Nepal, Oct. 23 -- The dominant and most practised approach to development has been primarily top-down in both nature and content. Focusing on the macro perspective, centrally planned development has been its most visible and vibrant symbol. Despite the implementation of a series of five-year plans across South Asia, the development approach and strategies are widely questioned in terms of inability to alleviate endemic poverty, widening inequality and protracted regional imbalances. For instance, the latest Economic Survey of India reveals that against Delhi's per capita income of Rs329,000, the national average is Rs115,000; Bihar's per capita is as low as Rs38,860.

Why is this so in a state where out-migrants have been quite significan...