Rural Development ( Sociology Optional)

Background

  • India's economic development is inextricably linked to that of India's rural (economic) development. In 2001, 72 percent of India's total population was classified as rural, and 58 percent of workers were engaged in agriculture.
  • The core problems of India such as wide-spread poverty, growing inequalities, rapid population growth, growing and rising unemployment, among others, find their origins in the stagnation and often retrogression of economic life and development in rural areas.

Need for Rural Development

India is primarily an agriculture-based country. Agriculture contributes nearly one-fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in India. With about 70% of India's population, i.e. approximately 700 million people, 'Rural India' can well be termed as the 'Real India'.

Main feature of population living in rural areas are:

  • Predominance of agriculture as main occupation
  • Old methods of agriculture
  • Low standard of living
  • Low per capita income
  • Vicious circle of poverty
  • Market imperfection etc.

"Growth with social justice" has been the basic objective of the development planning in India since independence.

Meaning of Rural Development

  • Rural development is a comprehensive and multi-dimensional
  • It encompasses the development of agriculture and allied activities, village and cottage industries, crafts, socio-economic infrastructure, community services and facilities and human resources, among others, in rural areas.
  • It is designed to improve the economic and social well-being of a specific group of people – i.e the rural poor.
  • It is multidisciplinary in nature, representing an intersection of agriculture, social, behavioural, engineering and management sciences.

Basic objectives of Rural Development Programmes:

  • Alleviation of poverty and unemployment through creation of basic social and economic infrastructure,
  • Provision of training to rural unemployed youth and
  • Providing employment to marginal farmers and labourers to discourage seasonal and permanent migration to urban areas.

Phases of Rural Development

Efforts Prior to 1970s:

  • The first such initiative was the Community Development Programme started in 1952. The programme aimed basically at integrated development at the local level through cooperation of people and convergence of technical knowledge in various fields.
  • Measures were taken for abolition of intermediary institutions and systems of land-holdings such as Zamindari, Jaghirdars etc. The systems were highly exploitative and were responsible for a caste and land-based nexus perpetuating poverty.
  • This was followed by a comprehensive Policy of Land Reforms which felt to be an obvious factor to alleviate rural poverty.
  • Plan-specific strategies of Five-Year Plans for economic development were
    • The first and Second Five Year Plan focused on ways to tackle the food requirement and Heavy Industries respectively.
    • During Third Five Year Plan the emphasis was again on food grain production through introduction of new technology in agriculture. The result was a very successful Green Revolution in 1960s.
    • Green Revolution is also widely known as the new strategy for agricultural development. Under the influence of Western economies, India adopted the modernisation of agriculture by improving technology and other inputs.
    • The Punjab, Haryana, Western U.P. experience of dramatic growth in the agricultural production in India.

Efforts After 1970s

  • Direct Attack on Poverty: The need for direct attack on poverty was finally felt, particularly during the Fourth Plan period.
  • Many new programmes were introduced. Eg. Rural Works Programmes (RWP), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP), Food for Work Programme (FWP), Programmes for Small & Marginal Farmers (Small Farmers Development Agency - FDA; Marginal Farmers & Agricultural Labourers Agency - MFALA) etc.

The programmes basically had the objectives to provide three-pronged attack on the poverty in terms of:

  • creating an income-generating asset-base for self-employment of the rural poor,
  • creating opportunities for wage-employment for the poor, and
  • promoting land development activities (programmes) in backward regions like dry-land, rain-fed, drought-prone, tribal, hill and desert areas.