Rural Development

Rural development refers to the growth, evolution, stage of inducement and progress in the areas where people are primarily engaged in primary industries. This process aims at improving the well-being and self-realization of people living outside the urbanized areas through a collective process. In this process the efforts of the native residents are combined with Government authorities to improve their economic, social and cultural status. This process includes agricultural growth, economic and social infrastructure, fair and equal wage rates, improvement of living standards and building schools.

Government has continuously strived to improve the living conditions of the people of rural India with the help of microfinances, schemes like MGNREGA and institutions like NABARD. While there are many benefits attached to them, there are also some problems with them. With the assistance of microfinance firms, the agriculturists and cultivators are getting small amounts of money as loans from them. They are utilising the money to set up small entrepreneurships and getting diverted from their primary occupation of agriculture. They should have been more concerned for agriculture, which stands as the backbone of our country. While MGNREGA assures 100 days of assured labour unemployed villagers, it is also turning them lazy and lethargic. They could have worked hard and discovered a fortune instead of sitting back and relying on the assured payment.

Today on one hand India is going forward towards development with the corporate sector. This development cannot be an exclusive development. We cannot build a healthy society with a rich section on one side and poor on the other. Rural society must also be included in the process of development.  Their living standards must also be uplifted. It is notable that about three-fourth of India's population live in rural areas, thus rural development is needed to develop nation as whole. Nearly half of the country's national income is derived from agriculture, which is major occupation of rural India. Around seventy per cent of Indian population gets employment through agriculture. Bulks of raw materials for industries come from agriculture and rural sector. Increase in industrial population can be justified only in rural population’s motivation and increasing the purchasing power to buy industrial goods. Also it is worth mentioning that the growing disparity between the urban elite and the rural poor can lead to political instability.

There are many problems faced in rural development. The people designated and authorised for the task are numerically inadequate. The fund issued for rural development activities is comparatively less. Also for rural development social evils like inter-caste marriage, dowry and other rituals should be eliminated. The government is working very less to eradicate them. Lastly it is us who should be involved in this process but our busy schedule and short term profits aren’t allowing us to predict the long-term loss.

Submitted to  Guwahatian - An E-Magazine from Guwahati