Vanishing Villages

Villages constitute pivotal importance in Indian context unlike the counterpart western countries where hardly it symbolizes same connotation at cultural and social level. Since the time immemorial Indian villages were getting the distinction for their centralized role in national consolidation and unification. As a functional unit villages possessed their own set of characteristics which essentially differs it from urban composition.
But in recent time, such unique characteristics has up fronting severe challenges from burgeoning urban center in terms of leverages which have very rare presence in rural areas.In numbers, Indian villages has strength of nearby half million, but due to adverse planning almost two third of Indian population is compelled to live with marginalized basic facilities.

Such discrimination is completely unjustifiable since its forcing rural landscape towards subordinate position; indeed it’s terrible from any rational point of view. Problems are rambling very fast so their ramifications which being easily evident by visiting a village and forming own perception or relying on various disappointing data’s in this regard.
In recently held parliamentary election, very low turn out of voting (42%) in two major state U.P and Bihar creates antipathy towards electoral awareness; but truth is something more grimmer as it is not occurred solely because of foregone awareness instead it is consequence of mass exodus from these areas to big cities and metropolises in absence of regular opportunity and adequate means of survival.
Its matter of fact that such pattern of migration is so abrupt that it is far distant from being called the upward mobility; which effects the enhancement of position; instead such occurrence is caused by the deficient material state in their homeland. Crises prevail at organized and unorganized level of employment potential, by the effect educated, semi educated, and uneducated (including landless laborers) faces challenging scenario at urban places in their own set of capability and fortune which further impulses their psyches to alienate from their roots.
Such happenings are absolute case of subjugation before the unfortunate state of affairs.These sorry situations are way heading because the improper disbursement of industries and weak entrepreneurial activities in rural areas which further thicken the scale of opportunity and cause for living in these areas.

It’s need of hour at policy level to boost rural economy, and save it from the disgrace of parasite ness in terms of human resource management.Indeed social schemes are being functional in rural areas with very fine motives and their positive effects are being quite visible; schemes like NREGS, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Antyodaya Yojana, Old Age Pension, Indira Awas Yojana etc sustaining the plight of weaker sections to an extant.
But there is need of big booster which can grasp not only the illiterate work force butt all sorts of workforce; operationalisation of various services and huge investments at both the government and private level would be the prime impetus.
I mean to say by all the foregoing point that rural economy needs to be transforming from basically being the agro processing majors to a full scale entrepreneurial hub. We have very fine example of China where the government keeps redrawing plan to shape rural emancipation; consequently the situations has considerably changed there now. With appropriating all the urban amenities; new wave sophistication has entered which radicalized the rural picture in China.
PURA (Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas) is an ambitious stride by the Government of India for upliftment of rural masses and their socio-economic structure; hope such more plans with their fair and speedy enactment. For a balanced and inclusive growth it’s very essential to save villages not only as a demographic and political unit but as hub of employment generating services. If all these materialize we may be sanguine for its survival.


Atul Kumar Thakur
New Delhi, IInd July 2009
atul_mdb@rediffmail.com