Rural Development Programmes in India 

In India, 83.3 percent of the total population of 121 million people live in rural areas (Census of India, 2011). As a result, nearly 70% of India’s population lives in rural areas. These rural populations are characterised by widespread poverty, low literacy and income levels, high unemployment, and poor nutrition and health status. 

A number of rural development programmes are being implemented to create opportunities for improving the quality of life of these rural people in order to address these specific problems. And it is a process that leads to long-term improvements in the quality of life of rural people, particularly the poor (Ramesh, 2012). Rural development programmes aim to reduce poverty and unemployment, improve health and education, and meet rural residents’ basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing. 

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Rastriya Sama, Vikas Yojana (RSVY), the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana were all launched by the Government of India through the Planning Commission of India to improve rural people’s conditions (PMGSY).

All of these schemes aim to close the gap between rural and urban people, thereby reducing imbalances and speeding up the development process.

What is Rural Development?

The process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas is referred to as rural development. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is regarded as a “Silver Bullet” for eradicating rural poverty and unemployment by increasing demand for productive labour in villages. 

It provides an alternative source of livelihood, which will have an impact on reducing migration, limiting child labour, alleviating poverty, and making villages self-sustaining through productive asset creation such as road construction, water tank cleaning, soil and water conservation work, and so on, for which it has been dubbed the world’s largest anti-poverty programme.

Rural development in india

Rural development is a simple concept that is difficult to put into action. It focuses on the upliftment and development of rural economies that are experiencing severe poverty and effectively aims to increase their productivity. It also emphasises the importance of addressing various pressing issues in village economies that are impeding growth and improving these areas. Some of the areas in India that require immediate attention for rural development are as follows:

National Rural Livelihood Mission

The National Rural Livelihoods Mission was launched in June 2011 with the goal of developing institutional platforms for the rural poor to increase household incomes through livelihood support and access to financial services. This brief assesses the program’s accomplishments in its first ten years. It discovers that the Mission has had some success in improving the lives of rural women, who are the program’s backbone, and, as a result, their families. These accomplishments are primarily in the areas of social capital development, community mobilisation, and some degree of access to finance. Today, the Mission must shift its focus to livelihoods, particularly in light of the massive economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Integrated Rural Development Program

The Integrated Rural Development Program was established to provide poor people with employment opportunities. This scheme not only provides the necessary subsidies to people living below the poverty line, but it also assists them in improving their living conditions.

The Government of India launched the Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) in 1978 and implemented it in 1980. The program’s goal is to provide poor people with employment opportunities as well as opportunities to develop their skill sets in order to improve their living conditions. The programme is regarded as one of the best yojanas for addressing poverty-related issues by providing necessary subsidies in tandem with job opportunities to those who fall below the poverty line.

Rural areas economic development programmes

The program’s goal is to increase rural people’s incomes in the mountain provinces of Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak, Syunik, Tavusgh, and Vayots Dzor on a long-term basis. Poverty is widespread in the project area, which covers approximately 80% of Armenia’s land area and is home to approximately 40% of the country’s total population. Land use and cropping patterns changed dramatically after land was privatised, as new smallholder farmers adopted a small-scale, mixed farming system as a means of survival.

Objectives of rural development

The government’s objectives for rural development in the sixth five-year plan are as follows:

• Raise rural people’s productivity and wages
• Ensure increased and rapid employment opportunities
• To eliminate unemployment and significantly reduce underemployment
• To ensure an improvement in the underprivileged population’s standard of living
• To meet basic needs such as elementary education, healthcare, clean drinking water, rural roads, and so on.

Conclusion

A number of rural development programmes are being implemented to create opportunities for improving the quality of life of these rural people in order to address specific problems. Rural development programmes aim to reduce poverty and unemployment, improve health and education, and meet rural residents’ basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act , the Rastriya Sama, Vikas Yojana , the Indira Awas Yojana , the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana , the Integrated Tribal Development Project , and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana were all launched by the Government of India through the Planning Commission of India to improve rural people’s conditions. All of these schemes aim to close the gap between rural and urban people, thereby reducing imbalances and speeding up the development process.