Indian economy is hugely dependent on the agricultural production in India. The majority of people living in the rural sector earn their livelihood from agriculture, but it hardly is ever enough to even fill the empty stomach. Most of the people in the extreme rural areas eat only once to save their ration for the next day. India is evidently becoming ‘smarter’ with the announcements of new schemes for the towns and cities, but in the run to become a global icon, we are forgetting to strengthen our roots. And, our roots lie in these villages where food is produced for the entire nation.
RM Correspondent
Modern technologies and infrastructural development in the urban areas are surely making a difference, but at the same time the gap between the urban and the rural India is increasing day by day. It is high time; we address the problems of the rural areas in India to ensure a brighter future for the nation.
The rural population is ignorant of the many schemes of the past and the present government and though there are provisions and funds, it never reaches the right target audience. To make these people self –sufficient, good infrastructure is the key. It is only with adequate infrastructural facilities that the rural residents would be able to mobilize swiftly and sell their products in the urban spaces. They can grab the opportunity only of it is accessible to them. The role of the middleman would disappear and then the direct income could raise their standard of living.
We have 5-star schools in cities but we don’t even have good teachers in the village schools and thus the schools drop out rate in the villages is extremely high. Due to lack of proper sanitation facilities, many girls stop going to the school when they hit puberty. Thus, the backward places in India remain in darkness, due to lack of infrastructure that can support the education of the children. With more than 65% of the Indian population living in the rural areas, we cannot afford to neglect this aspect.
According to recent survey Jishnu Das and Aakash Mohpal on the health care facilities of rural India, it was published on the Centre for Policy Research’s website, that 49 percent of the health providers in the rural areas are untrained professionals and most of the times they cannot diagnose correctly. The following suggestions were made by the researchers:
(a) Training informal sector providers who practice in every village, and
(b) Providing some kind of medical transport that allows households from rural and scattered villages to visit providers in larger towns and cities.
The other problem that needs immediate attention is the electrification of villages. 25% of rural households still struggle for their right to electricity. The rural areas of states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland, and Bihar have 40%-50% households without electricity. Ironically, a village can be identified as an electrifies one even if 90% of the household don’t have electricity, as the criteria is to consider the electrification of schools, health centre, and Panchayat buildings and at least 10% household having electricity.
With all these infrastructural issues, it seems like ages before India can diminish the gap between the urban and rural areas. But, surely it is achievable, if all the stakeholders-the government, local organizations, corporate houses, NGO’s and we as individuals work together.