Since World War II, interest in development has been witnessed all over the world. Almost every branch of knowledge has been affected. Development is considered as an “upward change” broadly predicted or planned and administered or at least influenced by government action.
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Development administration therefore defined, as carrying out planned change in the economy (in agriculture, industry, or the capital infrastructure supporting either of those) and to a lesser extent, in the social service of the state (especially education and health), Weidner who is considered as a pioneer thinker in the field of development administration viewed it as an action-oriented and goal-oriented administrative system.
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It is concerned with the achievement of definite programmatic values which go to transform the routine administration in development. The task of nation building and bringing about major socio-economic changes in the underdeveloped and developing world is the main theme behind the concept of development administration.
Among several agencies available for development efforts the administrative system is considered to be the major instrument of socio-economic change and it is precisely for this reason that a large number of administrative theorists accord privacy to the process of administrative development.
The newly independent states among the developing countries give first priority to administrative requirement associated with transfer of power and the related urgency of nationalizing public services.
It is only after building the minimal administrative infrastructure and staffing it with local personnel that these countries were able to give attention to public administration requirements for economic and social development.
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With the growing multi-functional character of administration, it is being increasingly recognised that the traditional approaches to structural change alone may not be adequate.
The traditional method of administration not only create barriers to open communication but also tends to lower the morale and initiative of experts and specialists whose role should be central to the process of administrative change. To make the administration conducive to the development tasks, one has to reform the entire structure of the governmental machinery.