RURAL AREA

Where the people are engaged in primary industry in the sense that they produce things directly for the first time in cooperation with nature.

Rural areas are separately settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. Such areas are distinct from more intensively settled urban and sub-urban areas, and also from unsettled lands or wilderness, such as forest. Rural areas can have an agricultural character, though many rural areas are characterized by an economy based on cottage industry, mining, oil and gas exploration, or tourism.

RURAL COMMUNITY

A group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together, in a village.

A Rural Community can be classified as rural based on the criteria of lower population density, less social differentiation, less social and spatial mobility, slow rate of social change, etc. Agriculture is the major occupation of rural people.

MAIN FEATURES OF RURAL COMMUNITY

Village is an institution-The Village is a primary institution. The development of villages is influenced considerably by the life of the village. It satisfies almost all the needs of the rural.Community-They have a sense of unity and a feeling of belongingness towards each other. Religion-Faith in religion and universal power is found in the life of the villages. Agriculture-Main occupation is agriculture which involves dependence on nature. Nature gives the livelihood to them. Farmers worship forces of nature.

LIFE OF RURAL PEOPLE

Lifestyles in rural areas are different than those in urban areas, mainly because limited services are available. Governmental services like law enforcement, schools, fire departments, and libraries may be distant, limited in scope, or unavailable. Utilities like water, sewer, street lighting, and garbage collection may not be present. Public transport is sometimes absent or very limited, people use their own vehicles, walk or ride an animal.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Rural development is a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of rural poor.It is a process, which aims at improving the well being and self realization of people living outside the urbanized areas through collective process.Rural Development is all about bringing change among rural community from the traditional way of living to progressive way of living. It is also expressed as a movement for progress.

The United Nations defines Rural Development as:

“Rural Development is a process of change, by which the efforts of the people themselves are united, those of government authorities to improve their economic, social and cultural conditions of communities in to the life of the nation and to enable them to contribute fully to national programme.”

Introduction of rural development

RURAL BUSINESS AND ITS FEATURES

Conducting activities to improve the rural areas

Population

Its is the areas of darkness

Literacy level

Expenditure patterns

Rural and urban areas are not same

Moving towards luxury products

Willingness to buy new products

DEV. IN RURAL AREA CAN BRING

OBJECTIVES OF RURAL DEV.

1. To develop farm, home, public service and village community.2. To bring improvement in producing of crops and animals living condition.3. To improve health and education condition etc. improvement of the rural people.4. To improve villagers with their own efforts.5. To improve village communication.

Main Objectives

PROBLEMS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

1.People related2.Agricultural related problems3.Infrastructure related problems4.Economic problems5.Social and Cultural problems6.Leadership related problems7.Administrative problems

PEOPLE RELATED PROBLEMS

1. Traditional way of thinking.2. Poor understanding.3. Low level of education to understand developmental efforts and new technology.4. Deprived psychology and scientific orientation.5. Lack of confidence.6. Poor awareness.7. Low level of education.8. Existence of unfelt needs.9. Personal ego.

AGRICULTURE RELATED PROB.

1. Lack of expected awareness, knowledge, skill and attitude.2. Unavailability of inputs.3. Poor marketing facility.4. Small size of land holding.5. Unwillingness to work and stay in rural areas.

INFASTRUCTRAL RELATED PROB.

Poor infrastructure facilities like-: 1.Water2.Electricity 3.Transport 4.Educational institutions 5.Communication6.Health7.Employment8.Storage facility etc.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

1. Unfavourable economic condition to adopt high cost technology.2. High cost of inputs.3. Under privileged rural industries

LEADERSHIP RELATED PROBLEM

1.Leadership in few hands.2. Self interest of leaders.3. Biased political scenario

ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS

1. Political interference.2. Lack of motivation and interest.3. Unwillingness to work in villages.4. Improper utilization of budget.5. No proper monitoring of programs that lack in their implementation.

SCOPE & IMPORTANCE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Importance of Rural Development

Rural development is a dynamic process, which is mainly concerned with the rural areas. These include-Agricultural growth, putting up of economic and social infrastructure, fair wages as also housing and house sites for the landless, village planning, public health, education and functional literacy, communication etc.Rural development is a national necessity and has considerable importance in India

Rural development is needed because-:

1. To develop rural area as whole in terms of culture, society, economy, technology and health.2. To develop living slandered of rural mass.3. To develop rural youths, children and women.4. To develop and empower human resource of rural area in terms of their psychology, skill, knowledge, attitude and other abilities.5. To solve the problems faced by the rural mass for their development.

6. To develop infrastructure facility of rural area.7. To provide minimum facility to rural mass in terms of drinking water, education, transport, electricity and communication.8. To develop rural institutions like Panchayat, cooperatives, post, banking and credit.9. To develop rural industries through the development of handicrafts, small scaled industries, village industries, rural crafts, cottage industries and other related economic operations in the rural sector.10. To develop agriculture, animal husbandry and other agricultural related areas.

11. To restore uncultivated land, provide irrigation facilities and motivate farmers to adopt improved seed, fertilizers, package of practices of crop cultivation and soil conservation methods.12. To develop entertainment and recreational facility for rural mass.13. To develop leadership quality of rural area.14. To improve rural marketing facility.15. To minimise gap between the urban and rural in terms of facilities availed.

16. To improve rural people’s participation in the development of state and nation as whole.17. To improve scopes of employment for rural mass.18. For the sustainable development of rural area.19. To eliminate rural poverty.20. To empower them.

Importance of the rural markets to the country

Enhanced GDP of the country

Competitive advantages for the nation

Increased per capita income of rural people provides an opportunity for the businesses

The needs of the people are transforming

Need identification of rural producers

Problem in reaching the Urban areasLow Literacy and expertiseLack of fundsEstablishing the distribution channelLack of supportHigh competition

Distribution management in rural areas

Ration shops

Retailers in agriculture inputs

Semi-wholesalers in mandi

Social and Cultural Environment

Variations between regions and sub-regionsIn villages inward migration is insignificant while

outward migration to urban and foreign is reasonably high

The settlement pattern is in clusters largely around caste lines

Houses are largely semi-pucca and kachaLand is the primary source of livelihoodActivities limited to smaller geographic areas

resulting in higher adherence to customs and traditions

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Village Community

Villages are self-sufficient and autonomousEach village has a council of elders (panchayat)Panchayats have the constitutional authority for

exercising self-governanceThe panchayat structure has undergone change

with elections and reservation for underprivileged families

Shift from subsistence farming to commercial and mixed farming has made the village dependent on external factors

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Caste System

The rural society has a strong caste system: Brahmins Kshatriyas (Warriors) Vaishyas (Business Class and traders) Shudras (involved in odd jobs) – Untouchables

The settlements of the lower castes are normally on the outskirts of the village

Marketers have to be sensitive to the caste system especially in the area of communication

RMB 02

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Political Environment

The rural areas were dominated by upper castesThe panchayati raj system has introduced an

integrated and inclusive approach to governance in the rural sector

Villages with 5000 population or a cluster of villages with a combined population of 5000 form a panchayat

Gram Sabhas are to be organised once a quarter to bring in transperancy, accountability and achievement

The sarpanch represents the village at the tehsil/taluka/ block level

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Structure dynamics and Development in rural India post independence

Since independence the Government of India has launched various programmes of ‘planned change’ encompassing social, economic and political processes. There are two approaches adopted by the government with regard to the patterns of development. These approaches are (a) the ‘transformation’ approach and (b) the ‘improvement ‘approach.

Development in rural India post independence

The ‘transformation’ approach attaches importance to a radical change in the existing system in terms of scale of operation, production techniques, and socio-legal reforms. Implementation of land reform measures comes within the purview of this approach. So far as the land reform measures are concerned, a large number of tenants or farmers have now become the owners of the land that they are cultivating.

Development in rural India post independence

Co-operative farming has been advocated to solve the problems of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings. Through the Bhoodan movement efforts are being made to provide the landless labourers with land. Efforts are also being made for the compilation and updating of the land records.

Development in rural India post independence

The ‘improvement’ approach seeks to bring about agricultural development within the existing production system. It attaches importance to the programmes of rural development such as the Community Development Programme, Panchayati Raj Institutions and other programmes and agencies related to the process of development in rural India.

Development in rural India post independence

According to the Planning Commission, community development is the process of changing the life of a community from backwardness to a new economic and social order through its open efforts. The Community Development Programme undertaken by the government of free India on 2nd October 1952 – the day of Gandhi Jayanti – constitutes the biggest rural reconstruction scheme.

Development in rural India post independence

The programme is instrumental in raising the standard of living of the ruralites and in reconstructing the rural India. Prof. Carl Taylor rightly observes that the programme signifies active co-operation and involvement of the ruralites in formulating and executing their own plans and programmes.

IRDPThe Integrated Rural Development

Programme signifies a programme for improving the living standards of the poorest of the poor living in rural areas and for making the process of rural development self-sustaining. Initiated in 1978-79, the programme was extended to all development blocks in the country in 1980-81.

NREP

National Rural Employment Programme was launched in October, 1980 as a centrally sponsored scheme on 50:50 sharing basis between centre and states. Generating additional gainful employment opportunities, creating durable community assets and improving the overall quality of life in rural areas constitute the three -fold objectives of the programme. The programme is implemented through DRDA. It has been merged with the Jawahar Rozgar Yojna from April, 1989.

The scheme of Training Rural Youth for Self- Employment was initiated in August, 1979, with the primary objective of providing technical skills to the rural youth to enable them to seek employment in fields of agriculture, industry, services and business activities.

Only youth in the age group of 18 – 35 and belonging to families living below the poverty line are eligible for training. Priority is given to persons belonging to SCs and STs, ex-servicemen and women. The effectiveness of the scheme is affected by several factors such as inadequate coverage, low level of skill, inadequate stipend given to the youth etc.

Jawahar Rozgar Yojna was launched in April, 1989. It is pre-eminently a wage employment programme. Under the scheme, it is expected that at least one member of each poor family would be provided with employment for 50 to 100 days in a year at a work place near his / her residence. About 30 per cent of the jobs under this scheme are reserved for women. The scheme is implemented through Village Panchayats. It covers 46 per cent of our population.

Antyodaya Programme:Antyodaya means the welfare of a person

standing at the end of the queue. In other words, the programme is oriented to uplift the poorest of the poor in the countryside. The scheme was introduced during the regime of Janata Government in 1978. So far as the operation of this programme is concerned, every year five poorest families of every village are identified and selected. Efforts are made for the economic betterment of these families.

EAS:The Employment Assurance Scheme was

launched in 1983 and expanded in phases to cover the whole country in 1996. It aims at providing 100 days of employment to two members of a rural family in a year. The secondary objective is the creation of economic infrastructure and community assets for sustained production and employment generation. The expenditure under EAS is shared between the centre and the states on an 80: 20 basis.

SGSY:The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana

was launched in April 1999 replacing earlier programmes like the IRDP, the TRYSEM etc. This programme is instrumental in the setting up of a large number of industries through bank credit and subsidy. It plays an important role in enabling the poor families to rise above the poverty line in three years.

NSAP:The National Social Assistance Programme

was conceived by the central government to provide social assistance to poor households. The programme came into force from 15th August 1995 and includes three schemes as its components such as National Old Age Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme and National Maternity Benefit Scheme.

Warana – The Wired Village

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be used as an effective tool for rural development.  An example of the adoption of ICT by a rural community is the Warana “Wired Village” project, in the state of Maharashtra, India.  There, the local cooperative is using ICT to streamline the operations connected with sugar cane growing and harvesting. This is benefiting small farmers, both in terms of transparency and time saved on administrative transactions, as well as the cooperative, in terms of monetary gains. 

Warana is a well-developed rural area located 30 kilometers northwest of the city of Kolhapur, in one of the richest states of India, Maharashtra.   Much of Warana’s success is due to the presence of a strong co-operative movement. About 50,000 farmers live in 100 villages spread in the 25,000-sq. kilometer area covered by the co-operative. The main economic activity is sugar cane growing and processing.

ICT was brought to this area by the Warana "Wired Village" project, launched in 1998 as a collaboration between the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the Government of Maharashtra, the Warana Vibhag Shikshan Mandal (Education Department).  The right conditions to bring ICT to Warana exist both in terms of human development and of infrastructure, as, for instance, there is uninterrupted power supply in the area.  The project aims at bringing agricultural, market and educational information to 70 villages around Warana Nagar and intends to simplify other business operations of the co-operative.  Many of these features have not been implemented yet.

Warana is an example of a rural community, which has been able to empower its people not only with stable sources of employment, but also through participation, and access to health, education and financial services. All decisions concerning the sugar factory are taken by an elective body, the 19-member board of the sugar co-operative.  Elections take place every five years in the 100 villages around Warana: three members are elected from each of five clusters of villages, while two seats on the board are reserved for women and two for representatives of backward castes.  The board, in turn, elects a chairman and a vice-chairman

The sugar cane factory, which produces 110,000 tons of sugar per year, employs 8,000 workers and collects sugar cane from about 35,000 farmers, is the main source of income for the Warana community.   Other important centres of economic activity are a milk factory, a food-processing unit, a chain of department stores, poultry farming, and a series of women’s co-operatives. The milk factory employs 1,200 workers and collects 280,000 litres of milk per day from the 125 milk societies belonging to the dairy co-operative

Presently, however, the cooperative is facing a series of economic and social challenges.  These include low sugar prices and difficulties in coordinating the many activities of a large and growing cooperative, which lead to losses in terms of efficiency and transparency.  A big challenge is also to retain educated youth in the area when the prospects of better opportunities elsewhere.

UNIT 2

About India:

Area: 3,287,590 sq kmPopulation: 1,188,310,000Literacy : 61%Government: Federal Democratic RepublicUnemployment: 10.7%GDP: $3.57 trillion Chief Occupations: Agriculture is the chief

occupation of the country followed by service and industrial jobs.

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Our Natural Resources Wealth

Land Arable Land: 48% Forests: 22%

Water Total renewable water resources: 1,907.8 km3/year

Soil Many fertile soils including alluvial soil which comprises 80% of the

total fertile soil available

Minerals India occupies a prominent place in the world in the production of

many minerals. The chief minerals include Coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, diamonds, limestone, thorium, petroleum, natural gas

Energy India makes use of both renewable and non renewable energy

resources. Energy resources include natural gas, thermal, hydro, nuclear and other renewable sources.

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Our Natural Resources Wealth

Vegetation India has diverse vegetation which includes tropical

rainforests, deciduous forests and coniferous forests. India has 6 % of the world’s flowering plants.

Wildlife India has many species of animals, birds and reptiles which

includes 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of avian, 6.2% of reptilian of the wildlife population in the world Asian Elephant, Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Leopard, Sloth Bear and Indian Rhinoceros, antelopes are some of the important animals.

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Natural Resources Chart61

What is calling for our attention?

India as country is blessed with rich natural resources. But from our research on the usage of natural resources in our country, we found that the resources are depleting every day. For example: Forest and arable land is being depleted due to

urbanization, overpopulation and overconsumption Wild life resources are being lost due to illegal

poaching, hunting and industrialization. Water resources are being contaminated are drying up

due to industrialization.

Threats to Natural Resources

Urbanisation and IndustrialisationOverpopulationOverconsumption and irresponsible useDeforestationErosionHabitat Destruction Natural HazardsNo proper access to resources such as water

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Doing what matters!

What are we doing to save our resources?The Government of India has undertaken many

measures for the conservation of the resources Regulations and reforms for proper housing and

infrastructure development to avoid land acquisition problems

Mass media public service messages to educate the people on the importance of conservation of resources

Increase the wildlife and forest reserves in the country Schemes to do a proper inventory of the resources and

monitor changes in the environment. Various projects and schemes that promote conservation

of resources.

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Proposed Action PlanProblems Solutions

Overpopulation Develop population control measures and educate people on the advantages of a small family.

Overconsumption and irresponsible use

Educate people on the importance of conservation of resources using mass media. Develop partnerships with advocacy groups and environmental NGOs for spreading the message.

No proper access to resources Privatization of the some of the resource management function will help in better developing the delivery mechanism

Deforestation and Habitat destruction Have stringent regulations for the protection of the resources and ensure that the defaulters are punished

Natural Hazards Develop and employ tools for monitoring the possibility of natural hazards and providing preventive measures

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Overview of rural production system

The Rural Economy in India is wholly agriculture based and it is of tremendous importance because it has vital supply and demand links with the other Indian industries. Agriculture is the main stay of the Indian economy, as it constitutes the backbone of rural India which inhabitants more than 70% of total Indian population. The fertility of the soil has augmented the success of agriculture in India. Further, Rural Economy in India has been playing an important role towards the overall economic growth and social growth of India

India has been predominantly an agriculture-based country and it was the only source of livelihood in ancient time. During prehistoric time when there was no currency system the India economy system followed barter system for trading i.e. the excess of agricultural produce were exchanged against other items. The agriculture produce and system in India are varied and thus offers a wide agricultural product portfolio

The rural/agricultural workforce has a high proportion of family-owned and managed businesses. Commercial farming is a small part of the total industry.

There has been development towards specialisation in intensive animal industries. In the past many mixed farms were varied and grew relatively small amounts of several products, including plants and animals.

Industry sectors are cotton, dairy, goats, grains, horse breeding, milk harvesting, poultry, production horticulture, rural business, sheep and wool, sugar cane, wool harvesting.

Many of these industries are labor intensive and hence requires a huge number of people to work hard thus providing employment to many

Women are actively involved in agriculture in rural areas, as farmers, providers of food and entrepreneurs often operating with little resources and capacity. Ensuring inclusion of women in extension, skill development and other areas for capacity development should be part of the strategies for the enhancement of rural agriculture

The horticulture sector encompasses a wide range of crops e.g., fruit crops, vegetable crops, potato and tuber crops, ornamental crops, medicinal and aromatic crops, spices and plantation crops. India, with its wide variability of climate and soil, is highly favourable for growing a large number of horticultural crops. It is the fastest growing sector within agriculture.

It contributes in poverty alleviation, nutritional security and have ample scope for farmers to increase their income and helpful in sustaining large number of agro-based industries which generate huge employment opportunities. Presently horticulture contributes 28 per cent of agricultural GDP. The national goal of achieving 4.0 per cent growth in agriculture can be achieved through major contrib

Sericulture is both an art and science of raising silkworms for silk production. India is the second largest producer of raw silk after China and the biggest consumer of raw silk and silk fabrics. An analysis of trends in international silk production suggests that sericulture has better prospects for growth in the developing countries rather than in the advanced countries.

Silk production in temperate countries like Japan, South Korea, USSR etc., is declining steadily not only because of the high cost of labour and heavy industrialization in these countries, but also due to climatic restrictions imposed on mulberry leaf availability that allows only two cocoon crops per annum. Thus, India has a distinct advantage of practicing sericulture all through the year, yielding a stream of about 4 – 6 crops as a result of its tropical climate.

In India, sericulture is not only a tradition but also a living culture. It is a farm-based, labour intensive and commercially attractive economic activity falling under the cottage and small-scale sector. It particularly suits rural-based farmers, entrepreneurs and artisans, as it requires low investment but, with potential for relatively higher returns. It provides income and employment to the rural poor especially farmers with small land-holdings and the marginalized and weaker sections of the society. Several socio-economic studies have affirmed that the benefit-cost ratio in sericulture is highest among comparable agricultural crops

Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world along with the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, United States of America, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Indonesia and Sudan. Together, India and these countries account for 67 percent of total forest area of the world.[India's forest cover grew at 0.22% annually over 1990-2000,[3] and has grown at the rate of 0.46% per year over 2000-2010, after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern.

A large number of farmers in India depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood. In addition to supplying milk, meat, eggs, wool and hides, animals, mainly bullocks, are the major source of power for both farmers and drayers. Thus, animal husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy. The gross value of output from this sector was 358 billion (US$5.9 billion) in FY 1989, an amount that constituted about 25 percent of the total agricultural output of 1.4 trillion (US$23.0 billion)

Fisheries in India is a very important economic activity and a flourishing sector with varied resources and potentials. Only after the Indian Independence, has fisheries together with agriculture been recognized as an important sector. The vibrancy of the sector can be visualized by the 11–fold increase that India achieved in fish production in just six decades, i.e. from 0.75 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 9.6 million tonnes during 2012–13.

This resulted in an unparalleled average annual growth rate of over 4.5 percent over the years which has placed the country on the forefront of global fish production, only after China. Besides meeting the domestic needs, the dependence of over 14.5 million people on fisheries activities for their livelihood and foreign exchange earnings to the tune of US$ 3.51 billion (2012–13) from fish and fisheries products, amply justifies the importance of the sector on the country's economy and in livelihood security. 

India is also an important country that produces fish through aquaculture in the world. India is home to more than 10 percent of the global fish diversity. Presently, the country ranks second in the world in total fish production with an annual fish production of about 9.06 million metric tonnes.

The importance of dairying in a country like India hardly needs emphasizing. India has vast resources of livestock, which play an important role in the national economy and also in the socioeconomic development of millions of rural households. India has one of the largest stocks of cattle and buffaloes: more than 50 percent of the world's buffaloes and 20 percent of its cattle.

The Indian dairy sector contributes a large share of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP). Although the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to the national GDP has declined during the past few decades, the contribution of the livestock sector has increased from less than 5 percent in the early 1980s to over 6 percent in the late 1990s. Milk and milk products constitute a major share of the value of output from the livestock sector; their share increased from less than 50 percent in 1950-51 to about 65 percent in the late 1990s.