Rural India holds the key to the nation’s overall progress, serving as a fundamental pillar in economic growth and social development. Take Hiware Bazar, a village in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, for example. Once a drought-prone area, the village became a thriving development model through community-driven efforts. Led by Popatrao Pawar, the farmer sarpanch of Hiware Bazar, implemented water conservation techniques such as rainwater harvesting and watershed management to resolve farming challenges and related issues. These measures significantly boosted agricultural productivity, reduced migration, and enhanced the overall quality of life. Similar success stories can be found in Kawadgaon village in Maharashtra, Thiruvankulam in Kerala, and Kuthambakkam in Tamil Nadu, among others.
Since India’s independence in 1947, our country’s economic development has been closely linked with the progress of its rural areas. Despite substantial advancements in urban centres, rural development remains a core component of the nation’s overall growth. According to the latest data by the Ministry of Finance, 65 per cent of the population resides in rural regions, and 47% rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. It is crucial to address the multifaceted challenges of poverty, unemployment, environmental concerns, and inadequate access to basic services. These efforts are critical for achieving both inclusive growth and sustainable development.
In this blog, readers will gain a comprehensive review of rural development in India, covering its importance, key issues, policy inadequacies, and the future outlook.
Understanding Rural Transformation: Introduction and Significance
Rural development refers to the methods of enhancing the quality of life and financial well-being of individuals, specifically those living in populated and remote areas. Traditionally, rural development was centred on exploiting land-intensive natural resources such as agriculture and forestry. However, increasing urbanisation and evolving production methods have significantly reshaped the dynamics of rural areas.
Rural development is crucial not only for enhancing the lives of the population residing in rural areas but also for achieving the nation’s overall economic expansion.
Objectives for Rural Progress
The government has outlined primary objectives aimed at rural development, with a focus on
enhancing productivity and wages, increasing employment opportunities, raising living standards, and providing basic necessities. By improving both agricultural and non-agricultural productivity, the aim is to secure higher wages and better livelihoods for the population. In addition, the government is committed to improving the standard of living for disadvantaged groups through targeted development initiatives. Another crucial objective is to facilitate access to essential services such as education, healthcare, safe drinking water, housing, and sanitation.
Government Interventions and Policies Measures
The development policies define the strategic blueprint to address a wide range of rural needs through several focused approaches. Among the key initiatives undertaken by the government are:
Poverty Alleviation Schemes: Programmes for rural development in India emphasise generating employment opportunities in rural areas. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is one such scheme that aims to guarantee at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. To date, the programme has facilitated employment for 11.37 crore households, generating 289.24 crore person-days of work, with 56.19% of the beneficiaries being women, 19.75% belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), and 17.47% from Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Agricultural Reforms: The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme provides direct financial assistance to farmers, ensuring their financial stability and encouraging investment in modern farming techniques. A total of ₹ 58,201.85 crores has been disbursed to eligible beneficiaries. Additionally, the introduction of the Soil Health Card scheme enables farmers to make informed decisions regarding soil health and fertility, leading to increased productivity.
Infrastructure Development: Projects such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) aim to enhance rural connectivity through the construction of all-weather roads. Currently, 1,80,718 road projects have been completed, while an additional 8,413 projects are in progress.
Education and Healthcare Initiatives: The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) aims to provide quality education from pre-school to senior secondary levels in rural areas, focusing on universal access, equity, and quality enhancement. This comprehensive scheme covers 1.16 million schools, serving over 156 million students, involving 5.7 million teachers from government and aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level). In the healthcare sector, the Ayushman Bharat scheme provides health coverage to economically vulnerable populations, ensuring access to high-quality medical services. The initiative is designed to benefit over 10 crore economically weak and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries), providing coverage of up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
Financial Inclusion: The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) seeks to ensure access to a range of financial services, including banking, savings and deposit accounts, remittances, credit, insurance, and pensions. To date, 53.61 crore beneficiaries have been banked, with a cumulative balance of ₹2,31,857.92 crore in beneficiary accounts. Furthermore, approximately 13.55 lakh Bank Mitras are currently delivering branchless banking services across the country.
Social Welfare Schemes: The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) focuses on providing affordable housing to the rural poor, enhancing their quality of life. The government has delivered over 2.5 crore pucca houses, with two crore located in rural areas. Additionally, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) aims to improve sanitation and hygiene, which are crucial for better health outcomes in rural regions. Under this initiative, 10.28 crore toilets have been constructed across 36 states/UTs, and 6,03,175 villages have been declared open defecation-free in five years.
Another notable initiative is the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), which encourages the formation of SHGs, empowering women in rural areas to engage in micro-entrepreneurship and improve their socio-economic status. The mission has successfully implemented its objectives in 7,135 blocks in 742 districts in 28 States and 6 UTs, mobilising 10.05 crore women into more than 90.86 lakh SHGs.
Fundamental Issues in Rural Settings
Despite numerous initiatives and policies enacted by the government, rural development continues to face several persistent challenges.Widespread povertyremains a significant issue, characterised by low income, limited access to basic services, and unequal distribution of resources. Environmental sustainability is another critical concern, as rural areas are increasingly impacted by climate change effects, including droughts, floods, heat waves, and extreme weather events.
Agricultural distress also poses a major challenge, with the rural population’s heavy reliance on agriculture exposing them to risks from unpredictable weather patterns and crop failures. Productivity and income generation in these areas are further constrained by fragmented land holdings, inadequate irrigation, and outdated farming practices.
Insufficient infrastructure in rural areas exacerbates these difficulties, as poor connectivity, including inadequate roads, electricity, and telecommunication, restricts access to markets, services, and information. Furthermore, essential services such as quality education, clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, and healthcare remain inadequate in many rural areas.
Rural Development Challenges: Why Programmes Fail
Policies aimed at improving living standards and boosting the economy have often been ineffective in making a significant impact due to various factors:
Failure of coordination and monitoring mechanism: The programmes are implemented by various government departments with insufficient coordination, resulting in duplication of efforts and wastage of resources.
Fund leakage: A significant portion of funds allocated for the programmes are diverted due to corruption and mismanagement, leaving limited resources for the beneficiaries, thereby affecting the proper implementation of schemes.
Beneficiary Identification: Multiple schemes lack proper identification and selection of eligible beneficiaries. The selection criteria are often flawed, leading to the exclusion of intended beneficiaries.
Delayed payments: Rural workers and beneficiaries often experience delayed payments, which demotivates them and harms the long-term efficacy of projects.
Insufficient funds: Rural development schemes in India frequently face a shortage of funds allocated to them. Midway budget cuts often disrupt ongoing projects and expansion plans.
Asset Degradation and Infrastructure Gaps: Rural assets, such as irrigation systems and roads, degrade rapidly due to poor construction and maintenance. Moreover, rural infrastructure remains inadequate relative to needs, with persistent housing, electricity, road connectivity, and banking gaps.
Technological Gaps: The rural populace often lacks the technological skills or access to use programme benefits. This inadequacy impedes their ability to adapt to technological initiatives by the government.
Unlocking Rural India’s Potential: A Roadmap for Growth
Rural India possesses significant potential for shaping the nation’s economic growth and development. However, to fully realise this capacity, it is crucial to address the persistent challenges of agrarian distress, infrastructural gaps, rising unemployment, and underutilisation of women’s contributions, among others. Tackling these effectively requires strengthening grassroots governance, providing effective feedback to policymakers, leveraging technologies, and ensuring women’s involvement and empowerment. Furthermore, a multifaceted approach involving government initiatives, private sector investments, and local stakeholder engagement, guided by the “Reform, Perform, Transform” paradigm, is vital for achieving India’s prosperous and equitable future.
Author’s Bio: Smriti Mohapatra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications from Savitribai Phule Pune University and has interned with The Financial Express. She has a keen interest in rural development, international relations, climate change, and art and culture.
DISCLAIMER : The views expressed in this blog/article are author’s personal.