MODULE 5
Village planning
• The high incidence of rural poverty, inequalities of income and ownership of
assets makes the task of rural development important.
• The aims composed by the government in the sixth five-year plan for village
planning are:
1. To improve productivity and the wages of rural people
2. To guarantee increased and quick employment possibilities.
3. To demolish unemployment.
4. To guarantee to increase the standard of living of the underprivileged
population.
5. To provide the basic needs, example: elementary education, health care,
clean drinking water and rural roads, etc.
Multilevel planning
• One of the important feature of planning in India is that it operates in a
democratic framework through a federal system, involving concurrent
planning at the national and state levels.
• Federal nature of India’s constitution demands planning at least at two levels,
i.e. union and states (economic and social planning) being in the concurrent
list of the constitution.
• Due to pluralistic Socio-economic environment and the large size of some
states, planning at sub-state and micro levels is also required.
• Multi-level planning in India has to be viewed in terms of activities at
different area and agency levels extending well beyond the union and state
framework.
Decentralisation concepts
Definition of decentralization
• Decentalization is the transfer of political administrative responsibilities to
locally elected bodies in urban and rural areas, and the empowerment of
communities to exert control over these bodies.
• In short it’s the distribution of power to different bodies instead of
concentrating all the power with a single body or authority.
• The idea of decentralization was experimented by Maharashtra with District
Planning Boards in 1972.
• The states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal attempted
decentralized planning 1980’s.
• Later it was mentioned in that local horizontal plans, preparation of state
plans based on district, blocks and village plans and devolution of of
responsibilities to Panchayati Raj institutions.
• Need for strengthening the planning machinery at different levels was
recognized.
• 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments of 1992 have made specific
provisions for the preparation and implementation of plans by Panchayats and
municipalities and for setting up District planning committees.
Rural Developments
Rural Developments
• Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and
economic well being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated
and sparsely populated area.
• Some areas that need urgent attention for Rural development in India are:
1. Public health and sanitation.
2. Literacy.
3. Female empowerment
4. Enforcement of law and order
5. Land reforms
6. Infrastructure development like irrigation, electricity, etc.
7. Availability of credit.
8. Eradication of poverty etc.
Schemes of Government of India for upliftment of Rural India
1. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana
2. Roshni: Skill development scheme for tribals
3. Swachchh Bharat Mission
4. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna
5. Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojna(HRIDAY)
6. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme(MGNREGS)
7. National Rural Livelihoods Mission
8. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY)
9. Training to Rural Youth for Self Employment(TRYSEM)
10. Village Grain Bank Schemes
11. National Rural Health Mission
12. Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna
13. Kutir Jyoti Programme
14. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, etc.
Planning methodology
• The methodologies evolved for rural development planning can be
described under three categories:
1. Growth centre approach
2. Area Development approach
3. Integrated development approach.
Growth center approach
• The concept of rural growth center is to identify ideal locations for investment
and also act as a focus for inducing growth in the area concerned.
• Main foundation of this approach was provided by location theories and the
central place theory.
• Location theories emphasize the importance od spatial factors in
development.
• Thus, the provisions of economic and infrastructural facilities in certain
locations ca generate growth in the areas adjoining these centers.
• The central space theories focus attention on growth centers, which generate
growth in the areas around them.
• However, the concept ignores the potentiality of local economic forces that
may induce growth.
• Emphasis on dynamic local factors may be more impracticable under rural
Indian conditions.
• The other problem is that the growth centers do not take into consideration the
future trends of repolarisation of socio-economic activities taking place in an
area.
• The basic logic behind this approach is that development in rural areas can be
fostered by interesting resource mobility towards these areas for the
generation of infrastructural facilities.
Area Development Approach
• Area development approach is an extension of the growth center approach and
takes into account the local factors in achieving economic growth.
• Thus , while rural growth centers provide ideal locations for the provision of
infrastructural facilities, their hinterlands are regarded as basic planning units
for integrated multi-sectoral planning to achieve integrated development of an
area. This approach, therefore, was able to provide a wider framework for rural
development.
• The approach, while taking poverty in the area into consideration, provides a
balance between various sectoral activities as well as spatial patterns of
growth.
• However, it does not ensure that economic growth is being shared by all
classes and communities of the rural areas.
• The spread effect of development may not necessarily affect the whole society
in the same way or with greater equality, particularly in Indian rural situation
because of two reasons:
1. In the areas where modern farm technology has not been able to make an
advance, agriculture and its allied activities cannot absorb fully the labour
available in villages.
2. A sizeable number of rural people have little or no access to resources,
particularly land.
Integrated Rural Development Approach
• Integrated rural development approach , has been developed because the area
development approach, by and large, failed to address the question of
inequalities in the distribution of employment, incomes and assets.
• Mere geographical emphasis, as is the case with the area development
approach, has been found inadequate in solving problems. Target groups have
to be identified for a more direct approach to alleviate the problems faced by
specific sections of the population having specific identifiable problems.
• According to Draft Sixth plan, the distribution of unemployment and poverty
and the potential for development of agriculture and related activities vary
widely from region to region.
• Considering the above mentioned point, it will therefore, be necessary to plan
for integration of various programmes and establish appropriate linkages for
Optional utilization of local endowments, consistent with the plan objectives,
local needs and environmental balance.
• The integrated rural development, will be specially focused on the target
group comprising small marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural
artisans, whose economic improvement is an important concern of rural
development.
• The new approach will aim at integrating field programmes reflecting the
economic activity of the rural family whose employment and development is
the basic objective.
• A major effort will be made to formulate area specific plans at the grass root
level.
END OF SYLLABUS
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