, one hides a reality while by developing something, one reveals it. So development means revealing or bringing out what is inherent in the reality-This was the meaning prevalent in English until the impact of the industrial revolution started changing its meaning.

Friedman J. Harry writes that development means both the achievement of modernity. And the changes in a society’s economic, social, political and administrative spheres which tend to move the society closer to modernity

Development is both a goal and a process.

To the Economists, development is economic productivity and to the sociologists, it is a social change or social differentiation. political scientists may view it democratization, Politi € al. capacity or expanded. Government and administrators may view it bureaucratization, optimum efficiency and performance. Her communication Scholars, on the other hand, identity development and communication as an inseparable phenomenon.

Majid Tehranian writes that communication is a ubiquitous feature of all social systems; so much that it is tempting to explain the whole phenomenon of’ development in terms of communication metaphors. Development does involve an increasing level of physical, social and Psychological Couriication.

The development can well be understood as the fulfilment of the needs which the man holds essential for his well-being. The human need’s hierarchy presented by Harold Maslow (1954) helps in Understanding the approach towards development. He enlists these needs hs Psychological needs i. e. Food, air, space, water etc.; Safety needs i. e. protection from the weather, other species and other human beings; Belongingriess and Love need to family and social group membership Esteem needs is having the respect of oneself and one’s peers in the society SeH actualization need I. e. Fulfilling one’s potentials in one’s private and public capacities; Cognitive needs to understanding one’s relation to’society and comprehending order in nature and the cosmos and Aesthetic needs I. e. perceiving beauty and order inexperience. The fulfilment of · these needs can imply growth, progress, modernisation and improvement or in other words the development.

Different views present different meanings of development. There are views which assert that development is arrived at by transforming men and societies to new material and moral social order and as a cultural process likewise, its thrust should be on the environment in which people live and the social relations which men foster for their existence and continuity.

The development has also been defined as a whole, integral, value-loaded cultural process which takes in the natural environment, social relations, education, production, consumption, welfare etc. The study guide on the Development of the Food and Agriculture Organisation states that the ultimate purpose of development is to provide ever-increasing opportunities for a better life. 1t, therefore, requires an equitable distribution of income and social resource to promote justice and efficient production to raise the level of employment substantially, to expand and improve facilities for education, health, nutrition, housing and social-cultural well being.

W. Walt Rostow (1960) presents the prerequisites of economic take off as the building of a new generation of men and women trained and motivated appropriately to operate modern society, a produčtivity revolution in agriculture, a massive builder of transport facilities and sources of energy and development of the capacity to earn more foreign exchange.

Robert Clower in his book ‘Growth without Development says that without the growth of the economy it is possible that there may not be any development. Economists like Schumpeter, Ursula, Hicks, Alfred, Kindle Berger etc. while differentiating between economic growth and economic development stressed the idea that economic growth is concerned with the increase in national per capita income only, whereas economic development is concerned with both

income and structural changes in the economic, social and political spheres. In the 1950s and 1960s, the development theorists and practitioners visualized the development in the terms of modernisation, industrialisation and urbanisation. Lerner stressed on individual modernisation whereas Rogers stressed on the modernisation of Social system. In the era of the industrial revolution, it was the idea of Bentham which gained supremacy. He stressed that industrialism brings about changes in economic, social and cultural dimensions, which ultimately make possible the desired changes in the

personality of the individuals, In the 1970s and 1980s, the development theorists and practitioners argued that development is a commitment to social goals as well as to multifaceted interrelated sets of an economic, social, political

and cultural variable. Development was then conceived as an improvement in the quality of life. Development means enabling people to satisfy basic human needs and taking responsibility for their own lives and the well-being of

their communities.

The World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1995 was held by the UN to find out a global strategy to combat poverty, unemployment and social disintegration in a way that people will be at the centre of social development. The World Summit observed that social development is inseparable from the cultural, ecological, economic, political and spiritual environment in which it takes place.

The ultimate goal of social development is to improve the quality of life of people. It requires democratic institutions; respect for human. rights, freedoms, values; increased and equal economic opportunities; respects for cultural diversity; fulfilment of necessities, better health services, better educational facilities, better employment and so on. Development takes place at social, economic, political, technological levels. Agriculture development, urban

and rural development, political stabilities, technological advancements are just a few indicators of development. While viewing the development in a communication perspective, it is the mass media which is another indicator of development. Development is a complex phenomenon involving infinite sectors, levels, approaches and understandings. For the development to take place, establishing close relations with the people is the foremost step.

Development awareness, motivation and participation are necessary for the adoption of new ideas of development.

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