Studies across the world highlight the limitation of the top down approach to development. There are hundreds of examples that show how a program or project that is designed with all the good intentions fail if the people for whom it is meant are not integrated as the partner. To change our perspective to involve the people right from the planning to implementation and monitoring of any development program requires changing our mindset first. It is of foremost importance how we develop ourselves to become ready to unlearn, shade our rigidity and biases for the sake of becoming open to listen to the people with empathy and become sensitive to understand their needs, aspirations, issues, challenges and suggestions. The fixed ideas that blocks our though process is one of the strongest barrier for development. 

The PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) may belong to the lowest strata of development but they too have aspirations. With the exposure to the external world, interaction with other communities and access to certain entitlements and facilities their level of aspirations have changed to a large extent. Interaction with the Birhore women in Hazaribagh district revealed that they are sending their children to hostels in far off places for better education with the hope that they would get some “government job”. It is truly inspirational. But we the outsiders always consider that these uneducated PVTGs are not aware about the development programs and will not cooperate with the development agencies. We need to learn how to unlearn the myths and stereotypes before taking up any development program for them.