Rural-Urban Disparities

Rural-Urban Disparities are pretty vast in nature as a topic. There are several differences between rural and urban society in terms of architecture, education, career opportunities, etc. Generally, we see Indian society divided into rural society, urban society, and tribal society based on geographical locations and socio-cultural factors. The urban area consists of towns and cities. Before independence, the concept of rural and urban society was not valid. Just after the globalization process everything in the world was changing, the formation of towns and cities took place and the process of urbanization started from there itself. An urban area is the spatial concentration of people who are working in non-agricultural activities, in other words, the occupational components in the urban plethora are mainly official and industrial.  

Urban-Rural Disparities Introduction 

People living in urban areas get access to all modern amenities and services. Most people of urban areas live efficient, secure, and comfortable full lives. This is the most important reason why people are migrating from rural areas to urban areas: the population in urban areas is increasing and the population of rural areas is decreasing, as a result, the cities and towns are so overpopulated that there is hardly any space left for habitation. It is said that the biggest slum area in Asia is in Dharavi, Mumbai because Mumbai is a megacity and there are a handful of opportunities for everybody. 

A rural society or community can be classified based on a less human population, agricultural practices, less social differentiation, spatial mobility, etc. The main occupation of the rural area is agricultural work. There are few options other than that like mining, oil and gas exploration or working in the marketplace. The lifestyle of the rural area is completely different from an urban area mainly because in a rural area you have exposure to a very limited number of resources and services than an urban area. 

Disparities Between Rural and Urban Areas are as follows:  

1. Educational Disparities: No doubt that Urban areas would have the best education system and infrastructure than rural areas. In the urban area, the educational institutions are very much advanced at both elementary and high school levels, and the urban area education system is made in such a way that students can get a better learning experience. On the other hand, in rural areas, there is no basic infrastructure or services available for the students, you will not find one private school or college over there and in government schools, teachers never attend classes only then can the student get access to proper education.
2. Healthcare Disparities:  In this, we will learn about Urban Vs Rural Health Disparities. Urban Health and Medical systems are anyway better than rural ones. The urban area health sector is more developed and advanced than the rural health sector. In the rural healthcare sector, there are no proper medical devices available, they don’t have proper infrastructure and most doctors over there are fraud. This is the reason why people of rural areas prefer to travel to urban areas to get medical facilities. The government of India has been working immensely in the section of decreasing the Urban Rural Health disparity.  
3. Disparities in Employment Opportunities: Disparities between urban and rural areas are probably the most contrasted in this arena. Agriculture is said to be the bread and butter of rural inhabitants. And about 60% of the population of our country is engaged in agricultural activities. Rest work in the non-agricultural sector or secondary and tertiary sector. Well, no doubt if you are interested to work in the tertiary or secondary sector you will get better options in urban areas. Other than farming, few more employment options have emerged in rural areas for a few years which includes working in the marketplace, mining, teaching, small-scale industries, etc. 
4. Architectural Disparities: In rural areas, people generally reside in small houses made up of huts, mud, thatched roofs, and their houses are mostly simple these houses are temporary which means these houses might get affected by natural disasters like floods, tsunamis, or heavy rain. On the other hand, an urban area mostly consists of big flats, and houses here are constructed with the help of cement, advanced technologies, and modern-day equipment which cannot affect these flats or houses easily.
5. Lifestyle Disparities: Basically, the lifestyle of rural people is very simple. They do day to day jobs in the agriculture sector or dairy or so, people of rural areas generally don’t have access to electricity in their homes; they make their food on stoves. In urban areas, the lifestyle is more developed and improved, urban areas people are earning more due to more employment opportunities and this had increased the need for shopping, food, and new digital technologies so new products and services are being imported from other countries and new types of things have emerged in urban areas which had made urban areas’ people lifestyle better. 

Conclusion 

Development is very important for any country, and the development of a country depends on the education sector and health sector of any country because if people are getting educated it will generate more employment opportunities and its health sector is good then people won’t feel sick and people can contribute in the development of the country more efficiently. The development of both rural and urban areas is important. If we see the scenario now a lot of development has taken place in rural areas than before for sure, rural areas are having nicer education options now, nicer health, medical, technologies, infrastructure have emerged in rural areas now so that people don’t have lived in poverty and also have better-living conditions like people of urban areas.